cornerstone presbyterian \ Background

Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, 471 Mathews Road, Boardman, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The church has Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. and worship at 11.

Anniversary: A celebration is planned May 17. Former Pastor Bill Wolfgang will speak on church history at 4 p.m. He served as pastor for 33 years, from 1972 until his retirement in 2005. A worship service will be at 6:30 with former Pastor Tim Stigers preaching the sermon. He was pastor from 1979-83 and now is a counselor in Muncie, Ind. Bev Dingey, former organist, will play. There also will be a light supper at the church; reservations are required by calling the church at (330) 757-9795.

History: The group that evolved into Cornerstone Presbyterian Church first met as South Chapel on May 17, 1959, in a rented hall. Then the group met in Robinwood Elementary School and adopted the name Robinwood Presbyterian Church. The Cornerstone name was adopted in 1981 when Robinwood Presbyterian Church merged with Immanuel Presbyterian Church, which had a building on Dobbins Road in Poland. The current building was completed in 1961.

Name: Cornerstone was chosen on the basis of Ephesians 2:20 and includes the phrase, “Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.”

Web sites: Visit Cornerstone Web site at www.cornerstonepch.org and the denomination site at www.pcanet.org. By coincidence, the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, considered the “father of the Presbyterian Church” and the 50th of Cornerstone Presbyterian are being marked this year.

Pastors: The Rev. Mark Bell, who started April 1, 2009, is the current pastor. Other former pastors are Werner Meitling, 1959-60; John Kay, 1960-66; Daniel Krusich, 1967; Don Hicks, 1968-78; and David Foster, 2005-08.

Affiliation: The church is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America, the PCA, which came into existence in 1973. It emphasizes historical Presbyterian roots and is more strongly Biblical, evangelical and reformed witness.