July 2019 Newsletter

Meet the Students

Meet Martha Layne, a (now) sophomore leader that serves on the Freshmen Ministry Team. Read more about her:

My relationship with God has always been a roller coaster, full of extreme highs and lows. I was raised in an amazing Christian household, attended a powerful church, and was involved in leadership roles in youth group and the children’s ministry. On the outside, I was a model Christian. But on the inside, I was constantly seeking happiness and fulfillment from outside pleasures instead of Jesus.

When I came to college, I was out of control with this newfound freedom. I attended Cornerstone once at the beginning because my childhood best friend’s older brother is heavily involved, and I told him that I would come check it out. I was overwhelmed by all of the people, and I didn’t want to deal with any uncomfortable situations, so I went to one freshman bible study and that was it. I took a break from everything to do with the church, convinced that I could maintain a relationship with Christ on my own. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done, and I found myself getting involved in unhealthy habits and friendships. I began attending a bible study but only in hopes of “balancing out” my life. Over winter break, I had the chance to really reflect on who I had become over the course of the first semester, and I decided that I didn’t want to be that person anymore. I prayed fervently, for the first time in months, that God would bless me with new, healthy friendships and take away all of toxic aspects of my life. With the start of the new semester, I was hopeful for a fresh start.

I had joined Cornerstone leadership on a whim, simply because I was so used to being in leadership positions, and this was one of the first opportunities that there was for me in college. I decided to lead the same freshmen bible study I barely attended in the fall, only because that was the only team that I felt even remotely qualified for. On the leadership retreat, one of the first bonding activities was to describe the five most prolific events in your life. I became instantly petrified because I had to tell these (almost) strangers my events, which were almost all terrible mistakes. However, at the encouragement of Cornerstone staff, I opened up to my team. I have never felt more vulnerable in my life. I realized that Cornerstone is a community full of genuine, real people. The more I began to trust these people, the more they showered me with unconditional love and support. I have met some of the most important and influential people in my life because of Cornerstone. Cornerstone helped bring me back to God. I understand that no relationship with Christ is ever perfect, but I know that I have a community who will help me through every high and low. A community who is supportive and sincere, welcoming each person with open arms, without judgement of past failures and flaws. And I am so grateful that God answered that prayer with a group of people like Cornerstone.

Financial Update

As you can see, we made $3,681 last month, or 80% of where we need to be. If you are wondering why the percentage is so low, it is because I received another raise of an extra $300 a month! Having full support for the past year has been great, but we could still use your help. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% to 25% on top of their usual giving. With this money we will have more time to minister to students like Martha. We are always looking for new supporters that help make this ministry possible. If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through your financial gifts. Remember that any gift is a good gift. In the past few months, we have truly witnessed God’s provision. We thank you, and may God bless you richly because you have given to advance His kingdom! Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part in helping get to 100% each month...especially with the new raise.

Moore News

What a busy summer, and it just keeps getting busier! The summer ended with baseball, as our team (The Cubs) made it to the World Series. Unfortunately, we lost a very tight game three in a two out of three-game series. As a coach, this was my fourth world series, and I know that I cannot win every won. The boys took the loss well, and are ready for next year.

A week after baseball ended, I drove the family out to Colorado to visit Emily’s dad and her two sisters. It was a great two weeks! We went to Cheyenne, Wyoming to visit a former student of mine (Jeff Schallick), visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, went to Estes Park, played a lot of board games, saw a few movies, drove the Kabota around the farm, and I even got to give a ministry update at Emily’s home church, The Evangelical Free Church of Eaton. Unfortunately, on the last day we were there, Emily’s grandmother passed away. So, please be praying for healing for her family.

Shortly after we got back to Pittsburgh, we joined my family for family camp at Beulah Beach, a C&MA camp near Vermilion, Ohio. This year’s Beulah, was probably the best I’ve been to. There is always something to do, and a lot of fun to be had. This year’s theme was “Super Heroes” and the family got dressed up as various super heroes. Emily and I were Tap Man and The Catch respectively (a Psych reference), Asher was Captain Underpants, Josh was Meme Boy, (his own creation) and Ben went as himself...we’ll just say he went as his secret identity.

In a few weeks, Emily and I will be taking an anniversary trip to Tennessee (the Knoxville area). We’ll let you know how that goes in the next newsletter.

I pray that you keep seeking Jesus, and learn to be more like him!

