The History of Cornerstone

A celebration of God's faithfulness

The story of Cornerstone, echoing the story we see across the pages of scripture, is one where God takes a whole bunch of unlikely people, a million ordinary steps of faithful obedience, and a cornfield in Iowa to weave one of the most beautiful tapestries of His own handiwork. Nobody, and we mean nobody, could have dreamt up something as wild as what we behold today: Cornerstone Church, a gospel-fueled family that is for the city, for the campus, and for the glory of Christ alongside a network of churches committed to a church-planting movement across North America. This church family exists because a countless number of ordinary people across three decades have prayed the biggest prayers they knew to pray, took normal steps of obedience, and trusted an extraordinary God with absolutely everything.

Perhaps you’ve been at Cornerstone since the beginning (or even before the beginning), or maybe you’re just curiously visiting this page. Whoever you are, welcome to the family. We’d like to tell you some of our family’s story, and the God our entire story is all about. Has it been easy? Or perfect? Or smooth? Well of course not. This place is more than a building– it is people. We are a family on mission who are broken, complicated, and filled with mistakes. And yet, it is in the very midst of our messes and difficulties that perhaps God’s grace is more marvelous and beautiful.

While we may be prone to platform people as the hero of this story, we must be clear there is only one hero of this story. His name is Jesus: the chief Cornerstone of His Church and this church. To Him all honor is due, and to Him we will continue to pray big prayers and take the next normal steps of obedience. For 30 years, God alone has done immeasurably more than anyone could have asked for– taking nobodies with nothing to do the extraordinary. Today, our church family stands on this legacy, and continues to plead that God will keep doing immeasurably more with ordinary people like us, too. That is, after all, the story of Cornerstone Church.

Timeline

1972

The Baptist Student Union

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a clear vision to help others follow Jesus, Jack Owens was sent to Iowa State University to start the Baptist Student Union (BSU) ministry in 1972. It was a humbling and small start, but for the next 12 years, Jack would labor faithfully to till the soil on the grounds of Iowa State. Through replicating what he had learned through his own discipleship in college, BSU was a steady and present ministry committed to evangelism and discipleship for the students God brought to the ministry. One of the college students Jack discipled was named Troy Nesbitt.

1985

The Salt Company

After college in 1985, Troy joined the BSU staff as the Freshman Director. It wasn’t long after becoming Director in 1986, though, that Troy faced his first ministry dilemma: Troy believed wholeheartedly that the most strategic mission field was the college campus, yet he also believed it was the responsibility of the local church to carry out the work of collegiate ministry. Having a parachurch (a ministry that comes alongside, but is not connected to, a local church) collegiate ministry like the BSU was beginning to cause a problem that he felt needed fixing.

Luckily for Troy, he knew a guy who was leading a local church in town. His dad, Tom Nesbitt, served as lead pastor for Grand Avenue Baptist Church (GABC) where Troy and his wife, Pam, were also members. And so it was in 1987: The Baptist Student Union would continue as a parachurch ministry reaching Iowa State students, and Grand Avenue Baptist would have its own church-based college ministry reaching students, too. Under the leadership of Troy, and inspired by Matthew 5:13, this new college ministry would be called, “The Salt Company.”

1987

An Unlikey Gathering Place

After outgrowing its meeting space at ISU’s Memorial Union, and a few other churches near campus, The Salt Company relocated its weekly gathering to none other than Jocko’s Auto Parts. With a large open meeting space in the back, The Salt Company quite literally “set up shop” to worship Jesus, learn from God’s Word, and be encouraged by a collegiate community of believers – all the same things The Salt Company still does today!).

1994

The Salt Company in Albania

In the early years of The Salt Company, students were sent to get missions training through an organization called Focus International. One particular year, Troy Nesbitt accompanied the students to this training and was confronted with the reality that, of all the groups in attendance, The Salt Company was the largest college ministry in the midwest, yet wasn’t sending students overseas. With this conviction, Troy jumped at the opportunity to take 21 students and 3 other staff members on what would become the first of many mission trips to Albania in the summer of 1994.

While on the 5-week trip in Albania, The Salt Company partnered with Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU) to share “The Jesus Film” in Albanian villages. Troy met one of the Campus Crusade staff members, Ylli Doci, and quickly found him to be a kindred spirit. Both Ylli and Troy would have life-changing impacts on one another through their time spent together on that trip. Perhaps the most important was this: For Troy, God used Ylli to dramatically soften his heart for the nations and impact how Cornerstone would be “a local church with a global vision;” and for Ylli, God would use Troy to rethink his own convictions of the local church– so much so that Ylli would plant Cornerstone Church of Albania in 1995 (the following year).

1994

Cornerstone Church is planted

The Salt Company’s growth created real tension at Grand Avenue Baptist Church (GABC). While GABC believed (and still does today!) in the multi-generational church, there were limitations for scalability and financial stability. Simultaneously, younger crowds felt a disconnect between Sunday services and what they sensed would attract non-Christian friends to church.

When brothers, Harold and Troy Nesbitt, and their friend, Pete Matthews had their own conversations, Harold made a Spirit-led suggestion: “What if we planted a church?” Troy and Pam Nesbitt took that question to Hickory Park when meeting Troy’s parents, Tom and Marie Nesbitt. Little did anyone know that God had already prepared their path: Tom and Marie’s hearts were ready to unleash “their racehorse boys” for gospel ministry. Marie only requested one thing for her sons’ wild church-planting ambitions: “Please make it Southern Baptist.” God would later bless their submission to this request (stay tuned for more).

Back at GABC, Tom had work to do. Elder meetings amounted to much disagreement on the church-planting idea– one that would surely take away college students and young families (the life and heart of GABC). But Troy, Harold, and Pete were determined to achieve unity and blessing. So, both sides of leadership came together to study scripture’s model for local church ministry and church-planting. After two years, leadership reached a decision: Troy, Harold, and Pete would have GABC’s blessing to plant a new church in Ames. Troy would serve as Lead Pastor, Harold would lead The Salt Company, and Pete would oversee Worship and Teaching.