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Transition in Small Group Childcare

28Posted on by joshagerton in Leadership Blog
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Since Cornerstone began 10 years ago small groups have been at the very core of our ministry.  We see it as a place where people connect to others and to Jesus in deep transformational ways.  And during these years we have supported small groups with child childcare – as many people would not be able to participate otherwise.

For most of this time we have provided childcare on-site at the Church on two nights of the week.  As we have grown and had more people engage in small groups, providing childcare that is both cost effective and excellent has become more and more challenging, causing us to re-evaluate and ask a number of questions.

We’ve wrestled with questions like, “Can we sustain this level of childcare as the church and small group participation continues to grow?  Are we doing our best at stewarding the resources entrusted to us?  Is providing childcare at the church a barrier for people to participate who live or would meet far away from the church?  What more intentional ministry to our children are we missing out on by pouring time, energy and financial resources into in childcare?”  This has been a challenge for our leadership to say the least, but we’ve been ready to address it.

Through wrestling with these challenges, seeking wisdom from the Lord and in consulting with several other like-minded churches of similar size we have come to a conclusion.  Starting this fall we will no longer be offering childcare for small groups at the Church site – but moving to a reimbursement system.  In essence, parents will now be arranging their own childcare and then be reimbursed by the church.  While this is offered to everyone, it is our hope that families who do not need this financial support in order to participate will not take advantage of these resources. (Some may also choose to submit to be reimbursed only every other meeting or only in particular times of need.) On-site childcare will continue to be provided for other normally scheduled large group gatherings held at the church (Wednesday’s Beth Moore Women’s Study, Cornerstone 101, Cornerstone Connect, Journey Bible Classes, etc.).  Attached you will find a terms and conditions document as well as the reimbursement form for you to review.  This form will be accessible from our “Small Group” page on the website.

Our overall decision to go this direction involved a number of complex factors.  So I wanted to offer some more background on the “Why?” of this decision.

  1. To give leaders and small group participants more flexibility. Groups can now meet on any day of the week at any time they wish – and are no longer limited to the Sunday/Tuesday evenings when childcare has been available at the church.  This also provides better alternatives for families that live and groups that meet far away from the church (Imagine living in and participating in a group that meets in Camden Ridge or on the other side of Opelika.  Offering childcare at the church actually becomes more of a barrier to these individuals.)
  2. To provide a system of childcare that will accommodate Cornerstone’s growth and the future growth of small groups. If we were to double the number of small group (as we hope to) we would not be able to sustain the level of excellence, funding, space, etc. for childcare.  The reimbursement system is one that will better support more people being involved in small groups as the church continues to grow. Our consulting with several other like-minded churches of similar size or larger confirmed this.
  3. To be better stewards of Cornerstone’s financial resources. A common problem we experienced in staffing for childcare was that we were often overstaffed.  The number of children expected was rarely the same as the number that actually showed up – often much less.  For example, we would staff 6 workers for the expected needs when only 3 would end up being needed.  The reimbursement system will allow the allocated resources to more precisely match the needs.
  4. To save money. This reimbursement system is intended for those people who otherwise would not be able to participate in a small group.  It is our hope that families who do not need this financial support in order to participate in a small group will not take advantage of these resources. (Some may also choose to submit to be reimbursed only every other meeting or only at times needed.) Going to this system will also eliminate other hidden employment costs that the church incurs with childcare staff (FICA and Unemployment Tax matching, background checks, cost/time of recruiting, screening, interviewing, etc.).  Overall we expect the reimbursement system to reduce costs and while this is not the dominant reason for this change it is a significant one.
  5. To free up Cornerstone leadership from time in managing/coordinating childcare, allowing them to invest their time and energy in more meaningful ministry to our children.

I am fully aware of the many implications of a change like this.  Myself and others involved in this decision are aware of the sacrifice, extra effort and responsibility that parents must take to continue to participate in a small group.  For some, it won’t be as easy as before.  People will have to arrange their own babysitters, and maybe do things differently.  So for those of you committed small group folks – I’m asking you to stick with it, stay committed, adapt, and be creative.  What we are doing here is that important.   These are the kinds of things we as the people of Cornerstone Church rise up to.  So as we go forward I ask for your understanding and flexibility as we all seek to be better stewards of the resources entrusted to us.

