June 2024 Parking Lot Update

Dear Cornerstone Family, Friends, and Neighbors:

Last summer, we began a campus improvement plan focused on improvements to the main building, sanctuary modifications, and a parking lot expansion. Our church has seen significant growth at our new home in Blossomwood and we are thankful to be a part of this neighborhood. 

After several months in our Family Life Center, we recently moved back into our sanctuary for worship upon completing indoor renovations to the main building. Earlier this year, the parking lot expansion project started as the next phase of our campus improvement plan.

We wanted to share an update with you about the parking lot expansion that may address questions you have as the work continues: 

• The parking lot project has been carefully planned and is being done in compliance with City of Huntsville regulations. This includes a new fire hydrant location and an updated drainage and stormwater retention system. 

• The project will increase parking capacity to 180 spaces. This includes several handicapped spaces to increase accessibility for all of our members and visitors, including those with mobility challenges. The project also includes a new entrance to the back of the building that will be fully accessible. 

• The majority of new parking spaces will be north of the Family Life Center, with a smaller parking area behind the main building. In addition, a new playground is being constructed adjacent to the Family Life Center.

• In the front of the building, there will be a new parking lot entrance constructed closer to the top of the hill on McClung Avenue, increasing visibility and safety for drivers. 

• There will be adjustments to the current parking lot on the east side (Owens Drive) to improve that parking area as a whole.  

• A campus-wide replanting and landscaping project will be taking place as parking lot construction comes to an end. We desire to restore some of the lost greenery, create a green buffer zone to enhance privacy, and continue to beautify the landscape throughout our whole campus. 

• Thank you for your patience during this process, particularly with the ongoing construction. 

We are looking forward to the project being completed and continuing to grow alongside our neighbors here in Blossomwood for years to come. 

December 2023 Update

Dear Church Family,

In December 2023, we had a congregational meeting to update and discuss with our church the current status of renovations to the main building. In the attached PDF, you will find a meeting recap with the main talking points. This includes current renovation projects underway and projects planned for the new year. Please click on the button below to view the congregational meeting presentation.

July 2023 Update

Dear Church Family,

I hope by now you have heard that some big changes are about to start happening around Cornerstone! Beginning August 6th, we will be worshiping in the Family Life Center (FLC) for a season while construction and renovations are taking place in the main building. In anticipation of this change, I wanted to update you on some information and FAQs:

• What times will the worship services be? There will still be two worship services held at the same times, 8:30 am and 11:00 am. We are unable to accommodate just one service in the FLC due to limited parking.

• Will there be Sunday School? Yes! However, on August 6th, there will be a joint Sunday School for everyone held in the FLC for a summer mission trip report from the Joni and Friends and Sacred Road times. On August 13th, we plan to resume normal Sunday School operations with a few changes: 

  • The Pathfinders class will meet in the FLC.

  • The Builders will now meet in the Fellowship Hall in the main building.

  • The new members class will be held in the current Builders Sunday School classroom on the second floor of the main building. 

• Where will the nursery be located? The nursery will remain in its current location. This is best for the safety and security of the children. A cry room will be available in one of the FLC rooms during worship. Special accommodations will be made for other church activities later in the fall. 

• Where can I get a cup of coffee? The hospitality area and coffee service will now be in the FLC lobby after the first service.

• What about FOUNDATIONS? Our Wednesday night ministry which typically starts after Labor Day will look different this fall. Because of construction and the gym now being used as a worship space, this will limit our capacity to serve food to a large number of people. Stay tuned for more information on what Wednesday nights will look like this fall as construction begins. 

• Where will we park? Parking in both parking lots will still be available. However, we ask that the parking areas next to the FLC be reserved for families with mobility issues, expectant mothers, and others needing easier access.

• What exactly are we renovating and building? The two main projects are renovating the main building and adding some parking north of the FLC. Renovations include modifying the existing stage area in the sanctuary to move it back and make room for approximately 56 more seats. The sanctuary will also have new flooring and a refreshed backdrop on the stage area. Additionally, the men’s and women’s bathrooms are being expanded for more capacity and the offices are being remodeled to accommodate all our staff. Finally, a new accessible entrance with a covered walkway is being added to the rear of the building. This new entrance will come into the gathering room that will be opened up to allow more gathering space connecting with the lobby. The parking plans are being finalized now. The new parking will be in the area north of the FLC and will include a brand-new playground for the children. For more details and information, click here. 

• Will we still be able to use the main building during construction? Yes! However, the sanctuary, first and second-floor bathrooms located on the west side of the building, the gathering room, and the church offices will be closed off for construction. The second floor and east end of the first floor will still be in use for ministry. 

