Cornerstone Church is a non-denominational multi-site church located in Toledo, Ohio. The Church was founded and is pastored by Michael Pitts and his wife Kathi. Michael Pitts was consecrated as the bishop of the Church in 2009. The Church streams live services on the internet to over 10,000
Video Cornerstone Church (Toledo)
Church beginnings
The Church started in June 1986 when Michael and Kathi Pitts left Lima, Ohio to start a Church in Toledo. The first service drew 35 people in a rented storefront building. Within 8 years the Church moved 4 times, finally into its present location in Maumee Ohio averaging 4000 members as of 2005. Cornerstone has been attracting a racially diverse community since its founding.
In 1993 the Church started additional services in the historic Eastwood Theater on the Eastside of Toledo. In 2004 the Church sold the building to a local company; in 2014, it repurchased the Theater for its second campus. The building is used for services on Sundays, and plays family friendly movies throughout the week. In 2015 the Church launched its third campus in Wayne, Michigan. It restructured a network Church, Cornerstone Harvest Church into its fourth location, and then purchased The Event Center, an historic building in Downtown Toledo, to serve as the Church's fifth physical campus; it was soon renamed "The Summit", and following renovation for a 400-seat auditorium on the ground floor, launched in October 2017.
In the past, Cornerstone has also owned two radio stations. As of 2013, the Cornerstone Global Network included 115 Churches around the globe.
Maps Cornerstone Church (Toledo)
Services and buildings
Cornerstone is a multi-site church and meets at various times and locations during the week.
- Cornerstone Maumee Campus - (broadcast location and headquarters), with services on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings.
- Cornerstone Wayne Campus - Located in Wayne, Michigan, with services on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
- Cornerstone Eastwood Campus - Located at The Eastwood Theater, in East Toledo, with services on Sunday mornings.
- Cornerstone Lima Campus - Located in Lima, OH, formally known as Cornerstone Harvest Church, with services on Wednesday evenings, and Sunday mornings.
- Cornerstone Downtown Campus - Located in Downtown Toledo, at the Summit Building, with services on Sunday mornings.
- Cornerstone Live - Live stream of all Maumee Campus services, and weekly Online Experiences.
Thousands of people gather from various backgrounds, representing "All races. All classes. All ages", attending Pentecostal style services. The style flows freely, transitioning from praise and worship into the preaching without a clear schedule or structure, where one of the goals is for thinking people to feel; feeling people to think; and both kinds of people to do something. During a regular service, "attendees are offered a warm welcome, the praise choir that leads a vibrant worship, and the congregants who clap and sway with the spirit of the music present a mosaic of black, white, and every shade in between."
Cornerstone Maumee's children's ministry, with a 22,000-square-foot wing, has several themed rooms - including a rain forest and a 1950s diner - designed by former Disney employees. In addition there is an NRG Zone, where kids can "burn off energy" playing video games and indoor sports.
The Maumee Campus has a 2,300-seat main sanctuary and a state-of-the-art, $1.8 million Performing Arts Center that opened in 2003. With seating for 400, the theater offers Christian concerts, dance, recitals, lectures, and more.
In 2014, Bishop Michael Pitts announced a new direction for the Church in addition to leading the Cornerstone Global Network. This move saw the launch of Cornerstone Church at the Eastwood Theater, an historic movie cinema in East Toledo. The Church had owned the theater before, ten years prior. The Church in 2015 then restructured to announce the third campus in the network, located in Wayne Michigan. In May 2016, Cornerstone announced the desire to additionally launch a campus in the Downtown Toledo area. The Church commenced services at the newly named Summit Building in October 2017. The building provides residential units on the third and fourth floors, and office space on the second floor. The church is located on the primary floor.
Conferences and Ministry Guests
The Church hosts an annual conference in October titled "Heaven On Earth" that has welcomed speakers such as T.D. Jakes, Paula White, Steven Furtick, Tudor Bismark, Sheryl Brady, Ché Ahn, and Samuel Rodriguez. The Church also hosts an annual Women's Inspired Conference. In 2017, the Church welcomed, for the third time, 10-time Grammy award winner Cece Winans to conclude the Heaven On Earth Conference.
The Church also holds a SKILLS camp for children. Three time Grammy winner Israel Houghton performed a free concert in 2010 after recording his "New Season" album at the Church in 2001. In 2013 TV Evangelist Rev. Benny Hinn held a miracle service at the Church. To conclude the 2014 Quantum Conference, Cornerstone Church hosted a night of worship with Jesus Culture. Evangelist Morris Cerullo preached at the Church in 2014. The Church choir performs externally to the Church building, having been invited to perform at the 8th Annual African American Festival in 2012. In 2017, they hosted Bryan Popin, a Gospel musician, as he launched his number 1 album, I Got Out.
Philanthropy
Cornerstone Church has a strong history of local and global outreach. The biggest local outreach is an annual event titled Volunteer Outreach Week (VOW), which mobilizes volunteers throughout a week in Summer. These volunteers partner with over 30 organizations to provide assistance however needed. In 2015, the first year the Church coordinated VOW, over 350 volunteers participated. This grew to over 450 volunteers across all campuses by the third year. To date, the Church has invested over $100,000 in volunteer service through VOW.
Asked by the Toledo Blade about the importance of being a racially integrated Church, Bishop Pitts responded, "I think it's important for every person to see someone who looks like them being used by God," Bishop Pitts said. "And it's important for every person to see someone who doesn't look like them to be used by God. When I see someone who looks like me, then I can identify and know that God has something for me," he said, expanding on the point. "But if I only see people like me, then I think that's who God uses, people who look like me. So I need to see someone different as well, so I know that God uses other people."
Their outreach arm is known as Heal The World, that has historically worked locally and globally with various partners, from covering the cost of soup kitchen Thanksgiving meals, to collecting Bibles for US soldiers, to partnering with Mercy Ministries, to hosting the African Children's Choir, and supporting Dr Patricia Bailey-Jones who ministers with Master's Touch Ministry Global. For over 20 years of ministry, Cornerstone Church partnered with, and hosted annual WOWJAMs, a ministry started by Stephen and Linda Tavani aimed at reaching poorer communities around the city by utilizing music, games, dances, and prizes.
In the summer of 2015 the Eastwood Theater Campus commenced a partnership with Lucas County Feed The Children. The free meals were supplemented with wholesome activities during the afternoons
After decreased city funding for Toledo city pools caused several to remained closed for several summers, in the Spring of 2016, Bishop Pitts pledged $52,000 to open Navarre Pool, on the East Side of Toledo, on behalf of the Church. The pool is blocks from the Eastwood Campus, in East Toledo. Cornerstone also provided funding to open Savage Park Splash Pad in the inner city of Toledo. Both the pool and splash pad were opened with the intention of running Summer programs and activities, as well as adding additional sites to the Summer Meal Program partnership.
The Church has packed thousands of backpacks throughout the years for local school children in preparation of their upcoming academic year. In 2017, the Church transitioned to funding and supporting the United Way of Greater Toledo Kickoff To Caring event which packs over 5,000 backpacks annually.
Later that same Summer the Church responded to Hurricane Harvey. This response included raising over $22,000 of relief funds across their campuses and in partnership with the Cornerstone Global Network, and sending a team of thirteen volunteers to Victoria, Texas to assist in the relief efforts of Samaritan's Purse. The team gutted homes, tarped roofs, and counseled those who had undergone loss in the community.
The Church's Lima Campus regularly gives away turkeys as a part of their Thanksgiving outreach.
See also
List of the largest Protestant churches in the United States
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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