Leading People to Know and Serve Jesus…

Josh Agerton,
Pastor of Connections

Small Group Childcare Reimbursement Form

Small Group Childcare Terms & Conditions

AUTHOR: joshagerton - [other posts by joshagerton]
Josh serves as the Pastor of Connections at Cornerstone Church. His role is really about people…helping to connect people to each other and to God. He is married to his best friend Leslie, and has 3 beautiful children.

Changes for Our Sunday Morning Volunteer Teams

23Posted on by Jack Fisher in Leadership Blog
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Do you volunteer on Sunday morning? Are you a part of Kidztown, Seaside, the Worship, Production or First Impressions Teams? If so, you need to make sure you read this blog post because we have a few changes to announce.

Each year, the end of summer marks the beginning of a busy time in the life of Cornerstone Church. Our members and attenders settle back in to a regular routine, and we see many new people coming through our doors each Sunday morning. To prepare for this time, we have made a few changes:

  • Volunteer Gathering Room- We now have a dedicated room for ALL Sunday morning volunteers to call their own. This room will be available every Sunday morning beginning this week just before 8 am until the end of the last service. It will be a place for volunteers to grab a snack, a cup of coffee and just spend some good time with each other. We will also spend a few moments preparing for each service through announcements and prayer. We encourage you to bring your children but ask that you are together as a family in this room. The room is called Sampson’s Barber Shop, and you can find it next to the barber pole down the Cornerstone Kids hallway.
  • Name change for the First Impressions Team- While creating positive first impressions is what we are challenged to do each Sunday morning, the name “First Impressions Team” can be confusing to new people. To better describe this team and make it more consistent with the experiences people have every day, we are now called the “Guest Services Team”.
  • Three Things to Commit To Doing- We are asking all of our Sunday morning volunteers to commit to no less than these three things.

  1. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the worship service time for which you will be volunteering. This will allow you time to prepare your heart and your thoughts for serving others.
  2. Learn the Basic Safe Sanctuary policies that apply on Sunday morning. Safe Sanctuary is a program that provides guidelines to keep our youth and children safe when they are involved in programs at Cornerstone. The more volunteers who know these policies, the better we can insure the safety of our children. A copy of these policies will be available each Sunday morning in Samson’s Barber Shop.
  3. Live out our Mission Statement of “Leading People to Know and Serve Jesus”. This will mean different things to different volunteers, and it will also depend on the area in which you serve. We just ask that your thoughts are focused on our mission statement and that your actions reflect these thoughts.

Volunteering on Sunday morning or, to be more precise, serving on Sunday morning, is ministry. It is an integral part of the worship experience each and every Sunday. What you do has the potential to change the heart of someone coming to Cornerstone. Be focused and alert, live out our mission of “Leading People to Know and Serve Jesus” and know that you truly make a difference.

AUTHOR: Jack Fisher - [other posts by Jack Fisher]
Jack serves on staff at Cornerstone Church. His primary responsibilities are in the areas of finance, communication, building & grounds maintenance, First Impressions Team and support staff leadership.

Update on Youth Pastor Search/Transition

15Posted on by Guest Author in Leadership Blog
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Hello Members of Cornerstone,

I am excited to report that many activities have been occurring behind the scenes as we have been moving forward in our Youth Pastor search.

First, I will give a brief update on the search process for the Youth Pastor. Secondly, I will cover how we are handling the transition with Amy Coxwell – our current Youth Minister, and her responsibilities.

Great news! We have two highly qualified candidates visiting Cornerstone in July for an extensive assessment and interview process. We have structured the visit to be a lot of informal networking as well as structured interviews. For example, our Youth Pastor Evaluation Team is comprised of parents of youth, youth volunteers, youth, and church leaders. This team has several hours set aside to cover many key areas. In addition, there will be times when each candidate will be speaking with our youth along with spending quality time with Rusty and the staff team.

