CrossPointe Family Church was born in the unlikeliest moments, right in the middle of a global pandemic. While the world was shutting down, Good Shepherd Baptist Church in West Virginia stepped out in faith, sending four couples to plant a new church. There were no crowds, no hype, and no ideal conditions. Just faithful obedience.
The lead pastor, Dr. Jonathan White, never imagined himself planting a church. A physician by training, Jonathan expected a quieter ministry path, serving as an elder or associate pastor while continuing his work as a family doctor with a few ER shifts mixed in. But through discernment, a different calling emerged—a life stitched together as both doctor and pastor.
As Jonathan and his wife, Lauren, walked with God through a season of training and preparation, a core team took shape, and together they said yes to planting a church in Winfield, West Virginia.
A Church Born Small—On Purpose
Given the times, CrossPointe did not start with a large platform or immediate numerical momentum. It began with conviction and a faithful core. This team took risks, stepped into the unknown, and stayed the course as their obedience shaped the movement that would follow. They made disciples, served their community, and built simple structures for life together. As the congregation grew, volunteer leaders emerged who didn’t merely fill gaps—they owned the mission.
From the beginning, Jonathan resisted the pull of building a pastor-dependent church, developing others so the whole body could be activated. Through shared rhythms of teaching and leadership, newer believers stepped into meaningful responsibility and grew in maturity as they loved the Lord and others well.
Because CrossPointe is intentionally family-integrated, children and teens participate alongside adults in the life of the church. Jonathan and Lauren model this integration themselves as their family serves together. It isn’t performance. It’s a shared mission.
“It’s not the Jonathan White Show,” he often says. “We want to make ourselves as dispensable as possible, because the church belongs to Jesus.”
Why Covocational Planting?
Jonathan leads CrossPointe without stepping away from his vocation. This isn’t a fallback plan—it’s a missional strategy that places him at the crossroads of human need.
Each week in the emergency room, colleagues call him “pastor” as often as “doctor,” and patients frequently ask for prayer. Addiction, domestic crisis, anxiety, loneliness—these realities don’t show up as abstract issues. They arrive on gurneys. That proximity keeps Jonathan grounded in the realities people face daily and shapes preaching that is pastoral, concrete, and compassionate.
There is also a unique freedom that comes from not relying on church giving for income. Jonathan preaches verse by verse without the quiet fear that a difficult passage might upset a donor or threaten his family’s financial stability. That independence protects pastoral courage and theological fidelity when pressures rise.
Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of covocational church planting is what it requires of the church itself. Jonathan simply can’t do everything. That limitation forces shared leadership, delegation, and discipleship. Volunteers move from “helping out” to truly owning the mission. Ownership forms maturity — and maturity builds resilience.
The Hardest Challenge: Time
Jonathan is candid about the cost. The greatest challenge of covocational ministry is time.
Medical residency trained him to live with discipline and boundaries, skills that now shape his rhythms. He practices intentional presence: fully a doctor at the hospital, fully a pastor at church, fully a husband and father at home. That clarity keeps work and ministry in their proper places, creating margin for study, rest, and family life.
Delegation isn’t optional—it’s essential when time is limited. Jonathan pays close attention to the health of his home, relying on Lauren’s insight to gauge family pace and emotional well-being as they serve together.
How a Covocational Strategy Takes Shape
Jonathan’s story isn’t a formula—it’s a lived example of trust and obedience. It began with being sent. CrossPointe was planted in humility and unity with its sending church, establishing a posture that continues to shape its culture.
Over time, Jonathan aligned his professional life with his pastoral calling. Shifting from clinic work to ER shifts created clearer boundaries and predictable windows. His vocation became a support to ministry rather than a competitor.
At the heart of CrossPointe is discipleship through shared ministry. Families serve together. Volunteers lead in vital spaces. Multiple voices shepherd and teach. The church functions and thrives without depending on any single individual.
Looking Ahead: A Decade of Sending
Now at 40, Jonathan anticipates another decade of ER work and pastoring—not as a burden, but as a calling. Over time, he hopes to reduce medical hours, not to take on more church tasks, but to invest in developing future planters and strengthening CrossPointe’s sending culture.
The long-term goal is a healthy, unified, missionally active, multiplying church.
Why This Story Matters for the Future Church
Jonathan’s story reaches beyond one church and one calling. It reflects a broader shift shaping the future of church planting. Across the U.S. and Canada, more churches will be planted by covocational leaders.
Economic pressures, cultural shifts, and the growing need for decentralized mission mean many planters will not be fully funded. This reality does not diminish calling—it expands the imagination of what planting can look like.
Jonathan’s life offers a compelling picture of how covocational planting can anchor pastors deeply in their communities, foster shared leadership, create healthy rhythms, and produce churches that multiply people—not just programs.
A Word to Potential Planters
If you feel drawn toward ministry but wrestle with the tension between career and calling, you don’t have to choose between them. It does not have to be an either/or—it may be a both/and.
Your profession can fuel your ministry calling and propel your church planting journey.
What if your weekday vocation is the very soil where God intends to grow a church?
To learn more about covocational church planting and how to leverage your career for the sake of the gospel, check out our resources at covochurchplanting.com.
Published February 17, 2026