In Christ,
Andy Moore

September 2016 Newsletter

Cornerstone Update
This summer we held our annual summer large group gathering, Common Ground. Common Ground takes most of the CCO groups in Pittsburgh, from various campuses, and combines them into one large group which meets once a week. We decided to do Francis Chan’s “Basic” series this year, as a way to get new perspective on the many Christian truths we already know (Fear, The Holy Spirit, Fellowship, etc.). Common Ground had a great turn out with some great discussion on the BASIC series.

After Common Ground, and an extended vacation, came the time for planning the upcoming school year. This meant that orientation week was soon coming up, complete with multiple fun activities and tireless hours spent working. Here our student leadership took on orientation week events, as well as events scattered through the upcoming semester. We have a great group of leadership students, who came up with some big (and new) ideas. Orientation week went off without a hitch, and we had phenomenal turnouts to all of our events.

Now we are part way during the semester, and I am just trying to catch my breath. It has been, by far, my busiest semester to date. Granted I am taking two seminary classes on top of working, which (of course) makes it busier. Bobbi, Mark, Meagan (our new fellow), and I are all still finding out what does and does not work to our individual strengths. Cornerstone has been great so far, though. We are exploring new ideas and trying new things, constantly seeking God though out all of this. God has certainly been moving here.

Meet the Students

Meet “Backwards Hat” Nick Pezzuti, a junior Mechanical Engineering major from Mechanicsburg, PA. Nick has been part of our ministry since the orientation week cookout his freshman year. Read more about him:

1. What is your favorite childhood memory? My favorite childhood memory has to be playing games with my family. We had a soft mini ball when I was little. My brother, sister, dad and I would run around the house and play ball tag. Sure a few lamps were broken, and a few bumps on the head were given, but the memories will last a lifetime.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I've been involved in Cornerstone for two years, and have been on leadership for one. As a small group leader, I've really enjoyed leading a bible study and getting to know the people that come to Cornerstone even better. Being involved in Cornerstone has been a huge blessing in my life, and I've learned a lot through my experiences there.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Cornerstone has taught me a lot about my faith in Jesus, and has really helped me understand the Gospel and what it means and looks like to find my identity solely in Jesus Christ. Through the talks, bible studies, outreach events, hangouts, and everything in between, Cornerstone is helping me bring Glory to God throughout my life each and every day.

Financial Update

As you may have noted from the chart that our monthly giving is $3,681, 94% of where we need to be. I have been raising these funds so I can minister to students like Nick, and see how God has worked in his life during his years at Pitt. It is because of God working through you that all this is possible, and I am completely in awe by all of your graciousness. If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. If God leads you to prayerfully do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift. Remember that any gift is a good gift. We trust that God will provide. He always has, and He always will. We thank you, and may God bless you richly because you have given to advance His kingdom! Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

It seems as though the entire month of July was spent in vacation, and it was (for the most part) relaxing. We started July by going to Vermillion, Ohio to Family Camp at Beulah Beach. Here we, were joined by my entire family (my parents, and my sister and family). It was a great five days of playing outdoors, as well as learning some biblical wisdom and meeting new families. There were a lot of great times and memories on that trip, but very little down time.

Immediately after the Beulah trip, we went back home, packed up our things, got our dog, and headed to Colorado to see Emily’s family and friends. We had a great time as the boys played on the farm and we visited various places, like the Denver Museum and a Trampoline park. My favorite part of the trip was when I preached at Emily’s church on the resurrection of Lazarus. It was really a blessing to be able to speak to a church that has supported us for so long.

Now the kids are back in school, and we are trying to settle in to new schedules. Benjamin and Joshua have decided to pursue fall baseball, and will actually be on the same team this time...which makes coaching much more manageable. Asher toyed with the idea of playing Fall Ball, but decided that baseball wasn't his thing (which is absolutely fine). He has decided instead to pursue art classes. He is a fairly gifted artist for a 6 year old, and is really excited about it. He has started drawing constantly, and just keeps getting better and better.

We thank you all for your love and kindness, and pray that you continue to advance in the knowledge and wisdom of Jesus Christ. Hopefully, these newsletters and updates will be a bit more frequent.

In Christ,
Andy Moore

June 2016 Newsletter

Changes
This month marks the end of an era. My beloved boss and coworker for the past nine years, Chris Ansell, has decided to move on from his position at Bellefield/Cornerstone. I actually first met Chris even before I started working at Bellefield. It was at a CCO staff seminar, and we were in a group together. After we were done talking, he asked me to apply to the Bellefield position. I did, and here I am today.