In preparing for the search, Rusty, Josh and this team spent many hours creating a document that provides candidates with specific expectations for the position as well as the culture and mission of Cornerstone. This document achieves two milestones: 1) It takes the special uniqueness of Cornerstone and describes it in writing and 2) It offers candidates a comprehensive understanding of the church and what will be expected from the new Youth Pastor. We have attached this document so that you may also be informed about this transition and position.

Now secondly, Amy Coxwell has graciously agreed to serve in the role until the end of August. If we have not selected a candidate by that date, we will be making a decision of how to manage through an interim period.

Please join me in extending a warm appreciation to Amy for agreeing to continue in this role and let her know how much we appreciate the work she has achieved with our youth. I personally, as a father to an active youth member, have seen so much growth in my son and I know it has all been under Amy’s leadership.

We will miss Amy in this role, but we wish her luck and pray for her as she looks to make steps towards a career in adolescent counseling.

So, please continue to pray for this major transition and as the process unfolds we will communicate the activities.

In God We Serve,

Ken Lott,
Personnel Team Chair
Cornerstone Church

AUTHOR: Guest Author - [other posts by Guest Author]
Periodically we invite special guests to post to the leadership blog. These guest posts add a value to the overall content of this leadership blog and we are excited to present them to you here.

The 2011 Fall Building Campaign Video

06Posted on by Rusty Hutson in Leadership Blog
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AUTHOR: Rusty Hutson - [other posts by Rusty Hutson]
Rusty is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Auburn Alabama, husband, father, son, and Believer.

The Finesilvers // Seizing Opportunity

30Posted on by bslash in Leadership Blog
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Who knew Mimi was allergic to gladiolas? Not Michael! They looked beautiful on the dining room table, and when Michael had to “get rid of them,” there had to be another alternative than the garbage. Then the idea struck like lightning. Why not give them to Debra, the Jewish woman who recently moved in next door…So Michael and Mimi, flowers in hand, went to their neighbors. Debra and her husband, Richard, answered the door and were presented with an unexpected gift, to which they said, “Please, come in.” For two missionaries, these are welcome words!…For the next one and a half hours, some of the conversation was about “where are you from,” “do you have any children,” etc. Then it turned spiritual, where Michael shared with Richard about how the Jewish Scriptures, from beginning to end, flow toward the coming of one Jewish Messiah who will both suffer then return and judge the living and the dead, and will bring God’s glory to the ends of the earth.

Michael and Mimi Finesilver are missionaries that Cornerstone supports. They are Messianic Jews reaching out to the Jewish community in southern Florida. I read this story in their newsletter last week, and I was highly encouraged and excited about this simple story they shared. The Finesilvers continue and share about how Richard and Debra are not yet believers, but that they invited the Finesilvers to return and continue their conversation.

I wanted to share this story because it’s this kind of swift, other people focused, servant-hearted attitude that I hope I learn and continue to have with my own neighbors. Flowers, that the Scriptures say will wither and pass away, turned into a conversation that has eternal implications.

Please continue to pray for Michael and Mimi Finesilver as they seek to lead people to know and serve Jesus in their community.

AUTHOR: bslash - [other posts by bslash]
Brian serves as worship/creative leader at Cornerstone Church. He is passionate about investing in the local body of Believers and leading people in authentic worship that leads to life transformation.

Letter from Buloba Community Church to Cornerstone

16Posted on by Guest Author in Leadership Blog
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I would have loved to address you as saints because you are, but I call you brothers and sisters because you are so dear to us as Buloba Church. We always give thanks to God when we hear of your faith in Christ and love for God and all the saints not only over there but also here in Uganda, Buloba. We now don’t only hear about the faith but have always seen it in actions and the actions of love have done us well. We say thank you very, very much. The best reward for the love you have shown us is only in the hands of the Almighty God who is in heaven.

