Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 24, 2026

For the Pastoral Notes today, I’ve asked our Children’s Ministry Director, Meredith Suits, to report on this past year of ministry. —Nate

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Amidst all the graduations and celebrations in this busy month of May, the children’s ministry also celebrated the end of another school year. We enjoyed several months of Sunday School and Midweek classes and have much to report and many volunteers to thank.

In August, we began our Sunday School year with 8 full classes of kids— the most classes we’ve ever had on Sunday mornings! Our PreK 3s, led by Joe and Joy Marlo and Faith Crampton, explored the Old Testament, learned several songs, and memorized Psalm 1. Our PreK 4s, led by Ronda Laventure, Teresa Whittaker, and Betsy Garland, used the Show Me Jesus preschool curriculum and studied several stories from the Old and New Testaments. 

Our Kindergarten and 1st Grade classes used The Biggest Story curriculum from Kevin DeYoung. Colleen McGarry and Bonnie Snyder focused on the Old Testament stories in this curriculum with their Kindergarten class, and Alli Faulk and Eleanor Ware led the 1st graders through most of the Old Testament as well.

In the 2nd grade class, Lucy Lilly and Julie Finch spent the year studying the First Catechism for children. These 2nd graders worked hard to learn 150 questions through the course of the year. 

3rd Grade, as well as our combined 4th/5th Grade class, piloted a new curriculum from Ligonier called Growing in God’s Word, an overview of the whole Bible in one year. Sue Gamble and Kent Coughlin led the 3rd graders and Matt O’Roark and Sean Kelley the 4th/5th graders, who were so excited to head over to The Corner House each week for class.

Last but not least, our 6th graders were engaged in lots of great conversations about the New City Catechism with Dave Raymond and Sabrina Brewer, digging into foundational theological truths together over at The Corner House.

Jessica Michaud continued in her role as the unofficial Midweek Curriculum Mastermind in the fall and the spring, writing 13 weeks of lessons for all ages from Acts, 1 Kings, and several other pieces from the New Testament. Rebecca Hassee, Matt and Kimbra Johnston, and Joanie Pittman taught these lessons each week with assistance from Mark Mitchell, John Mark Gulliver, James Goddard, Emily Jebasingh, Abigail Hicks, and Rachael Zecher. Our Midweek preschool team effectively led a group of almost 20 preschoolers—what a gift Bethany Holder, Talula Adams, Kelly Abercrombie, and Katie Ewing were to our youngest kiddos! 

Children’s choirs led by Jessica Michaud and Jen Westerbeek prepared and presented an Advent performance not only to our church but also at the Dickens of a Christmas Festival in downtown Franklin, a new experience for our ministry! You may have also noticed our new quarterly publication Parenting at the Corner in various places around the church. Many thanks to Lisa Fiedler and Lauren Smith for writing and designing this helpful resource for parents. There were many more of you who willingly stepped in to sub in our Sunday school and midweek classes and provided support to our children and parents. We appreciate you so much. 

Please find these volunteers today and encourage them in their ministry. We have a wealth of talents in our Cornerstone body, and more importantly, we have talented people who take the call to serve and love our children and answer it with humility, commitment, and joy. 

We are looking forward to VBS and summer Sunday School, which will be led by a whole new group of volunteers. Stay tuned for more updates about the work God is doing through our volunteers and through you as you pray for us. 

Your servant,
Meredith Suits

Bulletin for Sunday, May 24, 2026

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 17, 2026

Dear Cornerstone Family,

I have bittersweet news to share with you today.

We’ve been deeply blessed to have Mrs. Meredith Suits as Children’s Ministry Director at Cornerstone for the last seven and half years. Whether it’s teacher training and curriculum development, or overseeing the implementation of our child protection policy, or developing our “Kid’s Club” with Mrs. Jessica Michaud on Wednesday nights, or launching our annual Vacation Bible School in the summer—the Lord has used Meredith’s passion for children and incredible gifts to deepen the health and broaden the reach of our children’s ministry.

When I stop and reflect on the leaders and staff who have made the most significant impact in the last decade of our ministry, Meredith is near the top of that list. Truly, the spiritual investment she’s made on children and families at Cornerstone is incalculable.

At the same time, Meredith has a heart for teaching and education. Over the last couple of years, we’ve kept an open dialogue about her desire to return to the classroom once her children, Sam and Charlotte, reach a certain age. In God’s providence, that time has arrived. Despite my best attempts at manipulating her to stay (trust me, I pulled out all the stops), our dear sister is committed to following the Lord’s call on her life and returning to the classroom. She will wrap up her service as Children’s Director at Cornerstone on July 31.