• Where will the church offices be located? The church offices will temporarily be relocated to the FLC. Please feel free to stop by there during the week for assistance. 

• What about other uses of the gym? During this time, all recreational use of the gym will be suspended. Some of the weekly activities normally held in the main church building may need to relocate to the FLC or other spaces not involved in the construction. The uses will be subject to availability.

• When will all of these projects be completed? We are hopeful that all of these projects will be completed before Christmas but we are trusting the Lord and His timing in all of these things. 

• How much debt will we incur to pay for these projects? At this time, the leadership does not expect us to incur any debt for these projects. This was made possible by your gifts to Abounding and the vote of the congregation to direct funds to the renovation and parking.

• How can I help? Two ways: 1) Pray! Pray for the whole process and those involved. 2) Work! The deacons are holding some work days to ready the FLC for worship. These work days will be held on Saturdays, July 22nd and 29th, at 8:00 am. Additionally, after 11:00 am worship on July 30th, as many able-bodied folks as possible will be needed to move chairs and some furniture over to the FLC. 

If you have any concerns or questions about accommodations, please contact the church staff or officers to ensure we address any issues. 

I do hope that this gives you plenty of information to help you understand what all to expect. I'm sure there are more questions you may have. Please reach out to any of the leadership if we can answer any more questions for you. Please be in prayer for our leaders who are guiding this process, for those who will be doing the construction, and for our church body as we accommodate all these interruptions. 

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,” (Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV).

by His grace and to His praise,

Pastor Wilson 

Congregational ABOUNDING Update: October 2022

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It has been just over one year since we began worshiping at 1413 McClung Avenue. It’s hard to believe! The Lord has lavished us with His favor. 

The Session would like to update you on where we are with ABOUNDING and what we anticipate for the future of Cornerstone’s ministry. As always, we are asking the Lord to lead us, give us wisdom, and determine our steps. 

In our March 2022 update, we reported that the Session would be evaluating our position on ABOUNDING, our property on McClung Avenue, and the property on Meridian Street. We are thankful for the feedback and prayers from the congregation. Please continue to pray for discernment. We communicated that we believed it was wise to operate in our new home for at least one year, and then re-evaluate our long-term goals and plans. That time has now come. 

A Change in Vision but NOT Mission

As most of you know, ABOUNDING was a 3-year generosity initiative that we began in March of 2020 to fulfill the vision that God had given us to build a facility in downtown Huntsville to serve as our church home. As soon as we finished the six-week campaign to begin the initiative, the pandemic hit. For the next year we continued to raise funds but planning slowed due to factors related to the pandemic. In the Spring of 2021, the Session began to restart our planning and design processes. It was during that time that we believed that the Lord was leading us to reconsider our plans to build on the Meridian Street property due to the rising costs of construction. We were unsure of what was next for Cornerstone.  … And that is when the Lord did something UNEXPECTED! 

In May of 2021, we purchased the former Clements Church (originally, Mountain View Baptist) property located at 1413 McClung Avenue for $2.4 million. This was well within our means and provided 42,000 square feet of space for ministry. Thanks to the countless hours from church members, we were able to ready the property for ministry within three months. This property has been a huge blessing to the ministry of Cornerstone. We have grown to 450 members, expanded our Sunday School program, began to establish outreach opportunities in the area (serving Blossomwood school teachers, hosting weddings, serving as a polling site, basketball outreach, and local ministry collaboration), and welcomed more people into our community to worship, grow, and serve together. It is clear that the Lord led us to our current home.

This past summer, the leadership instituted a feasibility committee to study optimizing our current location to grow and expand ministry. This committee also was tasked with revisiting the design and costs for the Meridian Street site.

Update on Meridian Street Property

When initial designs were completed in early 2021, the estimated cost for the structure on Meridian Street was approximately $10,000,000, up from an early expectation of $6,000,000. This increase exceeded our financial capacity. That caused us to pause. Today, the estimates to build that exact design would be a minimum of $12,000,000 due to inflation and escalating construction costs. This figure is simply beyond our current financial capacity and would not be a wise fiduciary decision for Cornerstone.

Additionally, there are other factors that make the initial Meridian Street site difficult today. The building was designed in 2019 for growth. Our current blessings in growth and future

projected growth, LORD willing, will soon place us at capacity for what we planned. The Lord has blessed Cornerstone and we have grown; the design for downtown would allow for little growth. Furthermore, parking has become an issue for that area that did not exist a few years ago. Lastly, our current facility, with a Family Life Center (which includes a gym), education space, and more land to expand our ministry, has proven to be a suitable, long-term property. 