We would like to thank you very much (webale nyo) the team that has been with us from the 9th-16th of June 2010 which included Jonathan and Amanda Savage, Aaron and Shay Bowman, Julie Mason, Emile Ewing, Rachel McClain, Lisa Randall, Michael McClendon, Brittany Cofield, Lee Cadden and Brian Johnson. They have showed us the real love that exists at Cornerstone Church, Alabama.

This team has work tirelessly with the community members, mainly the parents of sponsored children, and the church members including Pastor Isaac and Pastor Eva in laying the concrete, laying of bricks, fetching water from the old well and more water for the concrete from the bore hole, they mixed rocks and pushed wheelbarrows. This hard work has enabled us to lay bricks on the walls and finish up the floor. Thank you for supporting us financially to have the materials bought and used. You have also prayed for us, supported us the pastors on a monthly basis and also sponsored the children who make a big number of our church members.

Thank you, thank you very much. We are so happy and may the living God bless you so much. Pastor Rusty and Pastor Josh, we love you. Please thank you for being our dear partners and co-workers with Christ. Ink and paper are not enough for us to share our joys but hope we will meet in person at one time.

Yours in love, Pastor Isaac

AUTHOR: Guest Author - [other posts by Guest Author]
Periodically we invite special guests to post to the leadership blog. These guest posts add a value to the overall content of this leadership blog and we are excited to present them to you here.

Camp Cornerstone only Two Weeks Away

11Posted on by Guest Author in Leadership Blog
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In just two weeks, on June 28-July 1, from 6 – 8 pm, hundreds of children will pour into our building for four action-packed nights of worship, drama, crafts, games and more.

Centered around 1 Timothy 4:12, Cornerstone will be transformed into “Hero Headquarters” – this year’s theme. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Each night, kids will discover unnamed biblical heroes who were not super or powerful, yet their small acts were used by God to do wonderful things. What they had was a willingness to be used by God right where they lived. Our children will learn how they can be God’s heroes everyday!

You, too, can be a hero at “Hero Headquarters!” By volunteering at Camp Cornerstone you can make a difference in the lives around you. You can impact the hearts and minds of kids for Christ. Volunteers are needed in all aspects of Camp Cornerstone. No special skills are required – just a love for children, a love for fun and a willingness to serve. Sign up to volunteer with crafts, help with games, prepare snacks, be a group leader and more.

Camp Cornerstone serves 4 year olds through 5th graders. Cost is $16/one child, $24/two children, or $33/three or more children.  Childcare is provided for children of volunteers. Deadline to register is Friday, June 18. Don’t wait!! Visit our webpage for Camp Cornerstone to register your children and to volunteer.

To those of you who are already signed up… thank you so much! It’s going to be a blast!! Can’t wait to see you at Hero Headquarters!

Jill Harris
Director of Early Childhood Ministries

AUTHOR: Guest Author - [other posts by Guest Author]
Periodically we invite special guests to post to the leadership blog. These guest posts add a value to the overall content of this leadership blog and we are excited to present them to you here.

New Service Times for June and July, Start This Sunday

02Posted on by Rusty Hutson in Leadership Blog
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Just a quick reminder that we are moving to 2 worship services for the months of June and July. Those times are 9:00am and 10:30am. Some of you may be asking, “what’s up with that?” – good question! In looking back at our worship attendance during previous summer seasons we have noticed worship attendance is up and down (up at the lake and down at the beach -ha!), but mostly down.

No problem, this is true of most churches and we recognize the reality of kids out of school, vacations, new life schedules, etc. In order to keep the good vibe going on Sunday mornings we thought it would be better to fill up two services than have three semi-full services. Also, this will give volunteers and staff a little breather. The response has been interesting. Basically, every time I have mentioned this idea to people in our church the response has been a fist pump and “yes!!”. I’ll take that as a good thing.

So, pick a time, they’re both good. Thank you for your commitment to being a part of what God is doing around our church and helping us make these changes go smoothly.

It’s going to be a great summer! See you under the ball.

