Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Chandler, Arizona
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship sits on the northeast corner of Alma School Road in Chandler, Arizona, just south of Loop 202. Since 1995 it has grown from a Bible study in an apartment clubhouse to a multi-site church of roughly five thousand people, with weekend services broadcast online and a packed calendar of ministries for every age and stage of family life. The church's own statement of purpose is simple: "Finding and following Jesus is BETTER than anything else."
Three Decades on Alma School Road
Cornerstone was planted in 1995 by Pastor Linn Winters and his wife Lisa, who moved to Chandler with two other couples and a three-point focus. The first gathering was a couple of dozen Chandlerites meeting in an apartment clubhouse in April 1995. By the end of that year, Cornerstone held its first Sunday service at Kyrene de las Brisas Elementary School with 328 in attendance, outgrew that location within a year, and moved to Apprende Middle School. Mission trips to Mexico and beyond began early on.
In 1998 the church began its lease at Hamilton High, and by 1999 average attendance was 500. Land was purchased at the current Alma School Road location, ground was broken on the first building in January 2001, and the first service in what is now known as the Student Center was held on February 15, 2002, with 800 in attendance. By 2003, three services were needed to seat more than 1,200 people each Sunday. The tenth anniversary was celebrated in 2005 at the Phoenix Convention Center so that everyone could attend together, and the original auditorium had grown to host 2,800 people across six services each Sunday.
On April 1, 2007, the first service was held in the current Worship Center, with more than 4,000 people attending. The church has continued to grow, and a Scottsdale campus and an online presence extend the reach beyond Chandler. The staff describes itself as a "large, established bible teaching, multi-site church of 5,000 with locations in Chandler and the East Valley Suburbs of Phoenix."
A Saturday Service and Three Sunday Mornings
Weekend services are held at the Chandler campus, 1595 S Alma School Road, on Saturdays at 4:00 PM and on Sundays at 9:00 AM, 10:35 AM, and 12:10 PM. Spanish-speaking translation is available at the 12:10 PM service, and a free Estudio Biblico class is offered on Sundays at 10:35 AM in Building B, Room B2 for those who want to study the Bible in Spanish.
Services are about an hour long: a few songs followed by a Bible-based lesson. The church describes itself as a "come as you are" place, and attire ranges from shorts, flip flops, and football jerseys to dresses and slacks. The worship style is contemporary, organized around sermon series (the most recent is "32b"), with the latest message and a full archive available to watch online.
Two services are livestreamed on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM and 10:35 AM. Online giving, the sermon archive, and a mobile app for iPhone and Android are all available. Giving is also accepted in secure boxes during any weekend service, and gifts of stock and other planned gifts are accommodated.
A First Visit on Alma School Road
First-time guests are asked to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early. Parking is on the northeast portion of the campus, with attendants and shuttles available. New visitors are directed to "NEW HERE // PARK HERE" signs; turning on hazard lights signals the team, and volunteers are ready to help carry kids in purple wagons from the car to the building. Entry doors marked "NEW HERE // START HERE" lead into a welcome area staffed by a team that answers questions and helps with check-in. Inside the lobby of the Worship Center, an information booth provides a Welcome Packet and can walk first-time families through the children's check-in process.
Only trained service dogs are allowed on campus during services and events; emotional support animals, pets, and other animals are not. The policy is enforced under ADA Title III.
Kids: Infants Through Fourth Grade
Cornerstone Kids serves infants through fourth grade during every weekend service and offers a special needs ministry called VIP. The Cove, for infants through age three, is located in the Worship Center. Studio 14, for four-year-olds through fourth grade, meets in Adventure Port. Saturday service runs at 4:00 PM; Sunday programming happens at 9:00 AM, 10:35 AM, and 12:10 PM. Children are taught by trained staff and volunteers who have completed an orientation that includes age-level training, a review of safety and security policies, and a background check. After service, parents pick up their child at the same drop-off area by presenting a matching parent tag.
The VIP Special Needs Ministry provides a classroom environment for children with developmental or physical challenges during the 4:00 PM Saturday service and the 9:00 AM and 12:10 PM Sunday services, with a "volunteer partner" buddy option for other hours. A placement form must be completed before participation, and inquiries go to heartland@cornerstoneaz.com.
KaBoom is the midweek program for first through fourth graders, meeting Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in Adventure Port during the school year. Each year has a focus word (the current year centers on "Truth"), and curriculum is built to help kids learn biblical truths about who Jesus is and how to apply them. Registration is required once per school year, and childcare is also available for infants through kindergarten during adult Bible studies such as The Mine, with a small fee for the youngest children.
Three Tiers of Student Ministry
Student ministry is structured into three distinct groups, each with its own weekend gathering and a shared midweek.
Cornerstone 5/6 is built for fifth and sixth graders and meets every Sunday at 10:35 AM, with a Wednesday MDWK gathering at 6:30 PM in The House. The ministry emphasizes games, small groups, and messages designed for the preteen years.
Junior High (seventh and eighth grade) meets every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM in the Student Center, with a Wednesday MDWK gathering at 7:00 PM. The environment is built around worship, teaching, community, and high-energy small-group discussion.
High School (ninth through twelfth grade) gathers every Sunday at 10:35 AM in the Student Center for worship and a sermon tailored to high schoolers, and Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 PM for MDWK, which includes worship, a sermon, and small groups. High schoolers can also join a fall mentorship program, lead as Kingdom Workers on the care and welcome teams, and find a place in a midweek small group.