Clearly, Meredith’s departure is the bitter part of the news, but here’s the sweet part! I am delighted to announce that Mrs. Bethany Holder has accepted our invitation to be the next Children’s Ministry Director at Cornerstone. Bethany and her husband, Chris, joined Cornerstone two years ago, but have quickly become some of our most beloved members. Bethany has prior experience in ministry and event planning and has been serving faithfully on our children’s ministry team. She has a deep love for Cornerstone and for children and shows immense gifting for the position.

Now, many of you already know and love Bethany, but for those who do not yet know her, I asked her to share just a little bit about herself:

My husband, Chris, and I met while attending Montreat College in Asheville, NC. We’ve been married for 11 years and have two kiddos, Ellie (6) and Liam (3). In 2020, we moved to Spring Hill which allowed me to become a stay-at-home mom after a career in event planning. We have been members at Cornerstone for a little over two years and love worshiping, serving and learning alongside of our church family.

As I approached a new season of life with both kids in school, I began praying that the Lord would show me how He would like for me to use my time. In His perfect sovereignty, He answered with the opportunity to serve the families and children of Cornerstone—and I am so excited and grateful!

Bethany will begin transitioning into the role on July 1 but will fully take the reins on August 1. Please be looking for opportunities to get to know her better throughout the summer and pray for her, Chris, Ellie, and Liam as they enter a new season as a family.

I can’t wait to see how God will use Bethany in our midst!

Your servant,

Bulletin for Sunday, May 17, 2026

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 10, 2026

Dear Cornerstone Family,

The origin of Mother’s Day traces back to the medieval period in what was originally called, “Mothering Sunday.” It was the one Sunday of the year where you were encouraged to return to the church where you were originally baptized—your “mother church.”

Historically, Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It was treated as a mid-Lent respite—sometimes called Refreshment Sunday—and was a time to remember and celebrate the church’s role in “mothering” God’s children toward Christian maturity (Galatians 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8)

Over time, the day fell out of use. Yet in the early twentieth century, it was revitalized in England by Constance Adelaide Smith, an Anglican clergyman’s wife. Smith wrote In Praise of Mother: A History of Mothering Sunday in 1913 followed by her most significant work, Revival of Mothering Sunday, in 1921.

In the Revival of Mothering Sunday, Smith identifies four “mothers” for which we are to give thanks: the church as spiritual mother, the mothers of our earthly homes, the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and the gifts of mother earth.

In the United States, Mrs. Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, PA, spearheaded the establishment of what we now call Mother’s Day. Motivated by a desire to honor her own mother after her death, Jarvis sponsored a memorial service in 1908 at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, WV, to honor her mother and all the mothers in the church.

Following the success of the service, Jarvis began actively campaigning for Mother’s Day to become a nationally recognized holiday. After years of persistent advocacy, she finally got her wish. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” Despite the characteristic Chestertonian hyperbole, the point stands: the first and most formative influence of our lives often comes at home under the care of our mothers.

When we turn our attention to Scripture, we see the influence of women—especially mothers—from beginning to end. Whether Eve, the mother of all living, or Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, God has chosen mothers to preserve, nurture, and advance his saving purposes in the world.

For many of us, our first and most enduring exemplar of Christian faithfulness comes from our mothers. Even those who did not grow up with the witness of a Christian mother have been blessed by spiritual mothers. Women who have taught, served, led, and loved us—and in so doing have pointed us to Jesus Christ.

It’s fitting, then, that as we gather for worship on Mother’s Day, we give thanks for the many faithful mothers of various kinds whom God has used for our good and his eternal glory.

Your servant,

Bulletin for Sunday, May 10, 2026

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 3, 2026

Dear Cornerstone Family,

At our Cornerstone Family Meeting on Palm Sunday, I gave a brief update on our officer candidates and the officer training. We shared about the three phases of the officer training process:

1.     The gospel phase where we explore the central message of the Scripture and its application to all of life.

2.     The doctrinal phase where we study the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as well as the Book of Church Order.

3.     The officer phase where we consider the Bible’s teaching on the role and work of elders and deacons as well as how these roles function at Cornerstone.

In the final phase, the officer phase, candidates read a wonderful book by Dr. Timothy Witmer entitled, The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church. This volume is foundational to our vision for officers in caring for the flock of God at Cornerstone.