When I first started working at Bellefield, Chris and I didn’t get along too well. Chris is a type A personality, I’m a type B personality, and I think our work styles just clashed at times. As the years went by, we learned to complement each other and our differences. I had strengths where he had weaknesses, and he had strengths where I had weaknesses. Not only did our work relationship develop, but our friendship also developed. I now consider Chris Ansell (aka “Chransell” as known as by the students) to be one of the best friends that I have.

I am heartbroken that Chris is leaving, but I am so excited about how God will use him and his family.

With that being said, we now have a new coworker: our former fellow (intern) Mark Michaelis. I was so happy when Mark applied for the job. He has been a tremendous fellow, and really brings a lot to our team. This year will definitely not be the same without Chris, nor should we expect it to be. I expect it will be downright weird at first. I am, however, super excited to work with Mark, Bobbi, and our two new fellows. Cornerstone will look different, but God will still be there and in control.

Meet the Students

Meet Emily Wenz, a junior Rehabilitation Sciences major, with a Certificate in American Sign Language, from New Hope, PA. Read more about her and her experiences at Cornerstone.

1. What is your favorite childhood memory? I have many, but the first memories that come to mind are my birthday parties growing up. I’m a triplet, so we always had huge birthday parties for my brothers and I all together during the summer. One year, we had a giant water fight party with about 50 kids simultaneously sliding down an inflatable water slide and chucking water balloons at each other. It was awesome, but now I can see why my parents were always so stressed during those parties….Anyway, one of my babysitters would always make a cake with three different sections because my brothers and I could never agree on what we wanted to put on it (some things never change).
Note: I was going to write about the time I attended Farm Camp and learned how to groom and show cows (aka we gave them baths and then walked them around on a lease in a circle) because it was hilarious and more enjoyable than expected, but I now realize that really the only funny/sad thing about that memory is that I was barely still a child when I attended (I was 14), so I wasn’t sure if it counted as a childhood memory.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I’ve been involved in Cornerstone since my freshman year. I started attending every few weeks and slowly got more involved. I joined the worship team at the end of my freshman year and I am now one of the worship leaders. As a musician, worship was one part of Cornerstone that kept me coming from the beginning, so serving as worship leader and growing in my faith through music has been a great opportunity. I am also involved in the outreach team and I attend bible studies.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Cornerstone has been a huge help to me throughout my time at Pitt. My faith has grown tremendously throughout college, which is one thing I never would’ve expected. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs over the last few years, and without having Cornerstone as a community to lean on and to hold me accountable, I don’t think I would have grown nearly as much as I have during college so far. I’ve learned that liking a place or what you’re doing there is not nearly as important as liking the people around you. Cornerstone has allowed me to meet some incredible people who have taught me what it means to really care for each other and to strive to serve God through everything I do.

Financial Update

You may have seen from the chart that our monthly giving is $3176, 81% of where we need to be. It is because of all of you that I am here and will get to where I need to be. I have been raising this support so I can minister to students like Emily, and see how God has worked in her life during her years at Pitt. Working with College students, and seeing God transform them, is a true blessing and I thank God every day for this opportunity. If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what makes ministry possible. If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. We trust that God will provide. He always has, and He always will. Remember that any gift is a good gift. We thank you, and may God bless you richly because you have given to advance His kingdom! Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

The boys’ school days and baseball season are at an end. Ben’s team won their World Series, placing them 1st in their league, while Josh’s team ended the season in 2nd place. All the boys on both teams worked so hard this year, and were led by great coaches. With baseball done, it is feeling like summer is finally beginning. So far, our future summer plans consist of joining my entire family for Beulah Beach Family Camp, followed immediately by a cross country trip to visit Emily’s family and friends in Colorado. This (along with some summer training) will pretty much take up our entire July. It’s going to be a bit chaotic, but a good chaotic. Emily has also volunteered to spend a week helping to lead Bellefield’s youth by doing the Pittsburgh Project, a Christian nonprofit community development organization with a nearly 30-year track record of developing leaders and serving the city’s most vulnerable residents. Throw in some baseball “lessons” with the boys, and you pretty much have a description of our summer

In other news, I have decided that the time is right to start taking seminary classes. The CCO offers discounted classes through Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. I have decided to take them up on that offer, apply, and was accepted. I know that working on my MAR (Master of Arts in Religion), will take up extra time, but I love learning about the Bible and am really excited for this opportunity.

I pray that this letter finds you well, and pray that God continues to bless you.