So where does that leave us today? …

Cornerstone’s Current Financial Picture 

The Lord has blessed us with assets that include the $1.6M Meridian Street property, over $2M in ABOUNDING cash reserves, equity in our McClung site, and approximately $400,000 of additional unrestricted cash. Our only liability is our $2M loan on the McClung property.

Results of Feasibility Study

We currently have 6.57 acres of property of which roughly half is undeveloped. A large portion of our property exists in the wooded area north of the Family Life Center. A site survey was completed and our entire property is available for future improvements, without any known restrictions. 

The Session believes that the foreseeable future of Cornerstone lies at our current location for several reasons. 

1. Affordable. Currently, we do not have restrictive debt. We are able to service the $2M loan and fund our ministries. 

2. Expansion. We have the ability to expand ministry by building additional spaces for future growth. 

3. Central, Visible, and Accessible. This location achieves the goals that we have always had as a congregation to be a central, visible, and accessible location near downtown. 

The Session believes that our vision should now be to move our long-term planning to McClung and to use all the resources that the Lord has provided to invest in the future here. This would include master planning for additional buildings and other site improvements to further our mission to be a community of Christ’s followers who worship, grow, and serve together to glorify God in Huntsville and throughout the world. 

While our current home has many possibilities for growth, those are not without costs. Trusting the Lord, we would like to move forward with some projects to help us grow ministry at Cornerstone. This would include:

1. Constructing a 75-space parking lot north of the Family Life Center on the undeveloped property.

2. Building a more accessible entrance on the west and/or north side of the building for handicap access and improving the flow between the main building and the Family Life Center.

3. Remodeling the stage area in the sanctuary to add 56 more seats in the front.

4. Remodeling the present workroom area to add more bathrooms downstairs to accommodate everyone on Sundays.

5. Designing and building a commercial playground for children in the rear of the building. 

All of these prospective projects are exciting, – but it will take significant resources to accomplish them. We estimate that it could take upwards of $2 million to complete the projects. Additionally, other projects are in consideration in the near future which include extensive drainage work in the rear of the main building, remodeling the kitchen, and adding awnings and/or covered walkways into the main entrances.

All of these projects would be part of a master plan for future growth at Cornerstone. While we do not know all the details and plans yet, we are excited about the prospect of future buildings and other improvements. Additionally, our home on McClung is ideal for phasing any additional projects and not disrupting ministry. 

For this reason, the Session recommends that the congregation approve the use of ABOUNDING funds for improvements to our McClung location. 

ABOUNDING Update

For us to move forward, we need EVERYONE to be all in. What does that look like for Cornerstone?

• If you have not fulfilled your ABOUNDING commitment, please consider doing so.  

• If you never made an ABOUNDING commitment, please consider doing so.

• If you would like to make a year-end gift to help move forward on the projects, you may give to the ABOUNDING fund. 

As you may remember, the total amount pledged toward the ABOUNDING initiative was $3.2 million over a three-year period. ABOUNDING officially began in March of 2020. So, two and half years later, your generosity has provided a little over $2.2 million toward the pledge. Praise God for His provision! This is so encouraging. Thank you to all who have participated in this initiative. It is the Lord’s work through your generosity that will help us see the church’s mission and vision realized. 

If you did not have the opportunity to participate in the ABOUNDING initiative, we encourage you to consider doing so. You can learn more by visiting: www.cornerstoneabounding.org/give

Here is a chart showing the progress of Abounding: 

We know that you will have questions. To help answer your questions and to hear feedback, on Sunday, October 30th, each of the Sunday School classes will hold a small group discussion facilitated by the elders. They are well informed and ready to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. 

Currently, the Session is cautious that for some, the funds raised through ABOUNDING were specifically for the Meridian Street site. The Session will make the final recommendations but not until we have feedback from the congregation. The congregation will determine the decision on this item by vote at a future meeting. (BCO 9-2)

You may be asking, “If our future is at McClung, why don’t we just sell the Meridian Street property to pay for our projects?” Your leadership is taking these matters one day at a time. Once the congregation has the facts, weighs the issues, and determines a path, we will explore selling the property. 

Please continue to pray. Pray for wisdom for the feasibility study committee, for clarity of communication, and for the congregation and leadership to make wise decisions.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  (Colossians 2:6–7 ESV)

Abounding in Christ,  

The Session

Congregational ABOUNDING Update: March 2022

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is hard to believe but this time, two years ago, we began our Abounding initiative. The Lord has done so many things in the life of our congregation and our world during that time. Praise God for sustaining us in difficult times and in prosperous times. 

The leadership wanted to update you on where we are with Abounding and where we anticipate going in the future. 

