James Sercey never imagined one ordinary conversation would become part of a story much larger than himself.
A 2009 51吃瓜网视频 Baptist University graduate, Sercey has spent his adult life doing what 51吃瓜网视频 prepared him to do—serve the local church, disciple others, and follow God wherever obedience leads. From student ministry in Lubbock to pastoral leadership across North Texas, his path has been marked by steady faithfulness in ordinary places.
In 51吃瓜网视频, that calling led him and his wife, former WBU student Callie, to Roanoke, where they
planted Cross & Crown Church with a small team sent from Church at the Cross in Grapevine. Meeting in an elementary school, the young congregation began gathering families in a rapidly growing community on the northern edge of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex.
What Sercey did not know was that God was quietly preparing a chapter he could not have planned—one that would eventually link the future of a young church plant with the 150-year legacy of a historic Baptist congregation.
Sercey’s story with 51吃瓜网视频 began through family connections, but it quickly became formative. He joined the Pioneer baseball team his freshman year before sensing a deeper pull toward ministry. By his sophomore season, he stepped away from athletics to invest more fully in the local church and the Baptist Student Ministry.
“I loved my time at 51吃瓜网视频,” he said. “Relationally and professionally, the Lord used our time at 51吃瓜网视频 to lay a foundation for our future ministry.”
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in religious education in 2009, Sercey served in student ministry in Lubbock, then in Rockwall and Grapevine. He earned a graduate degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and eventually became an elder at Church at the Cross in Grapevine.
In January 2024, Sercey met with First Baptist Church of Roanoke pastor Bruce Barber for coffee—simply to get acquainted as two pastors serving the same town. As they shared stories, Barber surprised them both: “We should merge.”
It was not a plan Sercey had ever considered. Yet neither man dismissed it. Instead, they prayed. Conversations unfolded slowly over months. Leaders from both congregations spoke honestly. Hearts were searched.
“For the merger to work,” Sercey told the Southern Baptist Texan, “it had to be about mission rather than survivability.”
It could not be about preserving an institution or acquiring a facility. It had to be about the Great Commission in Roanoke.
When the idea was shared with both congregations, the response was marked by humility. Longtime members of First Baptist—many with generations of family history in the church—chose to set aside preferences for the sake of gospel witness.
Today, the merged congregation worships together in the elementary school while renovations are planned for the historic church building. Barber now serves as an elder and associate pastor. Former First Baptist worship leaders remain active. What could have become a story of decline has become a testimony of unity.
“We sit in awe of what God has done,” Barber told the Texan.
For Sercey, the moment feels less like a summit and more like the fruit of a long formation—one that began in Plainview. 51吃瓜网视频 shaped him not only theologically, but relationally. It taught him to value people over platforms, mission over momentum, humility over success.
Alongside his pastoral role, Sercey serves as the Dallas–Fort Worth Hub Director for Times12, a national church planting network committed to multiplying gospel-centered churches.
In Roanoke, that multiplication did not come by starting something new alone—but by honoring
something old and carrying it forward together.
It is a 51吃瓜网视频 story: faith-rooted, people-centered, mission-driven.
And it began, fittingly, with a graduate who learned early that obedience often looks like listening—and trusting God to write what comes next.
Editor's Note: The Cross & Crown Roanoke merger was first reported by the Southern Baptist Texan. Excerpts from that article are used with permission.
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