Looking Back, Moving Forward
Hey, Cornerstone! As I look back on 2017, I can t help but be amazed by how God continues to bless Cornerstone Christian Church. Our mission is to connect people to Jesus for transformed lives and as we look at the past year, we see evidence of transformation all around us. We witnessed 107 people give their lives to Christ through baptism, served locally in East St. Louis through Convoy of Hope where we gave away over 1,000 backpacks, and loved on kids as Christ would have at our Christmas at CAC party. We saw over 50 people serve in missions through Bond Camp Work Week in Greenville, Illinois; Sojourn Collegiate Ministry in Rhode Island; GO Ministries in the Dominican Republic, and Casas por Cristo in Guatemala. We also spent November casting a God-sized vision for Cornerstone s next steps. What an incredible year it has been! In 2018, we will continue to connect people to Jesus for transformed lives. We will open our second campus this fall because we want to make it easier for people to get connected and we know people are more likely to attend a church that is closer to their home and part of their community. We will continue to ask people to take their next step in faith. It s going to be an exciting year here at Cornerstone. I am humbled and honored to lead a church that is passionate about reaching their Ones. Yours and His, Chris VandeLinde
Dear Cornerstone Family, As you read through the 2017 Annual Report, I challenge you to pray daily for Cornerstone and for your one as we seek to be a church where each one reaches one. As an elder, it is exciting to see God s vision for the church come to life. For instance, since Chris shared the 2020 Vision in November of 2017, we have witnessed 60 baptisms. Also, one of our biggest staffing prayers was answered when we added Rachel Worthington as our Children s Minister. If I could encourage you to do one thing, it would be to become an encouragement to your church staff and if you haven t already told them how grateful you are for what they do, let them know. I know they would appreciate knowing you love and care about them. The elders and leadership are very excited about the 2020 Vision. We spent a lot of time in prayer over this and believe this is truly a God-sized vision for Cornerstone. We feel the challenge of becoming a church of 2020, seeing 365 baptized, and launching a new campus. However, more than feeling challenged, we are excited about what God is doing. I want to encourage you to accept the challenge as we launch into our Made for More campaign in March and faithfully tithe with your time, talent, and treasures. If you have not taken this next step, I ask you to pray about it, trust God, and see for yourself just how much He will bless you. Last year we were committed to making Cornerstone s Values an integral part of our daily lives and we still are. This year we want to challenge you to join us as we focus on reaching the lost in our community. We look forward to 2018 and continuing to be A People Who. Dave Watson Chairman of the Elders
2017 Statistics Average Weekly Attendance First Time Guests 1,274 1,271 469 533 2016 2017 2016 2017 New Members Baptisms 106 96 73 107 2016 2017 2016 2017 Families Financially Supporting Cornerstone Volunteers 721 720 480 493 2016 2017 2016 2017 Thank You for Being Cornerstone!
Cornerstone Core Values
Sermon Series
Life Groups Life Groups are an essential part of Cornerstone Christian Church and our mission to see lives transformed. At the end of 2017 we had 44 life groups meeting all over the Metro East to be the gospel in our neighborhoods. If you would like more information about life groups please contact lifegroups@ onecornerstone.org or sign up at onecornerstone.org/thehub. MEN S & WOMEN S MINISTRY Cornerstone Men s and Women s ministry offered 15 different Bible Studies that took many people deeper in their faith as they studied the Bible together. Aside from Bible Studies, both Cornerstone Men s and Women s ministry offered several gatherings and outings throughout 2017 to encourage and enrich our men and women in Christian fellowship. To get connected with these ministries so you don t miss out in 2018, sign up at onecornerstone.org/thehub
Cornerstone Kids In 2017 Cornerstone Kids took one of several exciting steps forward when we announced the hire of Rachel Worthington as our Children s Minister. We are beyond grateful for the 134 volunteers who served in this ministry during 2017 to make our kids programing better. Cornerstone Kids is designed to engage kids with the gospel in a relevant way so they can learn to love Jesus for a lifetime. Every month, Cornerstone Kids chooses a Mission Partner to raise money for in order to help ministries both locally and around the world. Overall, in 2017, Cornerstone Kids raised $1,118 through their offerings. If you would like to learn more about what goes on in Cornerstone Kids, sign up for our Family Enews at onecornerstone.org/thehub 10 288 $1,118 134 Baptism Average Weekly Attendance Missions Offering Volunteers
Cornerstone Students Our student ministry at Cornerstone continues to see growth, increased ownership, and involvement from our students. Each week over 50 middle school and 78 high school students attend programing that is designed to inspire them toward their own next steps of faith. Many of our Cornerstone Students are leading First Priority clubs in their schools and seeing their friends lives transformed on their campus. Your investment in Cornerstone allows a safe place for the next generation to ask questions, explore faith, and be transformed by Jesus. Throughout the year, Cornerstone Students had some great events that brought both students and leaders closer to Jesus. Some of the student ministry highlights include having 98 students and leaders attend Fall Retreat and 112 students and leaders that attended CIY MOVE or MIX. If you would like to learn more about what goes on in Cornerstone Students, sign up for our Family Enews at onecornerstone.org/thehub Student Baptisms 17 17 Student Life Groups 8 8 MSM HSM MSM HSM
Missions & Outreach The mission of Cornerstone is to connect people to Jesus for transformed lives. As a church we desire to partner with great missions organizations to see that happen both locally and internationally. By partnering with these missions organizations, our goal is to be a resource both financially and physically through volunteering and praying for these ministries. Local Outreach In 2017 our local outreach continued through several partners that allow us to impact the community we live in for transformation. Our local outreach included several organizations that impact the next generation as well as help to eradicate poverty in our area. Sacks of Summer Ten times during the summer of 2017, Cornerstone volunteers packed over 1600 sack lunches and delivered them to kids in the Shiloh community. Shower to the People In 2017 we collected 250+ toiletry kits for an organization in St. Louis called Shower to the People. Shower to the People operates mobile shower trucks allowing homeless people to get a warm shower and helping to restore their dignity and foster hope. Beacon Beacon coordinates a local furniture warehouse to help families obtain new and used furniture. As part of our partnership with Beacon, Cornerstone Men volunteer together to pick-up and deliver furniture at 9am on the third Saturday of each month.
