Our primary tasks as the church are the worship of God and the development of disciples of Jesus Christ. We believe these tasks are innately intertwined because the growing disciple will be focused on God and the true worshiper will be a disciple who is obedient to God's call and direction in his life.

Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth. If we do not worship God in spirit and in truth, we have failed at our most important duty. We believe our worship services and other services must draw our people into genuine, participatory worship through music, prayer, and the study of God's Word.

A disciple may be defined as one who glorifies God by remaining in Him through prayer and Bible study, walking in obedience, bearing fruit, sharing his faith, exercising his gifts, possessing joy, and loving others. Above all, the disciple is seeking God and following His will.

Our church's responsibility to its members is not only to provide a quality atmosphere of worship, but also to equip them to become disciples who live an authentic Christian life. Our members' responsibility to one another is to fellowship as a community of believers who exhibit love for one another in an atmosphere of encouragement and support as we bear one another's burdens. Our fellowship must reflect the unity that we have as believers in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Our Philosophy of Equipping and Equippers

The senior pastor's role and commitment is to live and model an authentic Christian life. His primary task is to teach and preach the Word, but he is also called upon to lead the pastoral staff and lay leaders in carrying out the ministries of the church.

Since we believe the church functions most effectively under the guidance of a plurality of leaders who are unified in their decisions under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the elders have the responsibility to give direction to the church and oversee all ministries. They are responsible to keep the church focused on accomplishing its purpose and ministry objectives. The deacons oversee the physical and financial needs of the church, reporting to the elders.

Leaders are recognized and chosen by considering character, giftedness, and commitment. The role of our leaders is to model discipleship, to grow in their own ministry skills, and to equip the rest of the congregation for ministry. All leaders must be growing disciples committed to the church philosophy of ministry. A key point to our philosophy of leadership is that our leaders are servants who are exercising their ministry gifts. We will seek to minimize the number of policy makers and maximize the number of persons doing ministry.

The Church member's role and commitment is to grow as a disciple, to be trained to use his or her gifts, and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to directly minister to Christians and non-Christians. The church will encourage and empower individuals gifted by the Spirit of God to be creative, pro-active, and needs-oriented in disciple making. We offer regular teaching on spiritual gifts as a means for people to discover how God has gifted them personally. We recognize servant gifts as being equally important as leadership gifts in building a healthy, disciple making church.

Our Philosophy of Church Structure

To accomplish our tasks the church has two basic kinds of structures. Members are strongly encouraged to be involved in both of these structures. The first is our worship or celebration service, which emphasizes worship and expository teaching of God's Word. We desire to have a participatory worship service where we celebrate our unity and oneness in Christ.

Second, we have the small group, where accountability is developed in an intimate setting through bible study, prayer and encouragement. The small group is the primary structure for discipling in our church.

Distinctives of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church

We are a Christ-centered church. We make Christ preeminent, recognizing Him as the head of the Church universal and of our local body of believers. We seek to become His disciples through the following means:

We are an outreach-oriented church. We believe God has called us to go into our neighborhoods, work places, and schools to be effective witnesses for Christ, sharing his message through evangelism in word and deed.

We are an equipping church. We are committed to preparing and training members for ministry to the church and the world.

We are a sending church. We are committed to supporting those within our body who are called to vocational ministry or missionary service by confirming their call and helping them receive the necessary training.

We are a church-planting church. We believe God has called us to ministry through planting churches in other areas in our community that have a need for a church with a purpose similar to that of Cornerstone.

We are a culturally involved church. We strive to be salt and light in our world with an emphasis on service to our local community.

We are a worship-oriented church. We consider it a primary commitment to exalt Jesus Christ and magnify God's name through our Sunday morning celebration and the daily offering of ourselves to God as living sacrifices.

We are a praying church. We believe that God accomplished his work through the faithful prayer of his people. We are committed to ongoing prayer for God's direction and blessing as we seek to do His will.

We are a fellowship-oriented church. We seek to build biblical community by bringing people into relationships with one another which encourage them to love and care for each other.

We are a family supportive church. We strive to equip parents and children to have healthy family relationships within a biblical family model. We give children and youth special attention, recognizing that most people who commit their lives to Christ do so in their youth. We foster both inter-generational and age appropriate worship, education, and fellowship

We are an inclusive church. We acknowledge the diversity of our neighboring communities, welcoming all without regard for age, economic status, or race.

We are a tolerant church. We believe that within the parameters of scriptural guidelines that there be unity of the essential issues of Christian life and teaching, liberty in the non-essential issues, and charity in all things as we discuss our differences.

We are an instruction-oriented church. We are committed to teaching our members the truths about the Christian faith which was once for all delivered to the church through Christ and His Word.

We are a Bible-centered church. We believe the Bible is the primary source for spiritual truth and the final authority on all matters. It is the basis for our teaching from our pulpit, in our classrooms, and in our homes. We are committed to helping our members learn the scriptures and apply them to their lives.

We are a service-oriented church. We believe service is an essential factor in spiritual growth The bulk of the work of the church is done through volunteers, and every board and committee is chaired by volunteers.