August 18, 2021

Dave Kaynor

Associate Pastor, Administration

Back in the 80’s, Bob and Denise joined our church staff. Since then we have had many staff come and go. As we head into the new school year, we have some changes that are happening. I thought I would take a few minutes of your time to bring you up to speed on those changes.

Denise actually joined the church staff before Bob. She has served as our Children’s Director and Women’s Director. But after 30+ years, she is hanging it up officially at the end of June, 2022. We asked Denise why she is leaving her ministry role, and here is what she had to say:

"I'm leaving my position because I think it will be best for the church to have new leadership in the women's area. It has been my joy to work in the women's ministry of Cornerstone since the year 2000. The Lord has taught me so much over the years and it has been my privilege to share it with our women. The idea of women needing to know God is one that I hold dear and know Zeola will carry that torch as well. The next 10 months will be bittersweet for me as I transition to retirement. But I know God will lead and He will accomplish what He desires in my life and in the women's ministry. I can trust Him. He always knows best. I look forward to continuing being a part of the counseling ministry. You are my family, I'm not going anywhere!"

While Denise is stepping out of leadership in women’s ministry, we have a worthy candidate  waiting in the wings, Zeola Carey. Zeola has been a member of Cornerstone since 2017 and she will be serving as Denise’s intern this year. Once we reach next July (2022), she will transition into Denise’s role as Director of Women’s Ministry. Zeola’s main area of ministry at Cornerstone has been teaching many of our Precepts classes on Wednesday nights. We look forward to Zeola joining the staff as intern at the end of this month and another solid year of ministry with Denise.

Next up, Dave Manore is stepping down as Missions Pastor after 3.5+ years. Dave has overseen a big change in our mission support level as the mission support in our budget increased by 49% in the last handful of years. It’s not easy to spend a large amount of money wisely and Dave and the Missions team have done a great job. We also asked Dave why he is leaving and he had this to say:

"I resigned from the Missions Pastor position because I discovered that I'm not 35 anymore, I'm 70 years old. I just don't have the physical or mental stamina any longer to successfully meet all the demands of the Missions Pastor position. Three and one-half years ago the elders asked me to make a five-year commitment to oversee missions at Cornerstone, but I declined. Eventually, I agreed to serve one year at a time as the Lord led and the elders were good with that. In July of 2020, I resigned effective Jan 1, 2021 but have stayed on to facilitate a smooth transition between myself and Jerry Benge. I think the transition is going well even though Jerry hasn't officially started yet. I will work with the Mission Team for another four months and I'm excited to be able to work with Jerry as he settles in.

Highlights of the last three years would include identifying and introducing fifteen new missionaries to Cornerstone. We have great missionaries and I'm grateful for the privilege of having a part in bringing the best of the best candidates to Cornerstone for support. I have also enjoyed writing policies that will guide us for the foreseeable future and working with what I believe is one of the best mission teams Cornerstone has had. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have been able to serve Cornerstone in overseeing our outreach to a dying world for the glory of God."

As Dave steps out, a familiar face is stepping in. Jerry Benge, Cornerstone associate pastor from  1995-2009, will be taking Dave’s role. Jerry and his wife Kellie have recently returned from serving in Ukraine as SEND missionaries for the last 12 years. Jerry takes over for Dave on September 1st. Dave will continue to be part of the Missions Team for the rest of the year.

Andrew Hanna is joining our team as our 

church planting resident. Andrew has served as a pastor in Iowa and Michigan and along with his wife, Stacy, is interested in planting a church. His residency begins September 1st and to give you an idea of what it entails, I have included the first part of the resident job description:

The Church-Planting Residence is a

1-year residency that is designed to help you cultivate an increasing passion to know and enjoy our Triune God. Specifically, our residency focuses on helping understand the implications of the gospel and the primacy of the local church. The stated goals are:

Develop a working understanding of the local church

Develop an understanding of what “success” is

Develop a philosophy of ministry that will govern and guide the church

Develop a plan to plant a healthy church.



This residency is an extension of the mission of Cornerstone Baptist Church to train and equip men to serve, lead, and plant local churches that are Christ-centered, Gospel-focused and biblically faithful (1 Cor. 1:18-31). We want the men that we train to be characterized by spiritual boldness, passion, courage, humility, and love (1 Cor. 16:13-14). Our residency’s specific focus is to prepare pastors for ministry within the local church with an emphasis on those who desire to plant churches.

Finally, we have been keeping you up-to-date on our search for a music pastor. There still isn’t much to report, however, the window for submitting applications has closed. Our next step is to finalize our search committee and review resumes. Once our musical ministries have restarted (they begin September 8th), we will have an opportunity for a candidate to interact with us in a variety of ways as we seek to make a recommendation. Our goal is to have our new pastor in place on January 1.

We are excited to add Zeola, Jerry, Andrew, and our new music leader even as we are sad to say goodbye to Denise and Dave. Please join our leadership in praying for these transitions and decisions that are upcoming and thanking those that are departing.

Pressing on!

Dave Kaynor