My years of being
on staff at the Cornerstone Church in Akron, Ohio, were some of the most
fruitful and exciting days of my life! Under the influence of Pastor
Brenda Young – and her dynamic teaching and leading - this church had become a
fast-growing, Spirit-filled, dynamic center for conversion and spiritual
growth!
As hard as it is
to believe, the foyer would pack with people before the three services that we
offered. When the doors were opened, they would run to get the best seats and
save them for their family or friends. The anticipation and expectation
were unbelievably high!
The excitement
was palpable as everyone waited for the worship team to begin playing. The church had gathered and was ready to worship! The make-up of this congregation was 75% ‘first-time
believers’! I’ve never known a church
like it!
During each of the
three worship services there were Sunday School options for all ages. Many would attend Sunday School either before
or after worship. As Lead Associate
Pastor, I had the privilege and responsibility for overseeing our adult, youth
and children’s ministry leaders. Recruiting and training leaders was an
on-going challenge!
As part of my role, I visited
every class during each service. During
the first-of-three services I would do so quickly and then participate in
worship. During the other two services I
could take more time and observe the classes before moving on. This also gave me time to welcome and mingle
with people arriving for the next service which became a productive time of
relationship building.
One of our adult classes met in
a small, odd-shaped room adjacent to the worship center. While the worship team
was playing, it was often amusingly difficult for the teacher to be heard. This class was led by one of our younger lay
leaders. His name was Ron and he was a charming and engaging leader who also
contributed – during periods – on the worship team as a remarkable drummer.
This class was largely made up
of newer young and middle-aged couples who had begun attending
Cornerstone. One of the men was known to
us all as ‘Skeeter’. He was a highly knowledgeable mechanic and had been
attending with his wife for a couple of years.
One Sunday, at the end of the class as Ron was beginning to wrap things
up, Skeeter asked Ron a question.
“Ron, I’ve been attending here for a long time now and I hear all this talk about ‘getting saved’. Just what does it mean to ‘get saved’?”
Ron turned his attention to
Skeeter while the rest of us remained silent and prayed. He carefully and briefly explained the gospel
to Skeeter and then asked him if he’d like to be saved right there. Skeeter indicated that he would, so Ron led
him in a prayer of confession and acceptance!
I hope you know how thrilled this class was! It was SO EXCITING!
Pastor Brenda always gave a benediction/send-off
at the end of each service by raising her hands over the congregation and
speaking words of challenge and encouragement. Skeeter immediately began
responding to this by raising his own hands to ‘receive’ the good words that
she was speaking.
When questioned about it, he simply said that it was his way of receiving the blessing that the
pastor was speaking over him. It began
to catch on until nearly every person in every service also started raising
their hands to receive the blessing from Pastor Brenda.
I haven’t been to Cornerstone
in many years, but I often wonder if that’s still being practiced there
today? Maybe someone reading will let us
know…