In the book, Witmer explores Scripture’s teaching on shepherd leadership, showing how the whole of the Bible is pointing to Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd Leader (John 10:14-15). Then, as shepherds under the Good Shepherd, he sets forward Christ as the model for officers to follow. In a word, we are to shepherd like the Good Shepherd (I Peter 5:1-4).  

From there, Witmer outlines the work of a shepherd in four ways—knowing, feeding, leading, and protecting the sheep.

1.     Knowing the sheep includes having accurate membership rolls and as well as a sense of the congregation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, obstacles, etc. Further, knowing the sheep includes a strategy for officers to know the individual stories, needs, and gifts of each member, so they can be cared for, discipled, and deployed for ministry in Christ’s church (Ephesians 4:11-16).
2.     Feeding the sheep includes the pulpit ministry and educational programs of the church. It also includes small group ministry, individual pastor care, and other “house to house” or person-to-person teaching and discipleship (Acts 2:46, 5:42).
3.     Leading the sheep includes vision casting, ministry strategy, and committee leadership. It also includes leading the sheep by example in godliness and in decisions/priorities as well as individual counseling (Acts 20:28).
4.     Protecting includes exposing false teaching, identifying spiritual dangers, and issuing warnings. It also includes the process of church discipline for members living unrepentantly (Matthew 18:15-16)

 When your elders and deacons contact you, meet with you, pray for you, and seek to encourage you in various ways, they are attempting to shepherd like the Good Shepherd. They aren’t perfect—far from it! In fact, your shepherds are always sheep first. They need Christ as much as you do! At the same time, the Lord has set these men apart to shepherd the flock—to know, feed, lead, and protect His people (Acts 6:6, 2 Timothy 4:14).  

Knowing that, we should honor his servants and pray for them. Your elders and deacons have a big job that’s often overwhelming. They need your prayers, your patience, and your encouragement.

Finally, pray for the men in officer training. They are pressing toward the final examination. Pray for the Lord’s will to be done through this process, and, in the end, for the church’s health and ministry to be bettered through the Spirit’s work in and through these brothers.

Your servant,

Bulletin for Sunday, May 3, 2026

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, April 26, 2026

Dear Cornerstone Family,

I heard through the grapevine the Women’s Spring Tea last Saturday was a big hit. Sounds like the Cornerstone women dressed to the nines, held pinkies high as they sipped, and had an all-around marvelous time raising money for our youth ministry. A big thanks to Lori Tice, Emily Mitchell, and Linda Hart, who helped organize the event and for all the women who came, decorated, baked, and gave financially to help our youth get to camp this summer. Ladies, you raised over $1,500! Way to go!

The men are looking forward to our fast-approaching Men’s Fellowship Dinner on Monday, May 4, at 6:00 p.m. Over delicious manly fare, we will unveil our summer plans and be reminded of our men’s ministry key verse from 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

Brothers, have you registered yet? If not, do so soon! Space is limited, and we want to make sure there’s space for you. It’s going to be a great night.

Speaking of looking ahead…Kids, get ready! Vacation Bible School is right around the corner. Our Children’s Ministry Director, Meredith Suits, and her team are hard at work preparing to make this year’s VBS the best yet. The theme for this year is The True King based on a children’s book written by our very own Nancy Guthrie.

Like previous years, VBS will be at Jim Warren Park on May 26-29 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. On the first night, May 26, families are invited to join us for a kick-off night where we’ll eat pizza, make a craft, play fun games, and enjoy fellowshipping with one another. Parents, go ahead and register your kiddos and plan to kick off the summer with your church family at VBS.

Now, the typical May craziness is about to get off the dime. Between final exams, end-of-school programs, and graduations, it’s easy to feel like you must do everything and slip into a margin-less existence (what I sometimes call the do-everything-enjoy-nothing life).

Margin is the word we use for the white space on the edges of a book’s page. It’s the space where nothing is written. All of us need margin in our calendars—blank space where nothing is written.

As we enter the May blitz, let’s not forget to block off time to breathe, to smell the roses, to soak up God’s goodness, and to give thanks. In fact, go ahead and start right now. For God has given you this day, the Sabbath Day, for that purpose.

Clear the decks. Cut off the phone. Let’s focus on God and one another—worship, rest, and delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 118:24).

Your servant,

Bulletin for Sunday, April 26, 2026