NON-DENOMINATIONAL

WEEKLY ATTENDANCE: 675

Meet Cornerstone Bible Church

In 1930, a small group of families with a deep hunger for God's Word came together to form what was then known as the Independent Brethren Church of Glendora. With remarkable faith and determination, the men quarried stones from the mountains above the local citrus groves and built the sanctuary that still stands at the heart of our campus today. That iconic stone church welcomed its first congregation in August 1931, and from those humble beginnings, God grew a thriving church that has faithfully served Glendora and the surrounding communities for generations.

As the church grew, so did its leadership and vision. In the mid-1970s, under the leadership of Pastor Ken Churchill, the congregation adopted an elder-led (plurality of elders) model of governance that continues to guide the church today. In 1986, Dr. Don Shoff was called as pastor, and just a few years later the church became known as Cornerstone Bible Church, a name that reflects our unwavering commitment to Jesus Christ as the foundation of all we do. During the many faithful years of Pastor Bruce French's leadership, God continued to strengthen the church, expanding its ministries, deepening discipleship, and drawing more people into the life of the congregation.

Cornerstone Bible Church has always been a place where Jesus Christ is Lord, God's Word is faithfully taught and lived, and people are welcomed into a community marked by love, joy, and grace. As we look back with gratitude for God's faithfulness through every generation, we also look ahead with confidence, trusting that the same God who has led us this far will continue to guide the generations to come.

About the Senior Pastor

Every church search reveals something about a congregation's heart. As we listened to our church family through our Health & Transition Survey, one theme emerged with remarkable clarity: Cornerstone is not simply looking for someone to fill a position. We are praying for the man God has already prepared to shepherd this church family into its next season.

More than anything, our congregation is longing for a pastor who loves Jesus deeply, walks closely with Him, and faithfully leads others toward Him. We are seeking a shepherd-teacher, a man whose life reflects the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1: proven Christlike character, above reproach, self-controlled, hospitable, and able to teach, who will know and love the people of Cornerstone, faithfully open God's Word, and help our church continue growing in maturity and mission.

Again and again, our congregation returned to two complementary qualities: the heart of a shepherd and the gifting of a faithful Bible teacher. We long for a pastor who will preach God's Word with clarity, conviction, and grace, not simply communicating information, but proclaiming the life-giving truth that transforms hearts and forms disciples.

We value sound doctrine, biblical leadership, and faithful preaching. We believe these gifts are most powerful when they flow from a man whose life is marked by humility, prayer, integrity, and genuine dependence on Christ.

Our congregation also hopes for a pastor whose ministry extends well beyond Sunday mornings. We are praying for someone who knows people by name, walks alongside them through seasons of joy and sorrow, strengthens families, and helps every believer discover and use their gifts in the life of the church. This is not solely a preaching role. We value a pastor with genuine leadership capacity, someone equipped to support, mentor, and develop our staff in their own growth as leaders, and who will partner well with our team in the administrative work of leading a healthy, well-run ministry. We desire a pastor who will cultivate healthy disciples, encourage biblical community, and help Cornerstone remain a church where people are known, loved, and challenged to grow.

Our church family consistently emphasized character over credentials. While experience and education are required and highly valued, they are secondary to a life that reflects the gospel. We are seeking a man who is humble and teachable, wise and trustworthy, courageous in truth and gracious in spirit. Whether God leads us to an experienced lead pastor or a gifted leader stepping into that role for the first time, our greatest desire is to follow His leading.

We also pray for a pastor who shares our commitment to expository preaching, aligns with our Statement of Faith and elder-led model of leadership, and carries a heart for evangelism, discipleship, and reaching the next generation. As our community continues to grow and change, we believe God has opportunities ahead to make Christ known throughout Glendora, the San Gabriel Valley, and beyond.

The Senior Pastor's responsibilities include:

The Lead Pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church is responsible for shepherding, teaching, and leading the congregation, staff, and ministries under the spiritual oversight of the Elder Board. The primary responsibilities are divided into five core dimensions:

Expository Preaching, Teaching & Corporate Worship

• Primary Pulpit Ministry: Serve as the primary teacher of the church, taking responsibility for the regular preparation and delivery of biblically sound sermons.
• Commitment to Expository Preaching: Maintain Cornerstone’s foundational commitment to verse-by-verse, expository preaching of God's Word, ensuring Scripture is taught in its historical, cultural, and theological context while remaining highly applicable to daily life.
• Preaching Rhythm & Collaboration: Preach 40 to 45 times per year. Work collaboratively with the church's five-member preaching team to plan sermon series, manage the calendar, and utilize the rotation to preserve a healthy preaching rhythm to ensure personal longevity.
• Guarding Truth: Stand firmly on the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, addressing uncomfortable or counter-cultural biblical truths with grace, boldness, and shepherding humility.

Relational Shepherding & Pastoral Care

• Vibrant Care & Counseling: In coordination with the Outreach/Counseling Pastor, provide personal, empathetic shepherding, crisis visitation, and biblical counseling for families and individuals navigating trials, marital struggles, addictions, and life seasons.
• First-Responder in Crisis: Model a deep shepherding heart by walking with families through trials, hospital stays, surgeries, and grief.
• Healthy Boundary Stewardship: Wisely manage shepherding access, maintaining a deeply relational, personal culture while implementing shepherding structures that protect personal time, marriage, and family health.

