I have very mixed feelings about this church and about this post... I grew up in this church community and spent most of my life in this community. I eventually moved and explored new churches, and WAS UTTERLY SHOCKED to discover what it felt like to be in healthy church communities. You don't know what you don't know, and my experiences at other churches helped me finally understand everything that had been missing from Cornerstone.
Here are my main issues:
(1) It started off as a Jesus-loving church (and still very much is), but they are WAY too political. They equate scripture with political opinion and call it truth. Conservatism IS Christianity here. In my last year there, there were numerous times when they invited local conservative politicians to their service and told their fairly large congregation who to vote for. If you're political values are outside of their belief system, you will definitely feel alone and like a bad Christian.
(2) Ministry: A lot of churches have this issue, but it felt especially prevalent when I was at Cornerstone. First off, important to know that EVERYONE is related to each other there. Everyone in pastoral leadership and church administration is somehow related or best friends with someone. You don't get far in leading ministry unless you have a personal connection with the Franklins and THEY trust YOU. I spent a lot of years there, and I would be surprised if they knew anything about me other than my name, even though I worked in numerous ministries, was involved in the church, and in similar spaces. The relationships between the laity and church leadership feels very disjointed. ALSO: THERE IS SO MUCH DRAMA BETWEEN EVERYONE IN MINISTRY. Hint: if you want to know about the health of a church, don't look at numbers, look at its culture and ministry.
(3) Theology (how they understand the Bible and what it means): I just disagree with Cornerstone's understanding of God and Church majorly. For me, being a Christian means helping others encounter the presence of God through exemplifying love, grace, and everything in between. In my opinion, Cornerstone is very legalistic (focusing on what is "right" verses actually living that out). In one service, a couple came up to dedicate their baby and it was unclear if they were married but they were living together. Jim Franklin called them out in front of the whole congregation and told them they were living in sin, and they clarified that they were indeed married. While I agree that premarital living is not ideal, the focus of that moment should have been a moment of celebration as this couple (who may or may not have known better) decided to dedicate their baby to God. Instead, it turned into a public condemnation that felt wildly awkward and inappropriate. It turned out alright, but what if this couple had been new to Christianity and weren't married? I had a personal experience bringing my significant other to church for the first time, and because they weren't Christian, I was told BY A GREETER that I should just ditch them. They laughed and said they were kidding, but that deeply affected the way my significant other understood Christian culture. They eventually became Christian and found a home in an amazing church no thanks to Cornerstone.
(4) There is just a general lack of community. You will learn people's names for sure, and you will smile and greet people during the 1-minute pause for fellowship at the beginning of Sunday Service. People CAN be nice, but it all just feels really superficial. It just felt like the typical Christian nice demeanor. Spending most of my life at this church, I never got to know anyone's story and they never asked about mine. I never prayed with my church community about their praise reports or prayer requests (like I do at my current church) and I never found roots at this church despite going almost every single Sunday. On the one hand, you could argue it is up to me to create those opportunities, which is valid. But I also think it says a LOT when a church doesn't create those opportunities systematically.
Okay, I know I wrote a lot of negatives here, but I want to write a balanced review of my time here and also note some of the good. While I have major problems with Cornerstone as a church and its pastoral administration, no one can question that the people in the congregation love Jesus and do their best to serve him. Are they biblically misinformed? A lot of the time, yes. Are they very political, outspoken, and willing to fight for their beliefs, also yes. It's not a culture I want to be a part of and I have a very different approach to ministry, but no one can argue and say that these people aren't committed to God in the best way they know how to be. They're well-intentioned people, and that's all I can say about this church. read more
