Our History
A famous scientist once said, “History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.” The history of the Church that Christ established some 2,000 years ago is well defined, and throughout the ages we’ve simply attempted to duplicate the life-changing principles that have fueled the Church throughout the ages. We claim no exclusivity or superiority over those who have come before us or those who will inevitably come after us.
But each masterpiece is always broken down into individual chapters, and each chapter tells a story that is unique and compelling. We consider the Church to be that masterpiece, and Cornerstone Fellowship is simply one of the unique chapters that comprise God’s redemptive work in this world.
This is our story
In the spring of 1992, Steve Madsen resigned from his position as Associate Pastor at a Dublin church. He got a local job and started making the transition from being a pastor to a businessman.
In the fall of 1992, Steve and Brenda invited some friends to join them for a Bible study in his home. Steve’s 13-year history as a former associate pastor was especially helpful as the group of 20-30 friends opened the New Testament book of Galatians. As word spread about, the study outgrew the Madsens' living room, so a second Bible Study was added.
By the end of the year, the group felt compelled to organize themselves formally as a church. The name Cornerstone Fellowship was chosen as it best reflected Christ’s centrality as the lifeblood of their group. On March 7, 1993, the first-ever Sunday Cornerstone Fellowship church service was held at the Aahmes Event Center in Livermore. The small home Bible study had grown to more than 100 people by that first Sunday. Soon, Steve resigned from his other job and began serving Cornerstone on a full-time basis as its founding pastor.
Before the end of 1993, the continuing growth of the church led to the rental of 3,500 square-foot office/classroom facility across the street from the Aahmes Event Center. The first overseas missionaries were also commissioned and sent out that same year. By early 1994, the church’s emerging weekday ministries were using the facility multiple days each week. It quickly became clear that 3,500 square feet would not be sufficient.
In the fall of 1997, a 24,000 square-foot building was purchased in the same complex and ministry volunteers spent one year renovating the building into a Ministry Center that housed the church’s offices, classrooms for the children’s and adult ministries, facilities for the counseling ministry, a youth ministry center, and Parchments Bookstore and Café.
But once again, the growing church found the facilities to be limited, and Cornerstone purchased a new building across the freeway (our existing facilities) to better accommodate our goal of providing quality ministry experiences to the thousands of people in our fellowship while reaching out to those seeking a church home.
Today, God continues to richly bless our efforts. We’ve grown to become a large church as Pastor Steve and the teaching staff continues to preach through the Bible, and the church currently has more than 40 ministries that that reach around the world.
Numerical growth has never been the object of our church, the spiritual growth of each individual and family attending Cornerstone is paramount to our mission. Our priority is to “stay small as we grow.” This is done best through participation in smaller groups and one-on-one discipleship.
Our method is to encourage each Cornerstone family member to:
1. Attend a Weekend Service
2. Participate in a Small Group during the week
3. Serve in one of many Cornerstone’s Ministries
4. Be stewards of their time and their treasure
We don’t look at the success of our church as a testament to our own craftiness or strategic planning prowess. While God certainly anoints effective, godly leaders and can choose to bless the work of our hands, we humbly give all the credit, the honor, and the glory to Him who reminds us through His Word that it’s "not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit."
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