Weaver, AL – Many driving by Cornerstone Church will just see a building undergoing construction. They may not know the path that has brought the church back home after more than a year. They also may not know of the resilience of the members and the love and support that an entire community embraced the church with, through not one, but two fires. Despite all the disasters the church, led by its its pastor, has remained upbeat and now is happy to be able to offer support others the way it once needed to be supported.
Imagine a church struggling with expansion as they tried to improve in small increments as finances allowed. While not facing any disaster they were still outgrowing their original home when when they experienced a ceiling fire in their sanctuary. This is the situation that Pastor Matt Martin and the church membership faced. Immediately in the months following the fire, the church met outdoors and tried to maintain their services and community minded approach to worship, but they knew they were facing winter and that the cold would be an issue. It was at this time that Faith Temple, through Pastor Frank Reid, invited Cornerstone to share their church. The two churches managed beautifully and truly became a family while still maintaining their individual churches. This was done through respect and a delicate balance of trading weekend services. The two churches built a bond over eleven months that stands today; however, tragedy struck again when Faith Temple experienced their own fire and now both churches were without homes.
Cornerstone hadn’t been sitting idly the eleven months, but they also were not completely done with the rebuilding. This presented another opportunity for community support when Brooke and Steven Lee stepped in with an offer of sanctuary. The Lee’s own the NoAlan Event Center in Weaver and offered for the church to hold services there each Sunday. While extremely grateful, the move had its own set of challenges. NoAlan is a working business so each Sunday church facilities had to be setup and taken down. There were many days that the youth met outside on the dock in the heat, but through it all, they kept meeting and they held true to who they are.
On August 14th, 2022 what seemed like a distant dream came true and Cornerstone returned to its home. There is still work being done and the main sanctuary is set to be completed in eight weeks, but the church is back and all services have resumed. One of the first things done was to offer Faith Temple a place to meet. While Faith Temple has already found a temporary home, the offer was still appreciated and Cornerstone was glad to be able to offer shelter to the ones that were there for them.
The Calhoun Journal sat down with Pastor Matt Martin to really understand what the church has tried to preserve through the turmoil and where they are now. Pastor Martin says the church defines itself as an uncommon church for common people. They are a Christian church that is non-denominational. The church is a place where anyone can come in shorts and jeans or a suit and tie. It is a place of refuge for any and all. Pastor Martin stressed that there is no competition with other churches. They have no desire to “take” people away from anyone else. The church wants to be available to anyone who is searching for a church home. He also said if church needs to be an escape at times, they are fine to be that escape.
Currently the church is meeting on Sundays at 10:00 am and on Wednesdays at 6:30 pm. There are services for adults, kids, and youth. They also have an active volunteer program. Pastor Martin said they are very appreciative to be back in their home church and while things may be a little tight right now, he looks forward to the new sanctuary being completed before the holidays. The new area will hold 300 worshipers, doubling their current capacity. When asked if there was any final message he would like to state, Pastor Martin stressed how thankful he was to all the community that supported the church. He also was thankful to the families that rallied and truly believed in the church. He also said the most important thing is for anyone who is looking for a home ,the doors are open and all are welcome.