As you may remember, the total amount pledged toward the Abounding initiative was $3.2 million over a three year period. Abounding officially began in March of 2020. So two years later, your generosity has provided a little over $2 million toward the pledge. Praise God for His provision! This is so encouraging. Thank you to all who have participated in this initiative. It is the Lord’s work through your generosity that will help us see the church’s mission and vision realized. Here is a chart showing the progress of Abounding: 

• First 12 months giving (Feb ’20-Jan ’21) $1,389,665 - 44% of total pledge

• Second 12 months giving (Feb ’21-Jan ’22) $664,068 – 17.5% of total pledge for the year

• Third year 1 month giving (Feb ’22) $7,650

• Total for all 24 months giving $2,041,383 – 62% of the campaign total

Our last financial update was sent in late November of 2021.  In that update we reported that the Session would be evaluating our position on Abounding, our current property on McClung Ave. and the property on Meridian St. in the new year. We are thankful for the feedback and prayer from the congregation. Please continue to pray for discernment moving forward. We communicated that we believed it was wise to operate in our new home for at least one year, and then re-evaluate our long-term goals and plans. 

Now, it has only been six months since we moved into our new church home and things have progressed faster than anticipated. By the end of the Spring, we will have welcomed over 50 new members into our congregation since we have relocated to our McClung location. Cornerstone now has a total membership of over 400. This welcomed blessing has begun to test the limits of our current space.  

Because of the Lord’s favor and the growth we are experiencing, the Session has constituted a feasibility study to address the following questions:

• If McClung is to be our permanent home, what is the feasibility of building on this property and adding more parking? What are the restrictions?

• If we stay here at McClung, what might we do to make more improvements?

• If we continue to proceed with moving to Meridian Street one day and build a new facility there, what is the update on construction cost?

• What recommendations might there be for the restricted funds from the Abounding initiative?

  As you can see, there is much work to be done! These are just some of the questions from which we need to seek answers. This is a daunting project for Cornerstone and so we are reminded more than ever, that the Lord must lead us and give us wisdom. 

In the meantime, we encourage everyone who made a pledge to continue to give toward the Abounding initiative and complete it by the end of the year. If you are unsure of where you stand on your pledge, please contact rick@cornerstonehuntsville.org. Also, please know that the leadership desires that these funds be used for future property improvements no matter where the Lord leads us to be. We do anticipate in the coming year some considerable financial expenditures for improvements to our McClung facility. Please continue to give generously. 

If you did not have the opportunity to participate in the Abounding initiative, we encourage you to consider doing so. You can learn more by visiting: www.cornerstoneabounding.org/give

Please continue to pray. Pray for wisdom for the feasibility study committee and for the Session to make wise decisions. 

Abounding in Christ, 

The Finance and Personnel Committee 

ABOUNDING Update: February 2021

The Building Committee and Finance Committee continue to work diligently to chart a way forward with beginning construction and securing financing. We still hope to break ground in 2021 however there is still much work to be done as our architects finish construction documents. Please continue to pray for wisdom and God’s provision. You can still give and make a pledge!

 ABOUNDING Update: March 2020

As of today, approximately $3.2 Million has been pledged toward the work of ABOUNDING. Though this is short of our goal of $4 Million, this will not hinder our plans to move forward with planning and design. Additionally, we have $200,000 already in a designated building fund for this project. All of these blessings have given us the financial strength to move forward. Praise God for His provision! 

Second, although we have completed the five-week public phase of our generosity initiative, ABOUNDING is not over! Our efforts will now transition towards planning for construction. The architects are continuing their work through the summer. There are still 3-4 months of schematic design and design development to be done. These are important steps in the process that must happen before construction documents are drawn. Once construction documents are completed, we will then be in a position to receive bids from contractors. 

Below is the estimated timeline for the remainder of the process (Lord willing of course):

• Initial Schematic & Conceptual Design    Complete

• Remainder of Schematic Design         April 2020

• Design Development                May-July 2020

• Construction Documents             August 2020 – March 2021

• Contractor Bid Negotiations             March-April 2021

• Construction                    April 2021 – May 2022

As you can see, there is still much work to be done before we can break ground. As we proceed, the Session will continue to review and evaluate our process, and how the church is faring financially before we secure final funding and begin construction. 

As we transition into more detailed design work, the Session has appointed a Building Committee to work with the architects to aid in the design and development of the church building. Carl Jones will serve as chairman of the committee. Other committee members will be Craig Martin, Mark Harbarger, Paige McClure, and Jane Bise. Please be in prayer for this team!

Finally, as we continue to contemplate God’s leading in this exciting journey, let us remember now more than ever, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalms 127:1 ESV)