1948 – Our story begins on December 18 when the church first met at the home of John Ehleiter on Cramer Street in Milwaukee. Eighteen charter members led the way with Rev. James Wannamacher as the pastor.

1949 – This small group met in various homes until moving to a store basement.

August 1949 – God provided for the purchase of our first building on 10th and Hadley in Milwaukee and we were officially named  “First Alliance Church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance – Milwaukee” under Rev. N.A. Weber.

1951-1953 Over the next several years, the average Sunday morning attendance grew to 68.

1954 – To accommodate growing attendance, we built a new building and parsonage on 60th St in Milwaukee.

1960 – Average Sunday attendance grew to 116.

1963 – We added to the facility under the leadership of Rev. Harley Heckman, who served as senior pastor from 1960-1979.

1978 – To further the gospel in other parts of the greater Milwaukee area, we planted a church in Cedarburg, pastored by William Ronzenheimer. That church, Alliance Bible Church, now meets in Mequon and currently (2024) averages about 900 attendees per Sunday.

1979 – Continuing to grow, First Alliance Church averaged 254 in attendance on Sunday mornings.

May 4, 1986 – In order to allow better opportunities for growth, we decided again to relocate and broke ground for the current facility in Germantown. The building was dedicated nine months later. 

June 30, 1996 – Due to rapid growth, it was time for another addition, so we broke ground for office and educational spaces.

January 24, 1999 – First Alliance celebrated its 50th anniversary!

2004 – Jason & Amy Esposito join CrossWay Church

2010 – We were outgrowing the original sanctuary and needed more space for children’s ministry and adult discipleship. We added a much larger sanctuary and changed the name to CrossWay Church. 

2010 – We began a global partnership with Harvesters in South Sudan. This was the beginning of an expansion of our Global Partnerships throughout the world. 

2015-2021 – Desiring to have more outreach to the city, we launched CrossWay North Milwaukee and held services at a school in the Brown Deer area. Additionally,  we opened the Woodlands Community Center to strategically care for those in North Milwaukee.

2018 – As multi-site ministry emerges, CrossWay Church opened an additional campus when Oakbrook Church became CrossWay Sussex. 

2020 – As we continue to reach Southeastern Wisconsin with the love and hope of Jesus, we opened a third location when HillPoint Church became CrossWay North Shore.