Elders
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 Stacy Potts - Elder for Preaching and Outreach
I was born and raised in Eastern North Carolina. I grew up in a Christian home, surrounded by lots of Christian friends. We had a happy life, though not without its bumps in the road. Despite the good foundation afforded me by these things, I had never personally placed my trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. I was religious, but without religion.
I decided to attend a Christian university to pursue a career in public service. The Lord graciously allowed me to share a dorm room with Kevin Stillman, a leukemia survivor. Kevin had a vibrant walk with Jesus Christ and constantly encouraged me to spend time reading the Bible. Finally, out of embarrassment, I began to read my Bible every day. God used that time in the scriptures to show me my sin and hopelessness, as well as the grace freely offered to me through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. I placed my faith in Christ alone in October of 1996. Kevin went home to be with the Lord less than six months later. After such a clear encounter with the sovereignty of God, God turned my heart toward ministry. My major and my life's focus changed thereafter.
I met my future wife, Jamie, that summer while working at a Christian camp. We married after graduating from college, and moved to Virginia to attend seminary. During our years in seminary, God graciously gifted us with a son, Nathaniel, and a daughter, Hannah. We began attending Cornerstone Bible Church shortly before our son was born, and God knit our hearts to this ministry. Through a series of events, God once again clearly showed us His sovereignty by placing us in this ministry to love and serve His people here in the Virginia Beach area.
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 Frank Scurti - Elder for Administration and Care
I was born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts. Though I was brought up a Catholic, I did not come from a particularly religious family. In fact my parents rarely attended church but I was required to receive my First Holy Communion and my Confirmation. After my Confirmation I drifted away from the church and did not go back for many years. I graduated high school in 1977 and attended Suffolk University off and on for the next four years. Not being spiritually grounded, I lacked direction in virtually every aspect of my life and dropped out of school.
I then decided that I would enlist in the navy. I was stationed in Maryland and Norfolk, Virginia and it was there that I met my wife Debbie. After I was discharged, Debbie and I moved back to the Boston area. Debbie had been raised in a Baptist church and eventually convinced me to start attending a local Baptist church. This was the first time in my life that I had really been exposed to God’s word. It was a very difficult journey for me but through God’s grace I was saved in June of 1995.
In 1998 my wife convinced me that we should move back to Virginia and we settled in Virginia Beach where we still reside today. God has blessed us with two beautiful children, Grace, eight years old and Nicholas, seven. We have been attending Cornerstone Bible Church since September 2001.
When our children were born we vowed that we would raise them in a strong Christian home. Laying the foundation when they are young is crucial. In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Every one who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the wind blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-and great was its fall.”
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 Ed Henseler - Elder for Discipleship and Fellowship
Ed Henseler was born in Randolph, NJ in 1974 to his parents John and Dolores Henseler. His parents raised him and his older sister and younger brother in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, where Ed accepted Christ as his savior when he was eight years old and later baptized at age fourteen. After high school, Ed attended Messiah College, in Grantham PA where he majored in Business Administration end enjoyed playing Soccer and Volleyball in his spare time. After College, in 1997, Ed went to work for HSBC Bank and Finance Company where he remains employed as a Senior Manager of General Compliance. Today, Ed is living in the Red Mill neighborhood of Virginia Beach with his wife Becca and daughters Alexandra, and Caroline.
When asked how Ed defines his walk with Christ, he said: “I can definitely tell my God is drawing me to himself and is sanctifying me in his timing. Its seems like a slow process sometimes as God wrestles for my heart and I continually battle against my desires for this world. In addition, I clearly recognize God’s grace in my life as he uses the Word, my wife, my daughter and fellow believers to point me to my own selfishness. Ultimately, I can do nothing less than love and adore my God more and more each day because of what he did for me on the cross at Calvary. A defining set of verses in my life are Ephesians 2:4-10 which says,
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved though faith. And this not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in him.”
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Deacons
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.jpg) Jordan Heijermans - Deacon; Worship Leader
I was born in Nova Scotia to Christian parents who were planting a church in a small town along the coast. This meant a somewhat unique childhood for me, as I grew up in the midst of Christ creating a body of believers out of nothing. I got to see and sometimes experience the ups and downs of ministry firsthand. I cannot remember a time when I did not know the gospel story; in fact, I made it a point to ‘witness’ to my younger sister at the ripe old age of 4! But my understanding at that age only served to condemn me, as I had no comprehension of my sinfulness and the extent of my Father’s forgiveness. I remember making a profession of faith around the age of 4, but as I look back on my life I believe that event speaks more to my ability to please my parents than it does to a work of regeneration. Nevertheless, the Spirit was using my life situation to draw me to Him.
