In November 2011, Cornerstone Church, Long Beach celebrated its 10th anniversary. A banquet was held at the Golden Sails Resort in Long Beach where special memories and blessings were recounted. The congregation’s beginnings go back to mid-2001, when eight couples with a yearning for deeper Christian community and biblical teaching came together to explore the possibility of starting a new church. In a relatively short time, the word spread to others and this group began to grow, meeting in a local home. After outgrowing this home in September of 2001, a meeting was scheduled for the evening of September 11 at the F&M Bank auditorium in Rossmoor. Little did they know that their plans would run headlong into the plans of terrorists who would attack America that morning.
Despite – or perhaps because of – being shaken to the core, over 100 people turned up for the meeting. They prayed together for our country, and for God’s will as to whether this was the time to start a new church. “God’s Vision” – the corporate name for the church – came into being. Over the next few weeks, evidence was that it was indeed the time as people committed their energies and resources to making it happen. Dr Jerry Rueb accepted the call to become Cornerstone’s founding pastor. The name Cornerstone Church was chosen. A small office suite was located in Los Alamitos to handle the mid-week business of doing church. On Sunday, November 11, 2001, the new congregation met to worship together for the first time, in the auditorium of Hill Classical Middle School in Long Beach.
From its modest beginnings, Cornerstone Church has steadily established a foothold in the Long Beach community and as an outgrowth of its commitment to follow Christ has been able to make a positive impact locally and globally. Cornerstone’s first six years were spent doing “church out of a box” on Sundays, relying on a dedicated group of volunteers to set up and tear down for worship along with children’s and youth programs at the school. During the week, volunteers from the church have pioneered an “adopt a school” program starting with Hill Classical Middle School by providing backpacks to needy students, tutoring, and support for the faculty and administration. This program has expanded to other schools and churches in the Long Beach area. In its ten-year history, Cornerstone’s commitment to global outreach has included the investment of over two million dollars of funding for mission’s efforts around the world along with short-term mission trips by church members.
As the church grew it became clear that there was need for additional staff and meeting space. Several staff members have been added through the years to provide pastoral and ministry support. The search began, early on, for a larger, permanent, all-inclusive facility. Having an initial vision to be anchored in a residential community presented many challenges in the search process that ensued. The obvious choices presented were warehouse-type facilities in industrial parks within neighboring cities.
After unsuccessfully exploring those options an opportunity presented itself, which could only be described as a miracle. In June of 2006, Cornerstone Church entered escrow on a former supermarket-turned-office building at 1000 N. Studebaker Rd. in Long Beach. This was the perfect neighborhood location, situated directly one block east of the school where the church family had been meeting on Sundays for 5 years. In June of 2007, modifications began on the property to convert it into a church campus, which included a worship center seating close to 500, completed just in time for the following Christmas. The members were able to entirely pay off the debt for the facility this past year.
As the 10th anniversary is celebrated, church growth and life-change continues. Three worship services are offered each weekend, numerous Bible study, support and prayer groups meet throughout the community on weekdays, and lay-led ministries abound. The church’s early mission continues strong, depicted by the acronym LEAD: Love God ~ Equip Believers ~ Answer God’s Call ~ Declare the Good News. For more information, visit www.cclb.org.
Cornerstone Church
1000 Studebaker Road
Long Beach, CA 90815
562-296-6490