“He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come

to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him

God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the

blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:18-20

Pastor’s Column: Gratitude

It has been an enormous two weeks in the life of our congregation, and I want to give God

praises for the many gatherings, worship services and celebrations that have unfolded here as we strive

after Christ as a family together:

Easter Sunday! Between Sonrise Worship at Camp McCullough and our two services, we saw

over 500 men, women and children join us in celebrating the risen Christ this past Sunday! Praise God!

Our 9:00 am service was as packed as our sanctuary could manage. And together we kicked off our

season-long focus: in Jesus “Eternal Life Starts Today!”

Extra gratitude to God for the 70+ who came out early to sing praises next to Pipe Lake, and for

Jimmy, Emily and Nathaniel, who made that service happen! And thank you to the Strous family, who

oversaw refreshments and fellowship afterward!

And how about special music for Easter Sunday, with a big opening highlighting Todd’s singing

and Jimmy’s Scripture reading, special music involving horns (largely supplied by Devin and Brad) and a

revival for Revival (our choir) who led us in the Easter standard, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” Hugs

and support to Amy Bjorn, working overtime in only her third Sunday as our Worship Director!

Kids’ Easter Egg Hunt! We saw a huge throng of kids turn out, including many from our

church, but even more from the larger community; as we learned together how an Easter egg teaches

us about Jesus’ resurrection (many comments from parents who had never learned that history be-

fore!). Christine and Children’s Ministries did an excellent job, going far beyond an egg hunt to provide

a huge spread of food, including two waffle stations this year, in addition to crafts and games! Not to

mention a lot of kids playing on our new playground! Perhaps the best highlight were the number of

families who stuck around after, continuing to fellowship and play together. This was our big outreach

of our church’s biggest week!

Good Friday! That’s a solemn and powerful worship time, and we saw a great group from our

congregation come together on the night we remember Jesus’ death for us. Special thanks to members

of our high school youth, who created a “bookend” to our Ash Wednesday service – just as youth

provided all the readings back at the beginning of Lent, so too did they cover Jesus’ last seven

utterances, in addition to a special dramatic reading. Concluding with nails and Holy Communion, there

is no other night quite like it all year. And thanks to everyone who supported the soup and bread

supper – another bookend, in our Lenten season!

Cornerstone News March 31 —April 13, 2016

Continued on Next Page...

Palm Sunday! I’m still grateful for a congregation that brings a live donkey, and “breaks the mold” of

worship by starting outside, waving our palm fronds and shouting “Hosannas” as part of a procession into

Worship. We lived out both sides of that Sunday this year, lifting up Palm Sunday alongside Passion Sunday.

And special thanks to all the servants who turned out that weekend as part of our all-church clean up day –

it’s surprising how well you get to know each other when you spend a morning of sweat equity together!

Missions! This goes in both directions: two weeks ago we held one of our biggest fundraiser and

fellowship evenings of the year, in our Youth Missions Auction that supports both the senior high and

middle school missions trips. That night we packed our sanctuary with members of our church family, in-

cluding a lot of youth and a lot of kids. We shared in an awesome free meal, and people gave generously

toward missions through the silent auction, live auction, raffle jars, and the dessert dash; generating over

$19,000 toward these two trips – which is important, as the high school group alone is Cornerstone’s

largest missions team ever! Prayers as that team leaves today (Thursday, March 31st) toward their work of

service and compassion in Mexico (and prayers for our middle schoolers come July, in their work among

Native American peoples in Lapawai, Idaho).

His Place! A final praise for these past couple of weeks has been the near-completion of our

renovation of our education building “His Place,” with new flooring, paint and furniture. Names that need

to be recognized around this hard work include Dennis, Ty, and Ashley, including Jim on flooring and Mark

on painting, in addition to other generous servants! A renewed space for youth and children’s ministries

was a big step for our parish!

Church family, look at all God has been doing in the life of our parish! And while there is much

before us (meals for homeless men through Kent HOME; Eternal Life Starts Now! theme in Worship, plans

underway for this summer’s Youth Sunday, Vacation Bible School, Middle School Missions, and Lazy F

retreat…) I am grateful for our biggest week as a people of faith: Holy Week! And the chance to witness,

to mourn and to celebrate Jesus’ life, death and resurrection!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Pastor James Murphy

Praying and Community Support

Prayers please for the family and church family of Pastor Ed Pohlreich from

Generational Hope Christian Center. Pastor Ed, another missionary from

Generational Hope, and a Ugandan pastor were killed in a car accident in Africa

when their brakes gave out. One way you could support the families, all of which

have young children and grandchildren, is to share the "Go Fund" me page, https://

www.gofundme.com/hgwca8cc.

Pray for our Sr. High Youth and Adults on their Missions Trip to Mexico. They fly out

at 8:30 PM tonight (Thursday March 31st) and they return Saturday April 9th in the

morning.

Judy's father in law (Mark's father) is in hospice care and is not taking food or

water. Please pray for him and the family during this difficult time.

Prayers please for Ann and Mike Piriano, following the passing of Ann's father

Elsworth.

Prayers for Jessica Greene who has been bravely battling Stage IV colon cancer, has

recently suffered a recurrence in her stomach and is again undergoing chemo-

therapy.

Prayers for Karen Schmitt, who’s cancer has re-occurred. Prayers for effective

treatment.

Prayer request for Aiga I'a, recovering from surgery and in treatment.

Prayers for Pastor Joseph and our brothers and sisters in northern India, who

continue to face persecution for their message of the Gospel.