In Christ,
Andy Moore

July 2015 Newsletter

Love Fulfills
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” –Galatians 5:22-23

We fulfill the Law through love; this is the sum and substance of the whole Law. And love is the very thing the Spirit creates in the life of the believer and in the believing community. Love is the chief of the Spirit’s fruits. We see love mentioned first in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. That’s not only to give love pride of place as the most important fruit but also to suggest that love itself is the summation of all the other fruit. Love contains the whole of all that God desires and require of us.

This is why Paul can say so confidently about the fruit of the Spirit, “Against such things there is no law.” The Law is not against the fruit of the Spirit; indeed, the fruit of the Spirit - love - is the very thing for which the Law itself calls. Thus the leading of the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fulfillment of the Law and thus avoids its curses.

Love, then, ought to mark our lives as Christians. Indeed, love ought to be the hallmark of the Christian. We ought to be known by how we love one another – and the world. In fact, our love for one another is an indication of whether we are walking by the Spirit.

Love ought to mark the church as well. The church ought to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. We ought to be like a garden, the garden of God, embodying the presence of the Spirit, recapturing the love that was present originally in the garden of Eden. And this garden-church ought to be filled with fruit, new creation fruit born of the Spirit of God within the lives of his people. Thus the church ought to be an oasis in the midst of a barren wasteland, a place of nourishment and rest and healing and life smack dab in the middle of this present evil age.

-Todd Wilson, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living

Meet the Students

Meet Zak Wool, a senior bioengineering major from Newark, Delaware. Zak had been in the ministry from his very first weeks at Pitt, and has been quite an asset ever since. One thing you need to know about Zak is that he is a great cook. Read more about him…

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? This question is hard to answer. Top movies would have to include the Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, and Sunshine. Books would also include the Lord of the Rings along with The Things They Carried, and the Hyperion Cantos. Most folk and classic rock appeals to my tastes.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I got involved in Cornerstone the first month of my freshmen year when an awkward conversation with Andy at Bellefield brought me to the orientation week cookout. After attending freshmen bible study, I continued on to help lead it the following year. The past year and a half I've been co-leading Cornerstone's planning team which oversees the administrative aspects of Cornerstone's meetings and events.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Cornerstone was originally, like most freshmen, a place for me to meet others who shared my beliefs. Those initial relationships have been allowed to flourish and become some of the best friendships I’ve made. Such a community has allowed to me to grow into who I am compared to who I was out of high school. Learning to love myself and identify who I was in Christ has helped me mature not so much into a different person but into who I really was beneath the high walls I had put up.

Financial Update

Raising support for a pay raise has been slow but steady. We have taken a slight dip from the previous months support, however. You may have seen from the chart that our monthly is at $3096, 79% of where we need to be. Though there has been a dip, I am not discouraged, because I know that God provides. I am very thankful for that provision. I am also very thankful for all of you! It is because of all of you, I have been raising this support so I can minister to students like Zak, and see how God has worked in his life during his years at Pitt. It has been amazing watching Zak grow since our first “awkward conversation.” A large part of being able to do what I do has been through gracious supporters. If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what makes ministry possible. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and from my goal. We trust for you and for us that God will provide. He always has, and He always will. Remember that any gift is a good gift. Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

Summer is quickly winding down. What was once a relaxing filled few months is becoming increasingly busy. This past month Benjamin and Joshua (Asher still isn’t old enough) got their first taste of camp when they visited Beulah Beach, a Christian and Missionary Alliance Camp in Vermilion, Ohio. Ben and Josh did the Explore Camp part of Beulah Beach, designed specifically for younger kids to have their first overnight camp experience. The camp provides activities, games, music and also provided an opportunity for Ben and Josh to explore the active, relational, and spiritual value of being at a Christian camp away from parents. They had an absolute blast. In fact, the first thing Benjamin said to me when we went to pick him up was, “Can we stay?”

Those three days of camp where not their only days of camp, however. A week later, the whole family (including my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and four nephews) went back to Beulah Beach for family camp. We had time, both as a family and in specific age groups, to learn more about God and enjoy the area around Lake Erie. It was a wonderful (and tiring) five days that our whole family not only enjoyed, but bonded over. It looks like this might become our new family vacation.

A week after family camp, we celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday in Pittsburgh. We had an absolute blast celebrating with our entire family. She’s a very special lady whom I am extremely proud of and thankful for.

I pray that this letter find you well, and that God is doing amazing things through you!

In Christ,
Andy Moore