Just wanted to give you some information about Cornerstone’s 2010 leadership team. We are calling this group our Executive Team (formally known as Executive Council). Their purpose is as follows,

“The Executive Team is responsible for giving overall direction and guidance to every aspect of our church’s life. This team is charged with passionately advancing our mission of leading people to know and serve Jesus by protecting our values and beliefs, following our commitments and trusting in God’s leadership.”

This is the same purpose they have always had, just under a different name.

The members of this team are:

Frank Oprandy – Executive Team (ET) Leader

Rebecca Gaston – ET Secretary

Robert Taylor – Lay Leader

Jason Belcher – Trustees Team Leader

John Feehan- Personnel Team Leader

Nic Cofield – Finance Team Leader

John Atkinson – ad hoc

Paul Hansell – ad hoc

Michael Moore – ad hoc

Bruce Shelton – ad hoc

Christopher Slagley – ad hoc

Jennifer Stephens – ad hoc

Elizabeth Yost – ad hoc

Amy Coxwell – staff

Michael McClendon – staff

Julia Farrow – staff

Jill Harris – staff

Brian Johnson – staff

Jack Fisher – staff

Josh Agerton - staff

Rusty Hutson - staff

We will soon have their pictures, biographical information and ET role description on our website. This team is here to serve the church! Please encourage and pray for them often.

See you under he ball!

Rusty

“Skate center, disco ball, smells, noises, uncertainty, faithfulness, commitment, free skate nights, packed trailers, “Cletus” videos, worship, loving people, difficulties, perseverance, salvation, baby pool baptisms, free bottled water, free movie nights, Ecuador missions, Vacation Sunday, Trunk R Treat, groundbreaking, 20 acres, $1.2 million, sacrifice, new building, sausage biscuits, vision, believing, creativity, KidzTown, Seaside, Youth, College, Pay it Forward, community, giving, grace, Cindy Wall, Buloba, Uganda, Hiram pulls a bus, the playground, the Well, the children, Patrick, Sarah, Eva, Isaac, Zariah, Jesus, love, hope, partners, Gospel, Leading people, knowing, serving, 10, church, Cornerstone, one, you, us.

Today as we celebrate 10 years of ministry here is East Alabama and around the world, I am reminded and humbled in the presence of the God who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, who holds the keys to life itself, who is the keeper of gates and doors through which we have passed, are passing and will pass. He is the God who decided this church should exist. He gave us the power and focus to stay true to our mission and vision. He is the reason we can celebrate the last ten years, he is the reason we celebrate the right now, and the incredible future He has in store for the people and ministry of Cornerstone Church. Personally I am so grateful on this special day to be a part of this movement.

I could never have imagined the night before our first worship service, nervously sitting at my desk, so much would happen in ten years. I couldn’t get beyond the next morning. I couldn’t get out of the bathroom! I remember my prayer went something like this, “Oh God, if you don’t make this happen it will never work.”

God has certainly done more than I could have asked or imagined through Cornerstone. I am deeply thankful for every person who gave, served, sacrificed, loved, worked, prayed and were faithful to helping us move forward. It has been an amazing decade. But, we will only look back for a moment. We have always been a church that kept our vision forward. I am more excited about the Kingdom work that has yet to be done!

So, come join us this Sunday as we celebrate ministry past, present and future.

Also, we are beginning to ramp things up around the church. There’s an air of anticipation and excitement as our attention shifts to the upcoming months. Much of the attention these days is focused on August 23, the day we go to three services (8:30, 10:00 & 11:30). What a crazy, awesome day that will be. It is critical for us to create more space as we grow, so adding a third service is a way for us to not only gain space, but communicate our mission to the community. In doing this we are saying that we are committed to reaching people who are searching for God by creating an environment that helps them find Him.  It is also very important that we do this well.

Which brings me to our “Attend One Serve One” campaign you hopefully have heard about by now. This is a great opportunity for people looking for a place to get involved to go ahead take that step. We are already seeing people jump in and say, “I’ll do whatever you need done, just point me in the right direction”. This is a time when we get to rally together as the church, as a unit, a team and declare our passion for God and what He is trying to do through Cornerstone. AND always on the other side of our commitment of time and energy is an individual or family who discover grace, hope, community and a Savior who loves them. That’s the win for us right there!

Anyway, just excited and full of aniticipation about what’s around the next corner. Before you know it, it will be Christmas

I will say, I am tremendously blessed to have such an incredible wife in Becky. We have known each other since Kindergarten, started dating when we were 15 and married at age 22. Even though we have known each other most of our lives, it never seems that way. We have our moments of being frustrated with each other, pouting, intentional silence, (all the stuff couples do in the heat of battle over important issues like who left the jelly out on the counter!) but we bounce back pretty quickly. I believe it’s because we have not only committed ourselves to each other, but we’ve committed our marriage to God. We just decided we are in this for the long haul - that’s it. We’re ready to go another 20, 30, 40, well, until one, or both of us heads on out of this world. I love Becky so much and would find it very difficult to live without her. She is an awesome mom, wife, daughter, sister and follower of Christ. Yep, I got it made!

We’ll be heading up to B’Ham this weekend to celebrate (kidless of course :-)  ). See ya later!

I’m just constantly reminded of how this training and persevering is so like living as a Christ-follower. It is about perseverance and sometimes pushing through the pain or discouragement that can come our way. Paul used this whole idea in 1 Corinthians to describe what the Christian life is like when lived all out. The good news is there is a prize that cannot be matched at the end of this race! Jesus said, ” I am with you always to the very end of the age.” He will be our strength when we have none left. At the end of the day, that’s the only strength that really matters.

So, I’ll keep you updated on the training progress. Let’s just keep pressing on!

The next week we just stayed around Auburn while some much needed work was done on our house. But, it was good too. I am grateful to God and our church for allowing me to spend this important time with my family each Summer. From September to May I am so busy with Pastor/church stuff in the evenings and on weekends, that this time is valuable for Becky and the boys (in terms of both quality and quantity).

God gave us rest to combat things like stress, fatigue and emotional exhaustion. It needs to be a part of our overall health. I know I function so much better after just taking a break. God did it…so there you go!

He and the team at Grace Campus will be missed as they head to Hong Kong this summer. Besides Matt and April and their family, we will also be sending out Scott and Catherine Littlepage, Jason Orme, and Micah Brake from our church. Please pray for them as they go to serve Christ by ministering to the lost and empowering the found in China. Also, if you would like to support the Grace Campus team financially you can click HERE.