Rusty

AUTHOR: Rusty Hutson - [other posts by Rusty Hutson]
Rusty is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Auburn Alabama, husband, father, son, and Believer.

Thanks Amy

14Posted on by Rusty Hutson in Leadership Blog
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I just want to take the opportunity to say “thank you” to Amy Coxwell for several things:

  1. For listening to God’s call to come and lead our youth for a time.
  2. For loving our kids; our staff; and our church.
  3. For giving so much of herself for others.
  4. For living out the values of our church (especially authenticity).
  5. For genuinely caring about the young men and women she has been entrusted with.
  6. For being such a great team player on our staff.
  7. For listening to God’s new call on her life and courageously choosing to follow it.

I am so grateful for what Amy has accomplished with our youth. God certainly led her to that position for a time and a purpose. She has been a special servant. The great thing about this transition is that she’s not going anywhere! So, she will continue to be a special servant around our church. While we will miss her on the staff team, we look forward to serving right along side in her volunteer role.

As Amy pursues her new career in counseling let’s pray God’s continued direction and clear leading in her life. She has so many giftings in this area and I am confident she has chosen the right path.

Our Personnel Team, led by Ken Lott, has already begun creating a plan for this transition to take place. A search is now underway for a new youth minister. We hope to have this position filled by this August. The search is being handled by a team led by Josh Agerton. Please pray for this team, the process and that God would be preparing the heart of whoever that person is who will be giving leadership to our youth.

Last thing. I just want to also say a big “thank you” to the youth volunteers who so graciously and selflessly serve our youth! They are an amazing bunch. They are so generous with their time and committed in their service. We are blessed to have them!

Alright, let’s keep pressing forward in our incredible mission of leading people to know and serve Jesus! See you under the ball.

Rusty

AUTHOR: Rusty Hutson - [other posts by Rusty Hutson]
Rusty is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Auburn Alabama, husband, father, son, and Believer.

Taking a Next Step

12Posted on by Guest Author in Leadership Blog
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Dear Cornerstone Family,

Over the past few years, God has been leading me on a journey to discovering not only my calling, but birthing within me deep passions and strengthening me in my gifts. During my time here at Cornerstone, I have had the amazing opportunity to work alongside a staff, who I believe is the best staff in the world. They have guided me to follow God in understanding who I am, my gifts, talents, and passions, and have allowed me the freedom to be who I am.

I have been challenged, blessed, strengthened, and molded through these past two years at Cornerstone, both as an attender and as a staff member, and now I feel that God is guiding me to the next step of my journey. For a few years now, God has been awakening within me a passion for working with people, specifically teenagers, who have gone through crisis situations, such as abuse, divorce, death of a parent or loved one, and depression. Now, after many prayers, I feel God leading me to pursue that passion through a career in professional counseling.

So, as of July 31, 2010 I will be stepping down as Youth Minister here at Cornerstone.

Even though I will be stepping out of a staff position here, I don’t plan to leave Cornerstone. My heart is rooted here in Cornerstone’s mission and vision and the people who carry that out every day. I know God has called me to be a part of this church, and I will be until He calls me in a different direction. So, I plan to remain an active part of Cornerstone, serving in different capacities, including youth ministry, and I will be the biggest cheerleader and supporter of the person who follows after me.

There is not a doubt in my mind that God is working through all of this in our church, in this ministry, and in me, and He is going to continue to work through this process. I believe that God is setting the stage for amazing things to happen, and I ask that you be in prayer for our students, our youth ministry, and Cornerstone.

I also ask that you be in prayer for me as I make this transition. While I am confident that God is moving me in this direction, it’s still overwhelming and a little scary. But, I know that God is faithful even when I don’t fully understand what He’s doing, and I will trust Him in that.

I pray that through this transition you will also join me in lifting Christ high and honoring Him!

Amy Coxwell

AUTHOR: Guest Author - [other posts by Guest Author]
Periodically we invite special guests to post to the leadership blog. These guest posts add a value to the overall content of this leadership blog and we are excited to present them to you here.