Despise not the Day of Small Beginnings..

Annie Wade strengthened her faith in Jesus Christ through a 700 Club broadcast in 1975. Like any godly mother, Annie was so excited about her faith that she desired to share this good news with her family.  Just as He did for Cornelius of the New Testament, God provided a preacher for Annie’s family in the person of Timothy Longley an elder in the Church of God in Christ. Annie had met Pastor Longley’s wife, Mother Hazel Belle Longley while selling candy in the neighborhood. Mother Longley and Mother Wade shared conversations about the Lord. Mother Longley mentioned that her husband was a preacher. Like a modern day Lydia, Annie invited the Longleys to her home. She asked if they would hold prayer meetings there. The prayer meetings in the Wade home began on Wednesday nights.

It was not in Elder Longley’s plan to start a new church. At age 68 he was planning a move to California. However, God had another plan. The Wednesday night prayer meeting grew to a bible study, and bible study led to a revival which in turn led to the salvation of some of Annie’s children, grandchildren, and neighbors. It was the infancy of Crusaders Church.

To The Neighborhood . . .

The new church was mobile from the beginning. As it grew, the church moved from the Wade's home to a church in the Roseland area in Chicago, from there to 65th and Ashland, and from there to 54th and Halsted. In 1978, Ollie Wade, the late husband of Annie Wade, had a dream of a storefront church which they located on East 39th Street in the heart of the Chicago urban area. It was here Crusaders Church of God in Christ was officially birthed.  The pastor was of course, Elder Timothy Longley. Its founding members were the Wade Family. Out of this brood of Wades, God began to train up a young preacher, Coy Wade. He later served as Assistant Pastor of Crusaders Church and is now an apostle to the nations.

From The Neighborhood To The Nations . . .

On July 29, 1979 a young man was listening to a preacher conducting an outside street meeting on 39th and. During the preaching God touched his heart and he invited Jesus to be the Lord of his life. Conveniently located nearby was the newly relocated Crusaders Church of God in Christ. The young man, John Eckhardt, united with Crusaders Church of God in Christ. He also united with his bride Wanda, the youngest daughter of Annie and Ollie Wade. John began to grow as an avid student of the bible holding teaching services on Mondays and Friday nights.

In 19?? John Eckhardt planted the Joliet Faith Center in Joliet, Illinois, located about 50 miles outside of Chicago. During this same period of time the ministry of deliverance and spiritual warfare was introduced to the church through Melvin Smith. Many people traveled from Chicago to Joliet each Sunday afternoon to receive deliverance ministry.

In 1988 Elder Timothy J. Longley went on to his heavenly reward and John Eckhardt and Coy Wade became the leaders of Crusaders Church of God in Christ. Shortly thereafter John was commissioned as Senior Pastor of Crusaders Church. Joliet Faith Center was turned over to the leadership based there and John returned to take the helm of Crusaders Church.

Media Ministry…

A radio broadcast was birthed in 1985. Warfare prayers were read over the airwaves for the next Five years. Many in the Chicago area began to seek out Crusaders for help and ministry as the church began to move into the arena of spiritual warfare… In 1989 the Perfecting the Saints television broadcast began on WCFC television. This daily broadcast featured teaching from various authors and sponsored a monthly book of the month club.

To Jerusalem and Judea

In 1989, God placed it on our leaderships heart to expand the ministry to the west side of Chicago. A space became available for rent on Madison Avenue. Crusaders Church West, a vibrant multicultural worship community was birthed. This congregation continues today under the leadership of Apostle Daryl O’Neil.

To the nations…

In 1989 Crusaders also sent its first mission team to the nation of Nigeria in Western Africa. There they spent two weeks preaching and teaching around the nation. This was to be the first launching of Crusaders apostolic teams. Since this time scores of teams have now traveled across the United States and the world.

Our first international church plant Crusaders Ethiopia was begun in ???? after a team of approximately 50 people from Crusaders joined took in a nationwide apostolic conference in Addis Ababa

Apostolic and Prophetic Ministry…

Early in the 1990’s God began to expose to our leadership the importance of the restoration of apostolic and prophetic worship and ministry into the life of the local church. During this time several key prophetic and apostolic voices imparted into Crusaders Church. Some of these voices included Kevin Leal, Tom Bynum, Juanita Bynum, Christian and Robin Harfouche, Bill Hamon, Diane Palmer, Mary Alice Isleib, Israel Houghton. God began to confirm the apostolic all of then Pastor John Eckhardt and Crusaders Ministries… So many more have been added to the list over the years and we thank God for their input. One of the major messages of our church has been the restoration of these offices, raising up of Davidic worship and the bringing of the evidence of the kingdom of God into the earth.

There is no place where their voice is not heard…

Thirty years later, what began as a small Bible Study has grown to thousands. The voice of Crusaders Church is heard around the world by hundreds of churches in scores of nations. Apostolic teams continue to be trained and sent out to teach, preach and support local ministries and to pioneer new works in six of the seven continents. Apostle Eckhardt has authored 35 books. Our Impact Network now supports 600 ministries in the United States and other nations…