A Note From Chris - August 5, 2022

In 2018, Cornerstone launched a 2020 vision, a three year vision campaign that included becoming a multi-site church, launching a 2nd location in O’Fallon, IL. Through the past four years, God has been so good to us through so many ups and downs, including the challenges of a worldwide pandemic. We have seen great fruit through the O’Fallon campus. Today, around 50% of the O'Fallon attenders came to Cornerstone through that campus, and some of them came to Christ for the first time in O’Fallon. But with the many successes come some other challenges, including difficulty in finding permanent space for the campus. So this Sunday, August 7th, will be the final weekend of the O’Fallon campus. We will host “Legacy Sunday” this Sunday in O’Fallon, celebrating all that God has done as well as looking forward to what He will do ahead. If you are part of the O’Fallon campus, make sure you don’t miss this final Sunday together.

In coming together as one church in Shiloh, we are able to set direction out of one primary location to reach the Metro East and beyond. The hope and prayer is to set some big dreams and goals in expansion of the campus on Green Mount Road to reach our community for years to come and redirect some of our multi-site energies toward church planting.

One such plant is The House, a new church led by Lenny Barber in Ferguson, MO. Lenny will be preaching at Shiloh this weekend and sharing more about The House as they prepare for their official launch this fall. Cornerstone is taking a prayer walk through the surrounding streets around The House’s main campus this coming Sunday, August 7th. If you’d like to join me in praying for Ferguson and the impact of The House as well as praying directly with the people in the neighborhood, meet at the Shiloh campus at 2pm to carpool. We will pray, visit with Lenny, and return around 6pm. If you are already planning to attend, please reply to this message and let us know.

The month of August and the launch of school tend to mean larger attendance and increased visitors on the weekend at Cornerstone. So here are a few ways you can make sure we are putting our best foot forward together as we approach the next few weekends:

• Come in person! While I anticipate the next few weekends will have services that are a bit snug, there is nothing that replaces worshipping in person with your church family.
  
  
• Recognize service time changes. Beginning August 14th, our services will be at 9, 10:15, and 11:30am. Naturally, 10:15 will be our busiest service. If you are able to commit to attend at one of the others (I’d love to see you at 11:30!), please do so to make room for our guests, most of whom still attend at the middle service time. This Sunday, August 7th, Shiloh times are still 9am, 10:30am, and 12:00pm.
  
  
• Be flexible! With a quick turnaround between services, our teams are going to be working hard to serve everyone well. That includes a new parking team, ushers helping seat folks in specific sections to maximize seating, and a handful of other small changes. Keep in mind that all of these efforts are being made to help everyone have a great worship experience and are intended to serve the whole with an emphasis on our guests. Don’t let the grumpy bug get to you if you are asked to park somewhere different or miss out on your regular spot in the worship center.
  
  
• Be praying! The fall has historically been a great season of growth for Cornerstone. I am prayerful that this year will be such a year, and I hope you will join me in praying for our Ones, our friends, our neighbors, and those who need a loving, Biblical, and caring church to call family. I can’t wait to see what God does.

Yours & His,

Chris VandeLinde