My family moved to Atlanta in my last year of high school, and a year later I went off to college. Though I had several career interests, I had never excelled in any particular area of education, so I enrolled where so many other undecided Christian youth end up: Bible school. The Lord used these four years to change my heart and, I believe, give me new life. As one man has put it, “I heard the gospel and found myself believing.” I finally realized I could look to nothing for salvation apart from Christ and His work, because God Himself looked to Christ and His work when He accepted me as His child. Since then I realize “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2.20). It was also during my college years that I began to have a real desire to give my life to the local church and the expansion of the Kingdom in whatever way the Lord would use me.
Just a few weeks after graduation, I married my incredible, beautiful wife, Sue (as one dear older friend has often reminded me, “Jordan, you definitely married up!”) and we took off into the unknown, which we now refer to as seminary in Virginia Beach. When we left, we had no jobs, no place to live, and our car’s air conditioning gave up the ghost on our drive east. But I knew that I needed more formal theological training if I planned on being involved in serious ministry in the 21st century. The journey was an intense one for us, and not surprisingly, took longer than we originally intended, but the Lord had a plan through every bend in the road to prepare us most effectively for what He has for us. By God’s grace (and an amazing wife helping me through) I graduated in May ’08. About the same time we found out Sue was pregnant with our first child, and we look forward to welcoming a baby girl into our home the end of the year.
The Lord led us to Cornerstone in the summer of 2006 after we’d spent two years helping a church plant on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We were drawn to Cornerstone because of its simple Christ-centered focus. We have enjoyed our time as part of this body immensely, and have had our hearts and minds renewed through the humble, Christ-exalting teaching and the Christ-like example of so many. It is extremely satisfying to take on life through God’s unfolding story with unified believers of diverse backgrounds, yet one common desire: to know Christ and make Him known.
I count it a privilege to serve at Cornerstone. It is a humbling yet amazing thing to think that the deeds I do in the name of Christ and the Word that is preached through corporate song and worship has an eternal impact on each of its recipients. Sue and I have a deep desire to take the story of redemption to the mosaic of people (and stories) in the downtown of Vancouver, BC. If the Lord continues to lead us to western Canada, we will not be at Cornerstone forever. But we will continue to cherish each day He gives us here with this body. We would not want to be anywhere else.
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Dave Jones - Deacon
Bio coming soon!
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Josh Stonehouse - Deacon
Bio coming soon!
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Ministry Directors
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 Mark and Stephanie Stonis - Youth and Children's Ministry Directors
I was born and raised in Rockport, ME, under solid Christian teaching and discipline. My dad was a Baptist pastor for 25 years. I was taught the Word of God as far back as I can remember. As I grew older, one thought kept coming back again and again: what would happen if I died? I had serious doubts about where I would spend eternity, and it scared me. I knew the Bible taught that Jesus died for the world, and that if I believed it, I would go to Heaven; but I guess I always thought "what if this weren't true for me?"
I can distinctly remember one day when I was about 11 years old that will stand out in my mind forever. I attended a play on Jesus' death and the events leading up to it. My oldest brother, Tim, was acting as Jesus. After seeing what Jesus had done for me, I recognized something I had never understood before. Jesus suffered and died not just for the world, but for me personally. After we arrived home that night, I went up to my room and placed my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as MY Savior who died because of me and my sin. I was, at that moment, born into the family of God as one of his Children. I believed and placed my faith in Him and His Word, and from that point forward, I never doubted what would happen after I passed from this temporary dwelling place. I also understood, according to John 10, that when I believed in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, He instantly placed me into His hand. He stated that 'no one' from that point forward could take me from it. I cannot lose this beautiful Salvation that He has so graciously given to me.
When I graduated from high school, I felt the call to further my education in ministry related teaching and training. In the fall of 1998, I began attending Northland Baptist Bible College with a Pastoral Studies Major. It was then that I started dating my future wife, Stephanie. We had met in 8th Grade at Trinity Christian School in Concord, NH. She didn't like me much at that time, but we grew to become great friends all the way through high school. I asked her to be my wife on June 30, 2001. Thankfully, she said yes! We were married on August 10, 2002. Outside of becoming a Christian, this was the best day of my life, and one I'll never forget.
In the spring of 2005, Stephanie I found out we were expecting a blessing. Victoria Rose Elizabeth was born on February 28th, 2006, in Virginia Beach, VA. God led us to Cornerstone Bible Church during our transition to Virginia. Stephanie and I have now worked with Children's ministries at Cornerstone for over four years and enjoy teaching and watching these little ones grow in their knowledge of Christ and the Scriptures. It is absolutely amazing what little children can learn and comprehend!
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Cornerstone Blog
