If you don't think of yourself the fancy church type, or church type at all, but feel called to love and serve those Jesus tells us to, this is a place worth checking out. Pastor Mike is great at connecting the dots from scripture to application in everyday life. If you are looking to have spiritual smoke blown up your butt with a feel good message, hopefully this review can save you some time. But if doing things is as important to you as saying things, all aboard. Worst case, you are out 90 minutes on a Sunday morning that you probably were not using that well anyway. I wasn't :)
Reverend Michael Ballman who also currently pastors Plymouth Bethesda, which is another congregation in the same building as Cornerstone has been known to be very welcoming to anyone seemingly destitute and quick to slander anyone who may be a threat to his political agenda unapologetically endorsed by the pulpit.
Unfortunately, those who have just moved to the area or recently started looking for a church don't know what's going on thus buying into the online presence of the Oneida Square Project and don't consider the validity of its claims.
Fortunately, many of the locals are aware of what's going on at Cornerstone. Most of the attendees come and go with a small number of attendees who will believe anything Revered Ballman says about those who have chosen to back away.
In retrospect, Cornerstone Community Church/Oneida Square Project and Plymouth Bethesda are controlled by Reverend Michael Ballman who uses the ideology of kindly condescending to the poor, then maximizes on publicity to gain funds and followers.
When I used to attend Sunday night services at my previous church where the atmosphere was in stark contrast to their Sunday morning service I'd say to myself if only we could have Sunday morning have the intimacy and non -hyped approach of Sunday evening service
No one cared what you were wearing and it was more of an interactive disscussion with the congregation rather than being preached at feeling like "Fay Ray in the hands of King Kong". This has been my experience at Cornerstone Community Church for the last 13 years. People are loved here from all walks of life; grace and mercy are a mainstay and not used just as a "bait and switch" ploy to get people in the door. For me and my family this has been a safe place to experience God-Centered life change. Walking and growing in Christ can be pretty messy in the context of the faith community but knowing you're unconditionally loved and accepted working through the messiness of life not being judged or marginalized is an amazing feeling. We're not perfect by any means but for me in my 36 years walking with Jesus, I have never seen Jesus' example of unconditional love practiced more consistently over these last 13 years by staff from pastoral to the elders and deacons as well as by office staff. If your looking for a consumer driven show with lattes in the foyer (we just have coffee and tea) this might not be your cup of Chai. But if you're looking to take off the fig leave of church veneer and culture and scrap out this life in Christ in a safe place of acceptance and encouragement perhaps your prayers have been answered. Mine were!
For those who believe there is nothing unhealthy about long-term financial dependence on government programs for able-bodied persons, Cornerstone Community Church may not disturb you. However, if you believe compassion on the downtrodden of society means formulating solutions to lift people out of poverty, Cornerstone is likely not the church for you. In fact, you may want to avoid Cornerstone altogether.
Cornerstone Community Church operating as the Oneida Square Project led by Reverend Michael Ballman, uses bible verses and sermons to acquire funds for positive ideas, including but not limited to job creation, social enterprises and community upkeep. Although on the surface, all of the ideas stated seem praiseworthy, in practice they encourage dependency. Instead of working on ways to lift those hoping to escape systematic poverty, the programs are in fact designed to operate in conjunction with public assistance programs.
Cornerstone Community Church is a US Church based in Utica, New York. Cornerstone Community Church is located at 500 Plant St, Utica, NY 13502, USA.
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