Our History
1972
Cross & Crown Church was started with the help of First Evangelical Free Church of Colorado Springs and consisted of twelve families. It was to be a new church serving the area of “Northeast Colorado Springs.” Originally named Austin Bluffs Evangelical Free Church, the first service was held on Sunday Morning July 16, 1972. In those early days, worship services were held in Longfellow Elementary School which is just down the street from our former location on Maizeland Road. Within the first year, attendance was averaging 80 people.
Property on Maizeland Road was purchased and construction soon began on phase one which was to be a Multi-Purpose facility. The first service in the new building was on February 15, 1976. An auditorium and educational wing were later constructed and dedicated in October of 1984.
1997
Pastor Lance Gentry was called by the church to serve as Associate Pastor beginning in 1997 and then in 1999 the church called him to become the fifth Senior Pastor to serve our church. For the first fifty years of our existence, the building on Maizeland Road was our home. Over the years, God allowed our church to grow and it became evident that we would need to relocate to a larger facility that would better meet our needs.
Today
In 2022 the Maizeland campus was sold and a larger building on Arrowswest Drive was purchased and remodeled. In that same year the church name was changed from Austin Bluffs Evangelical Free Church to Cross & Crown Church. Our last Sunday service at Maizeland was on Christmas Day 2022 and our first Sunday service at Arrowswest was on New Years Day 2023. We give thanks to God for His faithfulness to our church throughout its first 50 years and we look to Him to lead and guide us in the years to come.
We have been a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) since our founding.