Baby Bottle Drive Every January we ask Cornerstone to save their loose change into a baby bottle. These funds go to the Mosaic Pregnancy & Health Center to help mothers as they care for their babies. Last year, $2,110.30 was given to this ministry. Missions Trip to Bond In 2017 Cornerstone Men built a water slide for the kids to enjoy, helped update the worship building by assisting with finishing the HVAC, painting the interior, and hanging some trim. Christmas at CAC & Give-A-Gift For Christmas, 63 Cornerstone volunteers hosted our annual Christmas Party at CAC for 106 children and 38 adults. On top of this, over 75 families that are a part of CAC received over 225 Christmas gifts from the many generous people of Cornerstone.
Convoy of Hope Convoy of Hope came back to the Metro-East and Cornerstone was able to make a big impact in the community with them. As we partnered with multiple churches in the area, people were served and shown the love of Jesus. Here are some of the statistics shared with us: Partner Churches 130 Guests Prayed With 2,799 National Breast Cancer Society 599 Guests Visited Tent Hotdogs Cooked 6,000 Water Bottles Provided 8.500 School Backpacks Handed Out 1,000 Portraits Taken 250 Haircuts 133 Health Services 600 Guests Served Physicals Conducted 35 Dental Checkups 500 Jobs & Career Services 200 Guests Served Veteran Services 41 Veterans Served Community Services 700 Guests Served Plum Products 12,000 Gardens in a Bag 800 Shoes 1,710 Pairs Handed Out
International Missions Guatemala Trip In July, a team of 11 volunteers from Cornerstone served with Casas por Cristo. It was hot and a sacrifice of vacation time. Many team members said they didn t have the skill necessary to build a house, but in the end they built a beautiful home for a family of four in need. During the process they were able to meet the family and talk with the local pastor that arranged for them to build the house. The family didn t know Jesus, but after the team s sacrifice, display of love, and the pastor talking to them about why our team was there, this family of four now know Jesus. Lives were transformed and it wasn t just the family with a new house, it was our team s lives as well. They got out of the boat, took their next step, and God multiplied their efforts. Dominican Republic Trip - GO Ministries In October another team (of seven) from Cornerstone served with GO Ministries to host a medical clinic. Yes, they provided medical attention and cared for the people s needs, but they did so much more by providing hope and saying prayers for those they served. Check out their trip video at https://gomin.org/cornerstone-christian- church-2017/
Cornerstone has partnered with many different ministries-- both locally and internationally-- over many years. Here s a review of what Cornerstone has given to our mission partners throughout 2017. 6,473 7,192 46,432 9,200 6,400 12,798 6,000 13,500 3,500 Misc. 6,473
Weekend Worship In 2017, Cornerstone offered four worship services on our Shiloh Campus, an online service, and a Facebook Live service at 11:30am. On the weekend you will find over 200 volunteers serving to make your worship experience friendly, practical, and life transforming. While we have a lot of people serving on weekends, there is always room for more as we embark on a new campus in 2018. Our volunteers serve more than 20,800 combined hours a year. Serving is a blessing and we are grateful for everyone who has taken that next step to serve. 8,400+ Facebook Live Message Views 1,600+ Most Viewed Message Video
Financial Facts Actual Giving 2016 2017 Giving $2,159,311 $2,141,075 Other $112,233 $139,467 Total Income $2,271,544 $2,280,542 Actual Spending 2016 2017 Capital/Building Loan $250,482 $290,247 Designated Expenses $81,375 $83,819 Facilities & Maintenance $70,735 $63,192 General & Administrative Expenses $91,946 $80,743 Ministry Expenses $132,524 $143,193 Missions Outreach $156,994 $185,971 Staff and Benefits $1,092,814 $1,112,264 Technology $22,773 $28,865 Utilities $74,830 $74,557 Total Spending $1,974,473 $2,062,851 Budget for 2018 Capital/Building Loan $417,143 Facilities & Maintenance $60,154 General & Administrative Expenses $73,615 Ministry Expenses $138,105 Missions Outreach $213,800 Staff and Benefits $1,133,544 Technology $30,550 Utilities $74,161 Total Proposed 2018 Spending $2,141,072
2020 vision In November Chris presented our 2020 Vision. We were challenged to take the hope of Jesus Christ and each one of us to reach one person. As we are obedient to what God has called us to do, we will see growth, baptisms, and multiplication! We will be able to achieve the goal of being a multisite church of 2020 by the end of 2020. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Matthew 13:23
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