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Church to lay cornerstone for new worship center
Cornerstone Christian Church senior pastor Rev. Manuelito Rey, fourth left, leads the groundbreaking ceremony of their new facility last Sunday. Others in photo are, from left, Cezar Supitan, Jun Beltran, Freddie Cataluna, Andrew Ashburn, Raymond Casuncad, and Dennis Tupaz. (Jon Perez)
The shoveling of dirt in every groundbreaking ceremony symbolizes the start of a facility’s construction. But in the case of Cornerstone Christian Church, it is like planting the seed of a tree that would later bore fruit to sustain a congregation hungry for God’s word.
On Sunday, Rev. Manuelito Rey led the ceremony, along with their partners, for the project beside their worship center in Chalan Piao.
Once completed, the worship center will be used by the community with the purpose of educating them about the word of God and for other services.
The project will be done in stages starting with Phase 1, which starts beside the worship center. The main structure of the worship center will be demolished for the next stage of the project.
Raymond Casuncad, the N15 architect, said they would begin construction in June. “The whole area, once completed, is 40X80 square feet. It will take three to four months for the entire project since the materials and some of the structures are already there.”
Casuncad thanked all of their partners including architects, engineers, and building contractors who are members of their Christian community. He said that what was once a community that started in an Afetna garage grew and in a few months would have a new place of worship.
“From Afetna, we moved to a facility in Koblerville where we stayed for two years. We transferred here after we got a 55-year lease of the property,” said Rey, who had only 10 members 17 years ago.
“The project moved forward after some fundraising programs, and with the help of the congregation and some friends. We have good partners and different things came out to help us in the project plus the contribution of the skills of some of our church members.”
He added that all are workers of God. “We must remember that we are thinking of the next generation. The stability of our future wrest on what we do in our time.”
“The challenge now is how can we be part of building the future and supporting the next generation? This is a shining example of having a legacy that the Lord will bless,” said Rey.
