New Cross

LITTLE ROCK — The Rev. Harry Cross of Conway had to decide what he wanted to be more - a minister or a lawyer.

"Both are advocates before a higher court," he said with a smile, sitting behind his desk at Grace United Methodist Church on Hogan Lane.

And no, it wasn't his name that sealed the deal.

"That's just my name," he said. People have always made comments on it, though, such as, "'That's so ironic that's you're going into the ministry.' 'You don't have to bear your cross, it's in your name.'"

Cross, 27, the new associate pastor atGrace, said he "answered the call" to be a minister when he was 15 or 16.

"I kept it a secret for a year," he said. He was afraid how his parents, Clay and Joy Cross of White Hall, would react.

"They weren't real religious growing up, but they did take us to church," Cross said of himself and his sister, Lynn, who also surprised his parents and is at Duke Divinity School.

When he finally broke the news to his parents, "they were very supportive, but they asked me to keep my options open."

He preached at his home church in White Hall and attended Henderson State Univer-sity in Arkadelphia, majoring in political science.

Cross served as a youth director his first year in college and pastored three churches while he received his degree.

Preaching hadn't won out, yet, though. During his senior year, Cross served as an intern at the law office of Chris Walthall in Malvern.

"I didn't love it as much as I loved the church," he said.

Decision made.

He attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky.

"It was difficult to uproot myself and move 600 miles away," he said.

But he was on a mission.

"I wanted people to come to have the same meaningful relationship with Christ that I had. ... I knew there was hurt in the world, and I knew Christ was the answer."

Cross said he ministered to drug addicts and prostitutes as in internship in the summer of 2005 at Frazer UMC in Montgomery, Ala., while he was in seminary. His last summer in college he had an internship at First United Methodist Church in Arkadelphia, which was "more pastoral."

Cross joined the Arkansas National Guard in June and said he felt led to be a chaplain. He is a second lieutenant chaplain candidate, and is in a probationary period that will last a minimum of three years, he said.

At first he was working toward being a full-time chaplain, but he realized that wasn't his true calling.

"My overwhelming passion lies in the local church," he said.

Cross said he has a "deep respect" for men and women who serve in the military, and he will be "deployable" when he's ordained as a chaplain.

He said he wants to go to Iraq.

"I think it's necessary. That's where the need is. I want to be able to bring those men and women so far away from their families to Christ's presence," he said.

With the 39th Infantry Brigade preparing to deploy, "there's going to be a need here with their families," he added.

A friendship with a Marine also changed his life.

Cross was in seminary, and he weighed about 300 pounds. His friend, Rosario Picardo of New York, encouraged Cross to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

"One day I gave in and said, 'OK, but you gotta help me,'" Cross recalled.

It took him about two years,but Cross lost 140 pounds, and he is smiling, and slim, in his photo at seminary graduation.

"I don't think I could have done it any other way. It was a physical endeavor, but it was a spiritual endeavor.

"I think being as overweight as I was, it gave a negative impression in my walk with Christ. It showed a lack of discipline. If I can do it, anybody can do it," he maintained.

Cross said 70 percent of Methodist pastors are overweight, according to information from the bishop.

"Stress has a lot to do with it," he said. "It's often a sign of something deeper in someone's life," he added.

Instead of turning to food, Cross enjoys riding his bicycle and running.

"When I'm stressed now, I may just go for a run, and it's a great source of evangelism," he said. Cross will often strike up conversations as he runs and some of his fellow runners have come to church.

"I don't view myself as in competition with other churches. I just want to bring people to Christ," he said.

Although Cross isn't married, one of his favorite parts of being associate pastor is leading the children's sermons at Grace.

"It's one of the highlights of my week," he said. "It started out as a way for me to develop relationships with families through their children." Cross said he wants the children's sermon to be "the spark" that makes them want to come back to church.

More than one parent in the church has told him that he's asking for trouble when he asks open-ended questions. It often turns into a comical exchange between the children and him.

He recalled when he was going to tell the children about "the rock" Christ built his church on, and he grabbed a flat rock out of the prayer garden.

When he asked the children why God would build his church on a rock, one said, "He's gonna need a bigger rock."

"All the boys had to pick it up over their heads to show howstrong they are. It was just real cute," he said.

He often share stories of his childhood - how Superman was his favorite super hero and how bad he was at football - with the children.

"I want a ton of kids. I love kids. I can't put the cart before the horse. It'll happen one day," he said.

His youth and single status make it interesting when he does premarital counseling. His first couple were 70 and 60.

"I felt like I was counseling my grandparents," he said, laughing. "It lasted 23 minutes," he recalled.

"I told them, 'I don't presume to tell you how to live your life - I'm 27 years old.'" He said he just wanted to get to know them.

Cross has performed more than 20 funerals, too, he said, becoming serious.

"This is going to sound morbid, but I like doing funerals. There's a bond that forms with a grieving family. You have something in common with them, and it's just an unusual bond."

Cross came to Grace UMC straight from seminary.

"My whole prayer was that God would place me where he wanted me to be," Cross said.

He met the Rev. Jim Lenderman, pastor of Grace, at a board of ordained ministry retreat.

Cross said Lenderman interviewed him and "felt my style of ministry fit" with the church.

Cross said his goal is to reach people, grow their faith and change lives.

"Win them to Christ, discipline them in faith and send them out to serve," Cross said.

"This church is unlike any other Methodist church I've been in," he said of the 14-yearold church.

"We don't take ourselves too seriously. We take the gospel seriously, and our faith seriously, but not ourselves," he said. "Guests say what made them stay was our overwhelming sense of care and love.

He has preached two sermons, and his parents were in the audience for both.

His father, Clay, said he never dreamed he'd have both children enter the ministry. "Absolutely not," he said.

Clay Cross said of his son, "I'm really proud of him. He has worked really hard, and he has come up with very good ideas. I like the way he thinks."

Clay believes Harry made the right decision to choose ministry over law.

"Oh, yes, oh, yes, without a doubt. I think he's better suited for that. He has taken such an interest and did so well in seminary. I'm always amazed at his presence, and he seems so at ease in the pulpit. I'm impressed every time he preaches."