OUR HISTORY
Worship • Win • Build • Send
Founded september 12, 1993
FLower Shop STore Front 1993-1994
In September of 1993, fourteen families met in a house for Sunday School. Those families had no idea the journey that God had planned for them. The group began to grow and Cornerstone Baptist Church was born.
During the first month, we met in living rooms, a garage and even a barn, but by the end of the first month, the fourth week of Cornerstone, we had been offered a store front space in Cleveland rent free for a year. With God's great plan came His great provision for this young church. We came together, with our lawn chairs, on our fourth Sunday, in our new building space. We knew without a doubt that this was a GOD THING. The LORD was walking and working ahead of us to work all things for our good and His glory.
During the first months at the store front, we had several guest pastors. Rich Erdman and Mike Pharr were the main preachers during this time. Ron Harrison, who was newly hired as the director of the South Yadkin Baptist Association at the time, jumped on board to help Cornerstone in any way he could. It was Ron who introduced us to Rev. Lewis Gentry, who was called as our interim pastor in April 1994. Rev. Gentry was with us when we moved to the old YMCA building in 1994. That same year, the church made a deposit on the 11.4 acres on Clearview Rd.
Clearview Rd Property purchased - 1994
Original Building - 1996
In September 1995, the members of Cornerstone called Rev. Mack Jarvis, as their first pastor. When we interviewed Rev. Jarvis, he visited our YMCA space and the land we had just bought. He immediately saw the vision of what God held for this growing church.
With the help of Carpenters for Christ, the church building was completed and the first service was held on June 9, 1996.
Within a short time, the church outgrew the building. Again, with the help from Carpenters for Christ, the building was expanded to twice its original size in 1999.
In our 19th year in 2012, Rev. Josh Grizzle was called as pastor of Cornerstone. Under his leadership, Cornerstone made its final loan payment and held a note burning celebration in 2013.
A Growing Church - Expansion 1998-1999
From the beginning, it has been our desire to grow strong families and be the physical presence of Christ in our community. Our first twenty years were marked by an incredible sense of God’s presence and a shared desire to become a prime influence in the Cleveland area. During these first twenty years, we watched as God grew Cornerstone beyond what anyone could expect for the area in which we live. We saw lives changed, grace understood, and families grow in their walk with Christ. We were blessed, as many churches are not, with pastoral leadership that was committed to our community and us.
Now in our second twenty years, we are excited that God is preparing to build off the foundation of our first twenty years. In 2014, began our search for the third pastor of Cornerstone. We were blessed with many guest preachers during this transition time and including Rev. Larry Wood who was called as Interim Pastor in 2015. Under his guidance and encouragement, he led us through a time of uncertainty and kept us focused on God's plan for Cornerstone.
In 2016, Rev. Michael Rakes answered God’s call to become Cornerstone’s Pastor. In 2022, Cornerstone purchased two buildings in downtown Cleveland and opened up Common Ground Coffee and Ice Cream shop in 2023 and Common Ground Ministry Center in 2025 as an outreach to our local community.
We believe that God has more ways for us to become an even stronger influence in our community and beyond. We believe that He wants to use Cornerstone for the good of Cleveland and the surrounding communities and in partnerships with other local churches around the globe. Our desire to have genuine relationships, a strong biblical foundation, and gospel centrality are the prime motivators of all the we do.
Homecoming 2018- 25th Anniversary
Josh Grizzle, Mack Jarvis, Michael Rakes, Brad Borders (former Youth Pastor), Larry Wood
Common Ground - W. Main St, Cleveland, NC -purchased 2022