Meet the Leaders & Staff

trustworthy leaders are real people who love to serve you

Leaders at the crossing church

Leadership Matters to You

You care about leadership when considering a church. You know healthy things have healthy leaders (not perfect ones).

Leaders You Can Relate To

You want leaders you can connect with. The Bible is filled with great leaders who are real people with very real struggles. That’s what you’ll find at The Crossing.

The leaders at The Crossing Church are called elders. It’s the word the Bible uses for “pastors”.

Leaders You Can Look Up To

You need leaders you can respect. You won’t find perfect leaders here. But you will find leaders with character and integrity.

The elders at The Crossing Church seek to point you to Jesus with their lives and service.

Jared Pickney

PASTOR & ELDER | VISION + TEACHING

Jared was born and raised in Paragould. He has received a bachelor's degree from Arkansas State University in Communication Studies along with a M.A. from Southern Theological Seminary. Since 2005, he has served as a youth minister, college pastor, associate pastor and now lead pastor. He has served on the board for the Soma family of churches, co-hosted the Saturate Podcast, and continues to serve the broader church through coaching pastors and speaking at conferences. He currently hosts the Paragould Podcast and in 2025 began serving on the Paragould City Council.

In 2012, after a one year church planting residency through Fellowship Bible Church in Jonesboro, Jared, along with a handful of families officially launched what is now known as The Crossing Church. Though a lot has changed since the early days, Jared is still passionate about creating a culture where people can thrive. "Our goal is to help people become deeply connected to God and others. To establish healthy, relational roots that allow them to flourish no matter what season they find themselves in."

Jared is married to Meagan and together they have three kids, Nora Kate, Wyatt, and Moses. Jared enjoys gardening, playing tennis, running, morning walks with Meagan, good food and good music.

Chris collier

Operations and outreach

Chris grew up in Tyronza, AR and attended East Poinsett County. He has received degrees from Williams Baptist University (‘08) and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (‘13).. Chris has served as a youth minister for two NEA churches while in college and served at Redeemer Fellowship in Kansas City from 2011 to 2021 in roles in children’s ministry, student ministry, community groups, and as the Business Administrator.

Chris and Sarah married in 2008. They lived in Kansas City, MO from 2009-2021. Their sons Jackson (2017) and Graham (2020) fill up a lot of their personal time. Chris enjoys running,,watching Braves baseball and Chiefs football, playing basketball & golf, & reading (particularly novels by Frederik Backman). Alongside a couple fellow members of The Crossing, Chris leads the Paragould Run Company, putting on races and supporting other non-profits around Paragould!

Stephanie Noblin

MINISTRY assistant

Stephanie has been a part of The Crossing Church since October of 2017. She began attending through Grace Mission and knew several of the members. As a member of The Crossing, the two most enjoyable things for Stephanie have been the loving and welcoming environment and the opportunity to serve in CrossingKIDS.

“I am able to be around the men and women here who stir my heart towards Jesus... and I now get to work alongside them for the church!” Her hope for The Crossing Church is that we would be a body of believers who have such a desire to be with Jesus that it leads others to want to know Jesus!

Stephanie is mom to seven(!) wonderful kids, Gage, Izzy, Emma, Bayleigh, AnnaKate, Mitchel, and Maverick.

brooke smith

CONNECTIONS MINISTER

Brooke has been a part of The Crossing Church almost since the beginning. She began visiting the church about 3 months after it was launched when meetings were happing in the Paragould Cinema 8. Brooke was in the Agape House at the time, and Jared was coming around helping out one of the other girls. Jared told her how the church was structured around Missional Communities (now Crossing Communities), and Brooke was instantly intrigued. She started attending services and plugged into Jared’s MC and hasn’t looked back since!

Brooke loves that she can be completely broken and still completely loved by the pastors, her CC, and her DNA. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the years, but someone always shows up without fail.

What excites Brooke most about her job is being obedient to the Holy Spirit. She is also super excited about being able to serve the body of Christ in this way after all that has been done for her. Her hope for The Crossing Church is that we will continue to be shaped and formed by Jesus giving the people of Paragould a safe place to land no matter what walk of life they are from.

Nathan Carter

Facilities

Nathan is a craftsman by heart. He loves the ability and opportunity to improve spaces. In his role at The Crossing Church, he gets to ensure our building is well cared for and continuously improving. Nathan is also a real estate agent and broker with Farmland Real Estate. He is married to Lauren, who runs a micro-school they started in Brookland, AR. They have three children, Nash, Blakely, and Ivy.