CORNERSTONE BIBLE CHURCH came to life on August 28, 2003 with some 40 people meeting together in the home of Pastor Larry A. Carpenter. Shortly thereafter, the Lord opened the door for Cornerstone to house its ministry at Garrod Hydraulics, 1050 Locust Point Road.  We used the lunch room for the chapel and the weight room, racket ball court, offices and shop floor for Sunday School and youth program. CORNERSTONE received its name from Ephesians 2:19-20: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone...”  

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     On November 16th, 2003, Cornerstone left Garrod Hydraulics and bought 9+ acres at 3500 Cardinal Lane, Dover PA to house our ministry. After this purchase, Cornerstone Bible held its first annual congregational meeting on January 25th, 2004.  The total membership at this meeting was 39 charter members. In 2004 the church faced its “first” benevolent need, voted on resolutions, and placed Derek Carpenter to be the church's first youth director. 

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     On April 5th, 2006, it was decided by the congregation to move from a metal building to a conventional type structure. But a halt came due to the high cost of construction. Church growth slowed down because many people did not find it fitting to worship in a daycare building. So we corrected the problem by converting the garage of the daycare into our chapel. 

 

    In 2009 the trustees and deacons held a meeting to make a decision for the building. After much prayer and discussion, they decided to move forward with financing a church building.  We knew that it would be beneficial as a body of believers to get into a church building of our own as soon as possible and as the Lord worked, that’s exactly what happened. On September 19, 2010 the congregation voted to finance a loan with People’s Bank for $1,022,000. Then on October 3rd, 2010 the congregation met out at 3500 Cardinal Lane and we officially broke ground for the “New” building called Cornerstone Bible Church. January 2010 saw the plans for the church completed and paid for. Following this, we developed our capital campaign which was called PROJECT GLAD. This allowed each of the congregational members as well as outside investors a way to help finance the building project.

 

    As we moved into the construction project, our gifted board of trustees stepped forward and committed themselves to help to build the church.  Our trustees were gifted in the following areas:

Electric, H-Vac, Plumbing, and Carpentry. They agreed to form a team and be responsible for that area of the construction work. The congregation also formed a team to work with each of these men. So from 2011-2012 on each Tuesday, Thursday evening, and Saturday throughout the day, we worked as a team to put together the building we have today.

   

 In 2017, as a church, we felt the Lord leading us once again in a different direction. As we prayed and asked the Lord for wisdom we came to the conclusion that we would seek a new pastor. A search committee was formed and the search began. Some 80 applications came in from all over the country yet we continued to seek God for the right man. During the process we had received news about a young man by the name of Matthew Sandorfi who was filling an interim position at a church just over the Susquehanna River. The search committee prayed about it and a call was made by Pastor Carpenter. As the Lord would have it, Matthew sent in his resume and eventually came in for an interview. After an abundance of prayer, interviews, and meetings, the search team felt as a whole that this was the man God had in mind. The congregation voted and as of October 2, 2017 Matthew I. Sandorfi has become the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church.