MISSIONAL COMMUNION

The churches who are part of the Cornerstone Collective are each autonomous in their leadership and day to day functions, making decisions that best serve the mission of God in their local contexts. However, each of the churches recognise the importance and value of interdependency that flows out of our theological and relational communion in order to see the gospel advance across Merseyside.

The following are areas where the churches commit to interdependency and where we seek to encourage, strengthen and support each other in the mission that God has given us:

1. Leadership Strengthening and Equipping

The Bible is clear on the importance of leadership, therefore, we collectively seek to encourage, train, strengthen and raise up leaders within every area of church life.

Cornerstone Collective seeks to be an incubator for healthy Biblical leadership development as we share experiences and resources across the churches. This is with the aim of equipping both men and women for the many leadership opportunities that are required for gospel ministry.

2. Equipping for Gospel-Centred Culture

We have been called to be a people who proclaim the excellencies of God to the world, to our neighbours, families and friends. The churches of the collective work together to ensure that members are equipped and encouraged to live ordinary life in community with real gospel intentionality. We see this worked out in many ways but primarily through the church gathered, typically on a Sunday, and the church scattered, in the form of smaller groups of people doing life together for the glory of God through the week.

3. Church planting, revitalisation and strengthening

Planting churches is core to who we are. The vision and desire to see churches planted is within the DNA of the Collective and its churches. Whether the churches are in startup launch phase, or have planted several churches to date, they carry that same vision, desire and hope that Merseyside will be saturated with Gospel churches. However, we also see the calling and responsibility to support existing churches through their revitalisation process and strengthening endeavours. The churches of the Cornerstone Collective are committed to working together in this area, offering a church planter residency programme. The churches will always call, train and support members to be thinking and praying about being part of church planting and revitalisation teams across the region.

4. Care for the Region

The churches of the Collective will work together to take the responsibility of caring for the poor and marginalised within our region seriously. Working in partnership with other churches, networks and organisations (both Christian and non-Christian) as missionaries to bring care and comfort with the good news of Jesus Christ.

5. Collective Support Teams (CST)

These teams are made up of covenant members from the Collective’s churches, functioning within specific teams that support the work of the collective and the mission of the churches. These teams release elders and churches to use their gifts in the areas of finance, communications and operations. The supportive teams work in partnership with the Directional Leadership team and the church elders to ensure effective support for the mission. Additionally, some of the churches within the collective have released people to spend more time thinking at a Cornerstone Collective level which enables support in the areas of Operations, Training, Worship and Liturgy.