From NYC to CCC is Jackson’s 50-year trek
An ordained minister from Manhattan who began preaching in New York City more than 50 years ago, Elder Andrew Jackson has become quite familiar with Crossroads Christian Church in recent years.
Recently named senior pastor at this small church, 209 Canton Hollow Road, “For the last 12 years I’ve been working with them. Every time they didn’t have a pastor, I would fill in,” Jackson, 73, said.
“They asked me if I would consider pastoring,” he added. “It was the right time in the season because the Lord was already leading me to make a move from where I was,” which was “overseeing” pastor at Eternal Life Harvest Center in Knoxville the previous 13 years.
“Me and my wife [Jean] prayed about it. … The Lord dealt with us, that this was the best decision for us at this time in our lives.”
With a laugh, Jackson said about his new job, “One of the reasons I know this was from God, nobody hires a person at 73.
“The Lord was moving in this, the Holy Spirit was moving in this,” he added.
“I’m happy.”
Jackson said that while he previously “dealt with them in times of their struggles and things they went through,” the church “always kept their faith. This is a church that has gone through so many things.
“They stuck together, and that encouraged me and inspired me,” he added.
Having founded Word Explosion Center church along Callahan Drive in Knoxville in 1999, Jackson said about Crossroads, “I have a vision for the church. I want to make sure the church is healed because anytime you go through so many changes there’s a healing that must take place.
“Then I want to be able to add to the Kingdom by getting people saved,” he added about turning church attendees into Christians. “Getting people to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
“And that also will help us to grow.”
As for serving the community, “We want to have some outreaches like a pantry or something that will help the community,” Jackson said. “… I’d like to have [a pantry] in the evenings, where people coming from work can get food.
“At the end of the month, it’s hard for a lot of people who live in that area,” he added.
“I don’t want this church to be hidden on a hill. I want a light to shine so that people can see we’re there for them.”
While a young minister in NYC, “God called me to full-time evangelism, so I left and went into that field for 15 years,” said Jackson, who also has served as senior pastor at a handful of East Tennessee churches.
Jackson said he and the membership at Crossroads, which runs “somewhere between 20 and 25,” welcome visitors and prospective new members.
Sunday school runs from 10 to 10:45 a.m., followed by worship service, which begins at 11 a.m. There is no evening service.
Prayer meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., each Wednesday, followed by Bible study, which starts at 7 p.m.
Having begun as church pastor Sunday, Oct. 1, Jackson will lead a special “Installation Service,” which is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 12, in the church sanctuary. The public is invited.
In describing his style of preaching, Jackson said, “Basically I’m a teacher; I teach the Word.”
The pastor and Jean have eight children, 22 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