The Mine: A Tuesday Night Bible Study
The Mine is a weekly, lecture-style Bible study for anyone who wants to dig deeper into Scripture. Classes meet on the Chandler campus in the Student Center on Tuesdays at 6:45 PM, with semester-based seasons that go through the Bible verse by verse and book by book. The teaching is geared for all ages and experience levels, and childcare is available for infants through kindergarten for a small fee, with free KaBoom programming for first through fourth graders. Online attendance is also available for those who cannot come in person.
Small Churches and Small Groups
Cornerstone runs two distinct adult small-group formats. Small Churches meet on the Chandler campus during Sunday services, and no registration is required. The offerings include Bible Discovery (verse-by-verse study, Sundays at 9:00 AM, Building B, Room B7), Exploring the Bible (Sundays at 9:00 AM, Room B2), Asian Community (Sundays at 12:10 PM, Room B8), Filipino Bible Study (Sundays at 12:10 PM, Room B5), Friends For The Journey (Sundays at 10:35 AM, Room B5), Parenting Teens (Sundays at 10:35 AM, Room B8), Raising Elementary Kids (Sundays at 9:00 AM, Room B10), Thrive 55 for those 50 and over (Sundays at 10:35 AM, Room B9), Young Families (Sundays at 10:35 AM, Room B7), and the Spanish-language Estudio Biblico (Sundays at 10:35 AM, Room B2). A periodic six-week Faithful Finances class covers stewardship, budgeting, and debt.
Small Groups meet in homes during the week and are designed to build friendships around shared life stages and interests.
Women, Men, Singles, and Marriage
CS Women offers a wide slate of weekly Bible studies, single-moms support, conferences, and a momLIFE gathering on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Recent studies have included Beth Moore's Daniel, Priscilla Shirer's One in a Million, a study of Hebrews 11, and a study of Matthew using the inductive method. The annual She Con conference draws women from across the region, and a CS Women newsletter keeps participants connected at Womens@CornerstoneAZ.com.
CS Men offers weekly Bible studies on various days, with recent studies including Letters to the Church (Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and Thursdays at 6:30 AM and 7:00 PM in Room B9) and a six-week study on prayer called A Man's Blueprint for Prayer. Men's ministry also organizes the Alaska Men's Construction Trip and the South Africa Men's Trip.
Singles ministry is split by life stage. CS Singles 30s-40s meets Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in The Depot. CS Singles 45+ meets Mondays from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in the Student Center and offers a Saturday Night Bible Study from 5:30 to 6:45 PM in A103 followed by dinner. The ministry hosts social events such as Trivia Night and a monthly Clean Comedy Night on the first Saturday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Student Center.
Marriage ministry supports married couples through teaching, events, and small groups.
Care: From GriefShare to Celebrate Recovery
The Care ministry gathers groups around the broken places of life. Current offerings include DivorceCare, TLC Cancer Support, GriefShare, Finally Free (addiction support), Restoring Hope (for families of children with special needs), Mending The Soul, Season of Grace (widow and widower support), Celebrate Recovery, and Biblical Counseling. Care groups meet on various days throughout the week at the Chandler campus.
Serving Locally and Around the World
Cornerstone organizes service in three arenas: campus, community, and world. On campus, volunteers are matched to roles through their spiritual gifts. In the community, CityServe and ShareChristmas mobilize volunteers to meet tangible needs alongside local partner organizations. Internationally, Serve Trips head to India (partnering with Harvest India), Zambia (partnering with Christ Life Church, with two trips a year), Alaska (partnering with MARC for a men's construction project), and South Africa (partnering with Orchard: Africa on a men's development trip).
What the Church Believes
Cornerstone holds the Bible, in its entirety, to be the inspired Word of God and the sole authority for faith and life. Salvation is by personal faith in Jesus Christ, with the assurance that Christ comes into the believer's life, sins are forgiven, the believer becomes a child of God, a new life begins, and eternity in heaven is secured.
The church teaches the Trinity: one God in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial persons. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, whose death on the cross is the answer for human sin, and who physically rose again on the third day. The Holy Spirit indwells the Christian, enabling a life pleasing to God. The church universal is the body of believers of all time; the local church is a visible assembly of believers, with Jesus Christ as its head.
Eight values shape the church's culture: Scripture, Worship, Future (sacrificing in the present to prepare the next generation), Maturity (becoming like Jesus), Evangelism (sharing Jesus without shame), Community (better together), Serving (discovering and fulfilling God's purpose), and Risk (God's greatest moments on the other side of risk).
Leadership and Getting Connected
The church is led by a team of pastors and directors. Linn Winters is the Lead Pastor. Bob Bryant serves as Executive Pastor, and Allan Firman is an Executive Director. Stacy Philpott is the Executive Director of Connecting Point, Tj McConahay is the Executive Pastor of Student Ministries, and David Price is the Executive Director of Creative Arts.
Next Steps is the on-ramp for anyone wanting to learn more about Cornerstone. The four-week experience covers Worship (Cornerstone's story and the meaning of worship), Grow (how to deepen faith), Serve (a behind-the-scenes tour of how to use gifts to serve others), and Belong (what church membership means). Anyone can join during any week; registration is not required. Inquiries go to NextSteps@CornerstoneAZ.com.
The Cornerstone office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM at 2211 E Pecos Road, Suite 2, Chandler, AZ 85225. The phone number is 480-726-8000, and the general email is info@cornerstoneaz.com. For a first visit, see Times & Location; to watch live, see Watch Live; and to give, see Give.