Referrals & Contact

Rev. James R. Leslie: Has 20 years' experience working with delinquent youth and families in crisis. He beliefs in a Christian following that is lead of the Holy Spirit. He served for six years in Chicago working with gang members, mentoring and working with their families. He founded Cross in the City in 1997 when he realized that some of the problems he saw in Chicago where starting to appear in the Houston area. He graduated from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Psychology, Glory Ministries Bible College with a B.A. in Biblical Studies, and a M.A. in Studies of the Future from University of Houston, Clear Lake. He is married with 3 children.

John Butler: Graduated from the University of Houston, B.A. in Personnel Supervision and M.A. in Public (NonProfit) Administration. He has over 40 years full-time experience in youth work, mostly with at-risk youth. He has served on staff with Camp Peniel (13 years) and Youth for Christ (24 years) as a chaplain with incarcerated youth, program director and executive director. John has served part-time with CITC since 2008, in developing needed administrative systems. He and Sandy have been married 42+ years; they have two sons and 10 grandchildren. John also serves as an elder in his church and as director of TheNet of Greater Houston.