Dear Cornerstone Family,
We’re less than two weeks away from Holy Week. If you haven’t already marked the dates and times on your calendar, do so now! Please prepare to fully participate with us as we worship our crucified and risen Savior.
Maundy Thursday (April 2) at 6:30 p.m.
Good Friday (April 3) at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (registration required)
Easter Sunday (April 5) at 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and 10:45 a.m.
During this season, our unbelieving friends and neighbors are often more inclined to consider spiritual matters and participate in church services. With that in mind, please invite unbelieving friends and neighbors to join you for one or more of our Holy Week services. Even now, take a moment to consider who the Lord has placed in your life who needs to hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are praying for the Lord to use this season to draw more people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Finally, last week I wrote to you about my recent meeting with Mission to North America, the Presbyterian Church in America’s agency for church planting. After four years of diminishing numbers of church planting coming out of COVID, it was encouraging to see a significant uptick in church planters entering the field and planting new churches.
In that same pastoral note, I mentioned that, as we continue to pursue Ministry Expansion as a local congregation, we also have opportunities to partner with others in church planting efforts in our area. If you haven’t been around Cornerstone very long, you may be unaware of our sustained commitment in leading and supporting church planting in Middle Tennessee. Here are a few highlights:
We gave long and strong support to All Saints Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Brentwood led by Rev. Matthew Bradley. I’m pleased to report that All Saints will celebrate their ten-year anniversary as a congregation in April. The Lord continues to widen the ministry footprint of All Saints!
We gave long and strong support to Crossroads of the Nations (PCA) in Cool Springs led by Rev. Tim Tan. Many of you were blessed to hear from Tim during our recent Missions Conference in February. It is heartening to hear how the Lord is sustaining and growing this multiethnic church plant!
We also partnered deeply with Mercy Fellowship (PCA) and Rev. Ryan Doyle in 2015 hosting their congregation in our building on Sunday evenings for nearly 18 months. Then, in 2017, Cornerstone led the planting of Spring Hill Pres. Church in Spring Hill, TN with Rev. Mike Fennema. We sent roughly 40 members from our church to help establish the work. Sadly, both Mercy Fellowship and Spring Hill Pres. were negatively affected by the pandemic and wound up closing their doors in 2021.
I reiterate this history to remind us of our long and sustained efforts at church planting. Further, I want to emphasize that whatever shape Ministry Expansion at Cornerstone takes in the days ahead, we will continue to remain committed to the vital work of church planting.
Toward that end, I’m pleased to announce that Rev. Brittain Brewer will be with us on April 12 to open God’s Word and to share more about the new church plant starting in Columbia, TN. Rev. Brewer is no stranger to us! He served as an intern at Cornerstone in 2013, and your session took him under care as a candidate for gospel ministry sending him to seminary. It’s exciting to see how the Lord has used Cornerstone––nearly thirteen years ago––to lay foundations for the new work about to begin in Columbia.
Stay tuned, there’s more to share!
Your servant,