Have something to submit for Prayer Chain

Email the Prayer Chain at prayer@buildingonjesus.org

Or you can call the church office at 425-432-1790 during office hours or after hours contact

Service Opportunity

You're invited to join our HOME ministry

team! It's a perfect opportunity to serve

& shine God's light in our community.

-Cornerstone is partnering with Peace

Lutheran church in providing & serving

hot meals to homeless men in Kent

from April 16th-April 23rd

-There are 3 ways you can help:

1. Sign up to provide food (for 30 ppl)

2. Volunteer to serve a meal

3. Donate new socks & other items to

fill our grocery cart in the lobby. Those

items will be delivered.

Detailed information, sign up sheets & a

list of specific items for donation are in

the lobby.

Questions? Contact Peggy Kessel

HOME MINISTRY NEEDS LIST

-to benefit local homeless men-

Socks

Deodorant

Small can of shaving cream

Small comb

Toothpaste

Folding toothbrush

Band-Aids

Bar of Soap

Disposable razors

Drop off donations to church by 4/15/16

ASK Class Wednesday Night with

Pastor James

OPEN TO EVERYONE

Feb. 17—Apr. 6 at 7 pm

LAST ASK STUDY

April 6th

Have you missed one of the

messages in the “ASK : Faith

Questions in a Skeptical Age”

series? Remember all messages

can be heard online at our

website: http://

www.buildingonjesus.org/#/

worship-sermons/current-sermons

Family Picture Wall

Is your picture up on our

Family Picture Wall?

Your next opportunity is THIS

Sunday April 3rd!

See Kimberley in the sanctuary overflow area to

have your picture taken.

Connecting at Cornerstone!

Connecting at Cornerstone!

Directories are

here! Pick

yours up in the

Foyer at

church!

Thank you to everyone who

brought extension cords for

the auction. Those items are

ready to be picked up during

Kimberley’s office hours 8:30

-3:30 or contact Ashley to

arrange pickup.

More Serve Opportunities at Cornerstone!

Help Wanted:

A Cornerstone member is seeking childcare

for her two elementary age children, three

days a week, from 2-11 PM so she can go

back to work. If you are interested or

know anyone who is please email the

church office at office@BuildingOnJesus.org

or call the church office. Please feel free to

pass this request on to anyone you know

who may be interested.—Thank You!

A BIG thank you from the

Trustees for all that

helped on the All Church

Cleanup!

2016 Finance Report

February 2016

Total Offering: $28,476

Total Income: $29,626

Total Expense: $37,420

Family Hope Center—Vine Maple Place

Hello Pastors and Church Staff,

I must open by giving you all a BIG THANK YOU on behalf of the Mom’s, Dad’s and kids

in crisis and struggling with homelessness here at Vine Maple Place! We are GRATEFUL

for all of you.

The launch of the Family Hope Center in your churches and the community raised $86,871.44. This

includes all giving from January through the public launch and celebration last Sunday and into this week!

Hundreds of pounds of coins were collected and the children did an amazing job giving to help kids facing

homelessness.

Please share this with your generous and amazing congregations! This is the first step towards bringing the

awareness of how devastating homelessness is to families right here in our backyards.

A special THANK YOU to Steve Murray for emceeing the event and Dave Reichert for sharing his story of

homelessness! They did a fantastic job and without power no less….God had it firmly in His hands.

A special THANK YOU to all who participated each week and brought awareness to the great need in the

community and gave everyone a way to participate in building the Family Hope Center.

This truly is just the beginning…..many churches and the school district will be involved in the next few

months to continue to raise funds needed to build the Family Hope Center.

Michelle

You can put donations in the offering plate at church.

More information on the project can be found at :

http://www.vinemapleplace.org/2015-campaign/family-hope-center.html

Sharing our Tithes and Offering! $46,077

$29,626

$39,166 $37,420

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

$45,000

$50,000

Jan-15 Feb-15

Income

Expenses

April Birthdays!

Cassie Rodocker—April 15

Greg White—April 15

David Dudgeon—April 17

Preston Bjorn—April 17

Peggy Levien—April 19

Bryce Hutchinson—April 26

Cheryl White—April 28

April Birthdays!

Kathy Gardner—April 1

Carol Nohavec—April 1

Adobee Daigbe—April 5

Joleen Cohee—April 5

Dani Thueringer—April 8

Ethan Wunschel—April 13

Kris Shegrud—April 14

Judy Hamilton—April 14

CHURCH EVENTS

Contact Us

Cornerstone United Methodist Church

Rev. James Murphy, Senior Pastor

20730 SE 272nd Street, Covington, WA 98042

P: (425) 432-1790 Fax: (425) 432-7240

Office Email: office@buildingonjesus.org

Pastor's Email: pastor@buildingonjesus.org

Visit our web page at: www.BuildingonJesus.org

Leaders & Servants at Cornerstone

Committee Chairs & Lay Leadership

Leadership Chair Amy Konvalin

Lay Leader Brian Heineman

Men’s Ministry Leader Scott Hurter

SPR Chair Marty Schillaci

Finance Chair Mike Morris

Trustees Chair Dennis McClellan/Tyler Elliott

Nominations Chair James Murphy

Discipleship Chairs

Believe Team Chair Phil Rodocker

Connect Team Chair Megan Heineman

Serve Team Chair Peggy Kessel

Share Team Chair Judy Franklin

Cornerstone Staff

Pastor James Murphy

Children’s Ministry Leader Christine Girard

Youth Ministry Leader Ashley Creek

Middle School Ministries Coordinator Maria Vachlon

Worship Director Amy Bjorn

Admin. Assistant Kimberley Lackey

Custodial Lorena Saxton

Music Chuck Buser