Contact Dr. Crossley: 07974 843447 / RevealingChrist@mail.com.

Born into a family with no religious interest, educated at Morley Grammar School in Yorkshire, Gareth served a five-year apprenticeship in medium/heavy mechanical engineering, culminating as a trainee design draughtsman. During his teens he had contact with a Methodist Church but met with difficulties in discovering the meaning and significance of  the Christian faith.

After coming to faith in the Lord Jesus at nineteen, he was concerned that others should not face such difficulties in hearing the gospel. This prompted him to train to become a Methodist local preacher.

At the completion of his apprenticeship he wondered if the Lord wanted him to commit his whole life to the proclamation of the gospel. In the providence of God an opportunity arose to spend twelve months assisting a minister in a rural area who was responsible for thirteen churches. This full-time appointment gave him experience in the whole work of the pastoral and preaching ministry. During this period he applied to the Methodist Church to train for ministry and was accepted and allocated a place at Hartley Victoria Theological College, Manchester. There was only a small minority of Evangelicals in the college.

For his fourth year of study he took a post-graduate course in Detached Youth Work at Manchester University. This course included weekly practical experience on local streets and a six-week placement on the streets of Brooklyn and East Harlem, New York.

At the conclusion of training he was appointed to Wolverhampton Methodist Circuit as a minister with particular responsibility for youth work amongst the unchurched. At the same time he worked part-time for the Local Authority Youth Department training and supervising a team in a new project of detached youth work.

Leaving the Methodist Church on doctrinal and organisational grounds he began his specific ministry in church planting, first at Merridale Church (renamed West Park Church) Wolverhampton, and later at Little Hill Church Leicester; Jennyfield Church Harrogate and Ashbourne Baptist Church, Derbyshire.

From 1980 he mentored nine full-time trainee assistants. Each stayed two to three years then went on to lead a variety of pastoral ministries at home and abroad.

Concerned that the work of pastoral care was being consigned to secular ‘experts’ he enrolled on a full-time Master’s Course in (secular) Counselling at Keele University to ascertain whether secular counsellors were better equipped than Christian pastors. This lead to Gareth engaging in research in pastoral care at Birmingham University where he was awarded a PhD. He had been offered a place at Oxford University which he had declined as it would have necessitated leaving his pastorate in Wolverhampton to fulfil residential requirements.

Knowing that secular professionals did not possess greater insight or ability in handling problems of living spurred Gareth on to promote biblically enlightened pastoral training for ministers and church leaders. As a part-time lecturer at the Evangelical Theological College of Wales he taught two courses for the MA in pastoral studies: Psychology and Pastoral Care and Scripture and Pastoral Care.

Alongside his pastoral responsibilities in the UK training became a worldwide ministry to ministers and church leaders. Under the auspices of MERF, Carey Outreach Ministries and many church groupings he spent two to six weeks in training sessions in: Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Kenya, Sudan, Indonesia, the Far East, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and India. He continues this work through training videos on the internet.

He has authored: Everyday Evangelism, The Old Testament Explained and Applied, Growing Church Leaders and several articles including a contribution to the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (secular).

Gareth is married with four children and eight grandchildren and lives in Scarborough UK where he continues writing, preaching and training.