Some folks have a special interest in exploring Cornerstone's beliefs when they first come (or even before they come) to the church. What do we believe?
Primarily, we affirm the great creeds of the Christian Church as the essentials or "non-negotiables" of our faith. One such creed is the famous Apostles Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again;
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic [universal/worldwide] church,
the communion of saints [all believers],
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.
There are always people present at Cornerstone who have not yet come to the place in their spiritual journey where they can personally affirm the truths of the Apostles Creed. We want to make it clear that such persons are always welcome in our church, because Jesus Himself always welcomed spiritual seekers.
While we also have specific convictions that speak to matters beyond the Apostle's Creed (click here to view a copy of our Statement of Faith), when it comes to the doctrinal issues that might be deemed more secondary, Cornerstone's spirit is best captured in the following words attributed to St. Augustine:
In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love.
The people who make up Cornerstone Christian Community Church come from diverse backgrounds and a variety of Christian theological perspectives. We do not exclude anyone on the basis of a different view on baptism, gifts of the spirit, predestination vs. freewill, or any other matter of honest theological disagreement among members of the Christian Church. However, we do ask that all Cornerstone members respect the church's Statement of Faith, and to never make a secondary theological issue a matter of disunity in the church. If a secondary matter of faith is so important to you as to be non-negotiable for church life, then we suggest you find another church with like-minded people where you can fellowship. However, if you can respect Cornerstone's Statement of Faith, and are willing to maintain a spirit of loving unity-in-diversity (which is one of our Core Values), then Cornerstone may very well be the church for you. The people of Cornerstone are not connected because we all dot our theological "i's" and cross our theological "t's" in the exact same way, but because we align ourselves with a common Vision, Mission and Core Values as Jesus’ disciples in the Town of Markham. So, to repeat, "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things love." We agree on enough to get our God-given mission accomplished!