Cornerstone Church (Toledo)

The Church was started in June 1986 as Cornerstone Christian Center when Michael and Kathi Pitts left Lima, Ohio to start a Church in Toledo. Originally, the church held once-a-month Thursday evening meetings at the Holiday Inn on Reynolds Road. Within a couple of months, the first service drew 35 people in a rented storefront building at the corner of Central Avenue and Douglas Road. In 1988, the church had moved their location into a shopping center at the corner of Byrne Road and Hill Avenue. Two years later that October, Cornerstone would move again for the 3rd time to a former warehouse on Airport Highway (SR2). Within 8 years the Church moved 4 times, finally into its present location on Reynolds Road in Maumee, a suburb of Toledo since 1995 averaging 4,000 members as of 2005. Cornerstone has been attracting a racially diverse community since its founding.[3]

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.[4][5] In 2015, the Church launched its third campus in Wayne, Michigan. It restructured a network Church, Cornerstone Harvest Church in Lima, 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.[6]

In the past, Cornerstone has also owned two radio stations.[7] As of 2013, the Cornerstone Global Network included 115 Churches around the globe.[8] Michael Pitts was consecrated as the bishop of the Cornerstone Global Network in 2009.[9]

Cornerstone Church Maumee Campus

Cornerstone is a multi-site church and meets at various locations during the week.

• Cornerstone Maumee Campus - (broadcast location and headquarters).
• Cornerstone Wayne Campus - Located in Wayne, Michigan.
• Cornerstone Lima Campus - Located in Lima, Ohio, formally known as Cornerstone Harvest Church.
• Cornerstone Downtown Campus - Located in Downtown Toledo, at the Summit Building.
• Cornerstone Online Campus - Live stream of all Maumee Campus services, and weekly Online Experiences.[10]

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.[1] 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."[11]

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.[12][13]

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.[14][15]

The Church hosts an annual conference in October titled "Heaven On Earth" that has welcomed speakers such as T.D. Jakes, Paula White,[16] Steven Furtick, Tudor Bismark, Sheryl Brady, Ché Ahn, and Samuel Rodriguez.[17] The Church also hosts an annual Women's Inspired Conference.[18] In 2017, the Church welcomed, for the third time, 10-time Grammy award winner Cece Winans to conclude the Heaven On Earth Conference.[19][20]

The Church also holds a SKILLS camp for children.[21] Three time Grammy winner Israel Houghton performed a free concert in 2010[22] after recording his "New Season" album at the Church in 2001.[23] In 2013 TV Evangelist Rev. Benny Hinn held a miracle service at the Church.[24][25] To conclude the 2014 Quantum Conference, Cornerstone Church hosted a night of worship with Jesus Culture.[26] Evangelist Morris Cerullo preached at the Church in 2014.[27] The Church choir performs externally to the Church building, having been invited to perform at the 8th Annual African American Festival in 2012.[28] In 2017, they hosted Bryan Popin, a Gospel musician, as he launched his number 1 album, I Got Out.[29]

In April 2019 the church hosted Carman (singer) at their Lima and Maumee Campus.[30]

Each year since 2017 the church's Downtown Campus has hosted and streamed the Global Leadership Summit. This event partners with the Willow Creek Association out of Chicago and attracts over 500,000 people across all sites.[31]

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 50 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. By year five, this had grown to over 700 people. To date, the Church has invested over $150,000 in volunteer service through VOW.[32][33]

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". "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."[3]

Their outreach arm is known as Heal The World, which has historically worked locally and globally with various partners, from covering the cost of soup kitchen Thanksgiving meals,[34] to collecting Bibles for US soldiers,[35] to partnering with Mercy Ministries,[36] to hosting the African Children's Choir,[37] and supporting Dr Patricia Bailey-Jones who ministers with Master's Touch Ministry Global.[38] 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.[39][40]

In summer 2015 the Eastwood Theater Campus began a partnership with Lucas County Feed The Children. The free meals were supplemented with wholesome activities during the afternoons.[41]

Easter egg hunt 2018

After decreased city funding for Toledo city pools caused several to remain closed for several summers, in spring 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.[42] 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.[43][44]

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.[45]

Later that same summer the church responded to Hurricane Harvey by 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.[46] The team gutted homes, tarped roofs, and counseled those who had undergone loss in the community.[47] In 2019 the church sent a team of 14 members from its Global Network to Kenya for a 2-week missions trip.

The Church's Lima Campus regularly gives away turkeys as a part of their Thanksgiving outreach.[48][49][50]

Each Easter the church hosts a Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt which sees thousands of people across all locations hunting for eggs during Easter weekend.[51] The event started in 2014, and consistently prepares over 50,000 eggs per year.[52]

In late 2019 the church responded to Hurricane Dorian that caused widespread devastation across The Bahamas. Their response, alongside the Cornerstone Global Network raised over $14,000 and sent a team of volunteers to assist in rebuilding efforts in November, 2019.[53]

List of the largest Protestant churches in the United States

How might the pandemic change the way churches operate?

National Day of Prayer Goes Viral

• Official website