Theology Team Update: What We’re Hearing and Next Steps
Dear Cornerstone Family,
Thank you to everyone who completed the recent Theology Team questionnaire and to those who have participated in our listening sessions. Your willingness to thoughtfully engage this process, share your questions, and listen to one another is helping us continue this work with care and purpose.
As we reviewed the questionnaire responses, we were encouraged to see several important theological themes emerge.
Five Primary Themes
Biblical Authority & Faithful Interpretation
How can we interpret the whole witness of Scripture faithfully when Christians reach different conclusions about women in ministry?
Image of God, Dignity & Care
What should honoring women and men as God’s image bearers require of our church’s relationships, leadership culture, and care?
Spiritual Gifts, Calling & Shared Ministry
How should Cornerstone recognize and cultivate the gifts of women and men while discerning the ministries in which those gifts may be exercised?
Church Offices, Authority & the Household
What biblical distinctions, if any, should Cornerstone make among teaching, preaching, pastoral care, and holding the office of elder/pastor/overseer?
Unity, Communal Discernment & Faithful Practice
How can Cornerstone reach and live out a clear, biblically grounded decision while caring for members who remain unconvinced?
These questions give us a helpful framework for the next phase of our work. They will help inform our continued biblical study, theological discussion, and consideration of how Scripture should shape Cornerstone’s ministry and practice as we continue discerning together.
We are also grateful for those who have participated in the listening sessions. Those conversations provide another important opportunity for members to speak, listen, ask questions, and help us better understand the perspectives within our church family. We look forward to sharing additional updates from those sessions and what we are learning from them in the weeks ahead.
Thank you again for your participation, your prayers, and the spirit in which you are engaging this process. Our desire remains to pursue biblical faithfulness together while caring well for one another and preserving the unity of our church family.
In Christ,
The Cornerstone Theology Team