That was the kind of energy and excitement happening over at Lee-Scott Academy last Sunday night as our multi-site launch team gathered together for the first time in our new home. Over 150 “pioneers” showed up to worship Jesus and pray in the space that will become the second location of Cornerstone Church starting February 26, 2012. It was an amazing night, and you could just sense something very special beginning to unfold.

As we walked around the building and prayed together I couldn’t help but think about the many people whose lives will intersect with this body of Christ and find His grace, hope and love. As was said that night – this bold step is not about us, but ultimately the harvest.

So whether you are a going to our new Lee-Scott location or staying at our Hamilton Road site – please continue to pray as we, Cornerstone Church, follow God’s path towards February 26, 2012. And it’s not too late to jump in with our launch team.  Just pick up a commitment card any Sunday at the information desk.

Just wanted to inform you of some recent news regarding Allen Whittaker’s resignation from his role with Cornerstone as our Youth Pastor. In sharing this news, I thought it would best to hear from Allen in his own words.

God has led me on an amazing journey over this past year with our youth at Cornerstone Church. Through this year, I’ve realized a lot about my future goals for where I see myself in ministry. These goals include pursing a Seminary degree and eventually stepping into more of an “Executive Pastor” role at a church.

God has opened an amazing opportunity for me to pursue these goals. Effective October 2nd I will no longer be the Youth Pastor at Cornerstone Church. I have accepted a job as the Director of Youth Worship and Discipleship at Dunwoody UMC in Dunwoody, Georgia. I will also be pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. The Atlanta area holds a special place in our hearts in regards to our personal and professional lives. We feel called to that area. And with Rachel’s job in Atlanta, this gives her the opportunity to be back in the office on a daily basis.

Obviously the timing is shorter than we planned it to be; however, I believe it’s been an amazing year with Cornerstone Youth. We have seen our numbers double as well as bringing in over 20 new college and adult volunteers. The excitement and momentum with our youth is at an all time high. I believe the future is very bright. The investment Cornerstone has made in the Youth Program has made this all possible. And I have no doubt this will continue in the future.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of the lives of the youth and their families at Cornerstone. It has been a true blessing to be a part of this church family.

We are grateful for the leadership Allen’s has extended to Cornerstone Youth and the investment he has made in the lives of our students in the last year. Please continue to pray for Allen as he and Rachel make preparations for their transition to Atlanta.

In moving forward from here, the youth will be under the leadership of Christopher Slagley, who has served as a volunteer with Cornerstone Youth for the last 5 years. He will be serving in a part-time, interim capacity through January 2012 while our Personnel Team works towards a more permanent leadership solution. We are so very fortunate to have Christopher’s leadership and passion for a time such as this and I have great confidence in his ability to lead us forward with great momentum.

So as a Church I ask for your prayers, for Allen, Christopher, our amazing youth volunteers and especially our students as we continue on this mission of leading students to know and serve Jesus.

Our life as Cornerstone Church has these same kind of events that shape our story and direction. I think about our five years in the Skate Center and how that formed a heart of service and authenticity; the financial campaign that ultimately led to our move to Hamilton Road; the people of Cornerstone stepping up to sponsor 300+ children in Buloba, Uganda. These have been huge markers along the way that have shaped our story.

And now we find ourselves at one of these significant places again as we move toward becoming a Multi-Site church. I’m so excited about the day when we will look back upon this move and tell stories of life transformation that came from taking this step.

So I share all this with you as a way to just say – what we are about to do is a big deal. It’s important for you as one who loves Jesus and his movement at Cornerstone to be well informed. Our Town Hall Meetings will allow us to have a much deeper and more informative conversation that we couldn’t have on a Sunday morning. We had a great response from those who attended our first gathering on August 7th (lots of questions, lots of answers, lots of light bulbs going off). I hope you make plans to join us on either of our next two – August 21 and September 18, both at 2pm.  Go to Town Hall Meeting to register for childcare for the August 21 meeting.

If you’ve been a part of our small group movement in this last year, then you know April Olive.  She has been on our staff team for two years now but in January came alongside of me to specifically partner in leading our small group movement.  April has made a significant impact in a short amount of time, and I’m grateful for the passion and wisdom she brings to such an important part in our Church.

So as I begin to make transitions towards leading our second location of Cornerstone Church, it’s only fitting for April to take the charge of leading our small group movement.  As of August 1, she will officially move into the role of “Director of Small Group Ministries” although she has already been doing much of this work for several months now.  I truly believe that April has been called to this task and see how God has been shaping her life for this role – even long before being a part of Cornerstone.

If you know April at all – you know that she exudes a passion for authentic discipleship and loving people as the hands and feet of Jesus.  So I have great confidence in April as she leads us forward – but even more confidence in the Spirit of God that lives in her and leads her life.

For all of us at Cornerstone this is a new change and something that many of us have never experienced before. But this is so often the way that God leads his people and the church towards greater things…asking them to step forward in faith to what he has called them to, even when the future is a little unclear. The writer of Hebrews describes faith as “ “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” This is exactly what God is calling us to in this process of becoming a multi-site church – having a deep faith in him.

Along this journey our leadership and myself will do all we can to cast vision, answer questions and provide information to bring clarity to our church. This Leadership Blog will be our main information provider during this season. In addition to this we will have several Town-Hall Meetings in August and September (more details to come) as well as speaking towards this on some Sunday mornings.

Much of this journey is going to be taking “one step at a time”. We have already taken one big step by identifying our Site Pastor – some crazy guy named Josh Agerton. Our next big step now is identifying a second location beyond our Hamilton Road site. Once this is determined several other pieces will begin to fall into place.

