The Rev. Glen Stevens said he was perfectly content serving as senior pastor at Crossroads Evangelical Free Church in Albert Lea.

But when an e-mail circulated among Evangelical Free Church pastors announcing that George Davis was leaving his church, Salem Evangelical Free Church in Fargo, N.D., Stevens had to look twice.

“I’m convinced God was calling me,” he said. “The Holy Spirit was saying, ‘Glen, you have to look at that.’ I did not see it coming.”

Salem is where Stevens, a North Dakota native, had an apprenticeship 15 years ago. His parents and the parents of his wife, Jill, still live in North Dakota.

He said Jill was supportive to the idea of looking at the position, and after months of discussions, he took the job.

Crossroads is saying goodbye to the Stevens family today. On Monday, the couple and their four children take off for North Dakota, where they’ll spend a few days unpacking in their new home before getting to spend Christmas with family in Minot, N.D.

Stevens starts his new job on Jan. 18.

“I have mixed feelings about leaving,’ Stevens said. “I’m having to say goodbye to old friends, but I’m looking forward to making new friends.”

Stevens does consider those at Crossroads his friends. He remembers when he was sent to Albert Lea 13 years ago to plant a church in the community.

There were about 130 people from the Albert Lea area who had been attending Faith Church in Austin when Stevens came to be their first pastor in October of 1996. At first, they started meeting in the Southwest Middle School gymnasium, but after a couple of years, because of growing attendance, they moved to the then-new Albert Lea High School auditorium. It was then that church members began raising money for a church building of their own on Hoeger Lane.

Stevens still remembers how church members made generous personal commitments and pledged their time and talent for the building project. He knows the knowledge and work of some church members easily saved the church hundreds of thousands of dollars, he added.

While Stevens always said that a church is not a building — it’s the people — having a church building did give a signal to the community that Crossroads is a permanent church.

“Within two or three years, we doubled in size,” he said. “We quickly realized we didn’t have enough room for kids.”

So Crossroads built the second phase of its church with additional gathering space and space for small kids and big kids alike.

The church building is a tool for ministry. “This building is used every day,” Stevens said. “We now realize that not having a building really limited the things we can do.”

Crossroads now has a weekend attendance of about 700. There are two Sunday services and a Saturday night service.

Stevens said Crossroads’ mission was always to be a healthy church, reaching out, in a relevant way, to those who didn’t have a church of their own.

Dale Grotsun was one of those. He came to the church when it was about six months old with a weekly attendance of about 150. He liked what he was experiencing.

“He’s been a big part of our lives,” Grotsun said of Stevens, adding he’s been there for family baptisms and marriages. “He put faith back in my life in a very positive way.”

As a pastor, Stevens said he gets involved in people’s lives at vulnerable and tender moments and that’s a privilege. He counts among his most memorable experiences here standing in one person’s living room as he came to know Jesus and baptizing two of his own children.

Stevens said he’s found it gratifying to see members of the church, like Grotsun, doing Christian works like ShineFest out in the community. “In the Book of James, it states that faith without works is dead. To see people who have faith and put it into practice is a neat thing,” he added.

Knowing the church is in good hands makes it easier for Stevens to leave, he said. It’s a healthy church and soon an interim pastor will arrive to fill the pulpit until a new senior pastor is chosen. Also on staff are an executive pastor, Bill Miller; a youth pastor, David Hickman; and a worship pastor, Kaleb Hurley.

“Crossroads is blessed with great, servant-hearted people,” Stevens said. “There are some great leaders here.

“I think Jesus still has a lot ahead for Crossroads,” he said. “I like to think Crossroads’ best days are still ahead.”

Grotsun said he understands Stevens’ need to move on.

“He’s spirit-driven,” Grotsun said of Stevens. “He will go where the Lord wants him to go.”