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Joe Lechner

When I was a thirteen years old we visited Crossway which then was just a small church plant meeting in a movie theater off of Highway 49 by UNC-Charlotte. Even though I was brought up in the church during my teen years, I wasn’t really following Jesus. When I graduated from West Charlotte High School to say I had zero aspirations for a life of pastoral ministry would be an understatement. I went to college with aspirations in science and medicine, graduating from UNCC in 2000 with a B.S. in Biology...but something had changed in my college years.

I met people who were serious about Jesus. They loved the Bible. They loved God. They loved others. And they were ‘normal’. They were happy. They loved life. And I wanted to know Jesus the way they knew Jesus. God changed my heart in my college years and by the time I was finishing college what I wanted most was to live a life serving Him. So in the fall of 2000, I attended the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College. After graduating in 2001, I joined the staff at Crossway and began Mission 28 (now called M28), Crossway’s outreach ministry to UNCC with the desire to reach college students with the good news about Jesus in the hope of seeing Him change their lives the way He had so changed mine during those years.

Although my roles and responsibilities have changed over the years, it’s been a pure joy and privilege to serve, along with my wife, Jeanie, and four children, the people of the church that I’ve called ‘home’ for over 25 years.

My Hope for Crossway

Is that we become increasingly amazed by what we have and who we are in Christ in a way that compels us to love God with radical devotion and love others with the kind of love that testifies to the truth and power of the Gospel.