Our Multi-Site Team has been working hard in the last month on this – and I mean real hard. We’ve considered everything from schools to restaurants, to warehouses, to the local movie theater, to car dealerships and other random commercial spaces across Auburn and Opelika. We’ve thought outside of the box and at times even thrown the box completely out the window. We’ve submitted a few proposals and already heard “No” a few times. But we are pressing forward and praying for God to open and close doors that will eventually lead us to where he wants us to be. I have great confidence that in the end we will land in the location that he desires for us.

So that’s it for now but please continue to pray for our church and our leadership as we continue to follow God and his direction.

As we move toward the fall you’ll be hearing more on a specific timeline and ways to jump into this effort. But for now – please pray specifically for God’s guidance as we continue to search for a second location to gather in. Our Multi-Site Team is making connections and having conversations with several people right now about this. We are confident that God will lead us to the place he desires for us – so join us as we continue to pray for his wisdom and clarity in this.

Much more to come – Josh

Cornerstone Family,

I’m excited to share with you the news that last week Jill Harris was hired into a permanent capacity as Cornerstone’s Director of Children’s Ministry. This decision comes after about three months of visioning and research on the part of our Senior Staff Team and Personnel Team – led by Ken Lott.

Jill and her husband, Dan, came to Cornerstone Church in 2006 along with their three kids RJ, Sam and Hope. Dan and Jill served faithfully in Kidztown for several years, and then Jill joined the Cornerstone Staff team in 2009 as the Director of Early Childhood Ministries. Upon Michael McClendon’s resignation from his role as Director of Elementary Ministries in January of 2011, Jill stepped into an interim capacity to also give leadership to our elementary and preteen students.

In these last months of discerning how best to lead our next generation to know and serve Jesus, Jill emerged as the clear candidate for this role. She brings tremendous leadership skills along with a great passion for nurturing the faith of our next generation. In her new role, Jill will give leadership to the overall ministry from infants to 6th grade students – all with the help of her staff support team of Courtney Cloud, Kelly Cadden and Keri Spurlin.

Those of you who know Jill also know how much of a blessing she has been and will continue to be to Cornerstone. We are truly fortunate to have her. So please offer your prayers and support to Jill as she moves into this new capacity.

Many of you already know April Olive. She and her husband, David, have been a part of Cornerstone for the last 6 years along with their kids Lindsey, Ben and Erin. You’ve probably seen them serving together as a family in the Café on Sunday mornings.

For the last year April has been serving on our staff team as a Program Ministry Assistant – mainly offering leadership and support to our volunteers at Cornerstone. But just recently she’s made a transition and is now going to be putting her energy into our small group ministry, serving in the official role of “Small Group Ministry Coordinator”.

For some time now there has been a need for more detailed and hands on leadership in our small group ministry and this just so happens to intersect perfectly with April’s passion and gifts. Any of you who already know April have likely experienced her heart for discipleship and investing in others with the love of Jesus. And this transition will allow her to more intentionally direct that passion towards our small group ministry. While this will entail many different things for April, most of her energy will be dedicated to connecting new people into small groups and equipping/supporting our small group leaders.

All I can say is that I’m excited – both for April and for Cornerstone. For those of you who don’t know April yet – you’ll be blessed by getting to know her. And for those of you who do – keep cheering her on as she serves Jesus.

During my time at Cornerstone, God has led me on a journey of discovering my true gifts and passion – using the arts to reach, teach and mold the next generation. He has now opened an amazing opportunity for me to use these gifts. So effective January 16th, I am resigning as the Director of Elementary Ministries at Cornerstone to join Student Life, an organization out of Birmingham that provides ministry events and resources for preteens and youth. I will be joining their team as a staff writer where I will write scripts for videos and stage dramas.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of the lives of families and children at Cornerstone. I consider myself blessed to have been a part of this body. Please pray for Meredith and me as we transition to Birmingham – specifically that Meredith will quickly find a job.

Please join the leadership of Cornerstone as we celebrate the ministry Michael has had among us and continue to pray for him and Meredith in this transition. As he mentioned, his last day serving with us will be Sunday, January 16. So be sure to extend your encouragement and thanks to him before he leaves.

In moving forward, the Elementary Ministry will continue as normal through an interim period under the direction of Jill Harris, Cornerstone’s Director of Early Childhood Ministries. Simultaneous to this, Cornerstone’s Personnel team, led by Ken Lott, is prayerfully considering strategies for more permanent long-term leadership.

So here at Cornerstone we’re in the middle of a message series called The 10% Project. While we are examining the instruction God has for us to give back 10% of our income, these messages are really about examining our hearts and asking the question, “What do I really put my faith in?” Our hope is to lead our entire church toward an experience on November 14th of giving a weekly tithe…10% of one week’s gross income. For some, this will be the first time they have ever done anything like this. And for others, it will be part of their normal worship. But for all of us, it will be an act of saying together, “Jesus – you are enthroned in my life.”

As I write this post, I’m in the middle of preparing for our message this Sunday. And as I have been working on this, I keep asking the questions:

Where are people with this 10% Project? What are they thinking and feeling as they begin to tally up their annual gross income and work toward calculating a weekly tithe amount for November 14th? What are the struggles and challenges? And what are some of the stories of people who have grown through this sacrificial giving? Has it been easy or hard? Have you ever regretted it? What has God done in you by your giving to His Kingdom?  How has it changed your relationship?

I want to know, and I think others do as well. It would be encouraging for us all to hear some of this. So go for it! Just leave a comment here on whatever strikes you as we journey through The 10% Project. And if you would like your comment to be anonymous, just email it directly to me at josh@cornerstonebuzz.org, and I’ll post it without your name.

OK – so let’s hear it!