A Creative Idea for Redeveloping an Alliance Church

At its peak, Cornerstone International Church (Alliance) in Oakton, Virginia, had over 100 attendees. That number dropped to less than 30 by 2014, which is when the Mid-Atlantic District asked Jonathan Thornton to become the church’s redevelopment pastor.

Jonathan’s assignment now is to stop the negative momentum and, through the power of Christ, bring new life to this body. To do that, he first needs to get to know people from his community.

A couple of years ago, Jonathan discovered meetup.com, a site designed to help people meet over a common interest such as walking, sports, or knitting. So when he and his wife, Erika, moved to Virginia about a year ago, they looked for meetups to join.

Erika found a meetup for stay-at-home moms, and Jonathan decided to start one for people interested in strategy board games.

“Through Erika’s meetup, we have become friends with a dozen families,” Jonathan says. “We have had dinner at each other’s houses many times and have now shared the gospel multiple times with many of them. We are still praying and hoping for these people’s salvation.”

Jonathan’s meetup has grown to almost 100 people. Between 5 and 10 of them usually gather twice a month in the Thorntons’ home to play strategy games for a few hours.

“It’s amazing how just playing a game will open doors into the lives of the men I am playing with,” Jonathan says. “One night, after I had been playing with a guy for a few hours, he stayed back after everyone else left. We sat there in my living room for almost an hour talking about his life.”

This summer, Jonathan hosted an extended game day at the church. Afterward, one of the players offered to help him set up chairs for church the next morning. As they worked together, the man told his story of being Hindu, and Jonathan shared the gospel with him.

“It has been amazing to see how God can use something as simple as playing board games or going to a playdate to further His Kingdom,” Jonathan says.

Pray the men and women the Thorntons have met through their meetups will soon accept Christ as their Savior. Pray too that through their efforts, Cornerstone International Church will grow and thrive in the years to come.

—Based on an update by Johnathan Thornton, Cornerstone International Church pastor