Staff Supervision, Mentorship & Collaboration

• Day-to-Day Staff Leadership: Oversee, manage, and shepherd a collaborative team of 15 staff members.
• Direct-Report Mentoring: Actively mentor and develop direct staff reports, specifically guiding the newly forming Director of Adult Discipleship role as it is integrated into the church's ministry structure.
• Conflict Resolution: Equip and train staff to handle daily shepherding confrontations, operational friction, and staff conflicts locally and biblically, ensuring shepherding situations are resolved effectively before needing escalation to the Elder Board.

Partnership with the Elder Board

• Strategic Board Liaison: Serve as the active, shepherding bridge between the staff's creative day-to-day operations and the Elder Board’s high-level oversight.
• Unanimous Plurality Collaboration: Submit to and partner with a unanimous plurality of elders. Vet staff-led initiatives and bring items requiring doctrinal, financial, or policy approval before the board.
• Doctrinal Purity & Discipline: Partner with the elders in guarding the theological DNA of the church. Act in unity with the board on elder-led shepherding decisions, including Matthew 18-level church discipline situations when necessary.

Strategic Vision & Campus Stewardship

• Navigating Capital Expansion (Phase II): Partner with the elders to shepherd and fundraise for the Phase II facility expansions, which include an 800-square-foot children’s building expansion and the long-term strategic vision for a new worship sanctuary.
• Discipleship Pathway Integration: Guide the church's discipleship programs, small groups (which currently engage 63% of the congregation across 44 groups), college ministries (Shelter), and youth groups into a unified, life-transforming discipleship track.
• Mobilizing the Great Commission: Champion Cornerstone’s deep missions DNA—historically dedicating 17% of the general budget (~$365,000 annually) to support 17 global missionary families and local partners—while fostering active local outreach and community service in Glendora.

What you bring

The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the Senior Pastor:

Education and Experience

• Graduate Theological Degree Required: A Master of Divinity (M.Div.) or equivalent advanced degree is required. 
• Undergraduate Foundation: A Bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.S.) in any field of study is required.
• Ministry Experience Track Record: A minimum of 10 to 15 years of active ministry experience is highly desired.
• Proven Preaching Stamina: A baseline requirement of preaching at least 30+ times per year. This ensures they can handle preaching 40 to 45 times annually across Cornerstone's three identical Sunday services.
• Leadership and Staff Oversight: Demonstrated prior experience leading, mentoring, and managing a staff and/or large teams of volunteers is required, preparing the candidate to lead a collaborative team of 15 staff members.
• Pathway Openness: Open to either seasoned Senior/Lead Pastors or high-potential Associate/Assistant Pastors.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Expository Preaching Excellence: Exceptional capability in verse-by-verse, expository preaching of God's Word. Sermons must teach Scripture in its historical and cultural context while remaining highly relational, relatable, and applicable to daily life.
• Staff and Elder Collaboration: Ability to lead, develop, and partner with a collaborative staff of 15 and operate under an elder-led plurality model that relies on unanimous consensus for major decisions.
• Relational Shepherding and Care: Strong capacity to provide personal, empathetic, and wise biblical counseling and spiritual care to a multigenerational congregation. 
• Intergenerational Discipleship: Ability to cultivate and maintain robust discipleship pathways. Currently, 63% of the congregation is plugged into adult discipleship groups, alongside active youth, college, and family ministries.
• Administrative & Capital Campaign Wisdom: Strategic capacity to lead the church through upcoming Phase II facility expansions (an 800 sq. ft. children's building expansion and a future new sanctuary), paired with the wisdom to delegate operational tasks so shepherding and teaching remain the primary focus.

Personal Characteristics and Qualifications

• Biblical Character Qualifications: Uncompromising commitment to personal holiness, matching the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 (above reproach, sober-minded, self-controlled, hospitable, respectable, gentle, and managing his household well).
• Doctrinal Integrity: Alignment with Cornerstone's Statement of Faith.
• Lifestyle Discernment: High standards of personal wisdom and shepherding discretion.

What it's like to live in Glendora, CA

One of the gifts of serving at Cornerstone is getting to call Glendora home. Tucked against the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Glendora feels like a hidden gem in the middle of Southern California, a place where neighbors still wave, people linger in conversation, and families put down roots for generations. On Saturday mornings, you'll find couples strolling tree-lined streets, families hiking Big Dalton Canyon, and parks buzzing with Little League games and cheering grandparents. Life here still leaves room for conversation.

The heart of the city is Glendora Village, a walkable downtown that continues to grow while holding onto its small-town charm, the kind of place where running into someone you know is the expectation, not the exception. Glendora has become a place people love growing up, and many choose to return years later to raise their own children, drawn by strong schools, welcoming neighborhoods, and a sense of connection that's rare in greater Los Angeles.

A Community That Welcomes the Church

We're also grateful to live in a city that values the presence of healthy local churches. Glendora is home to several Bible-teaching congregations, and there is a genuine spirit of mutual respect and partnership rather than competition. Local pastors gather regularly to pray for one another and for our community, and Cornerstone is privileged to host these monthly prayer gatherings. Our young adults also regularly join with neighboring churches for worship nights and other opportunities to encourage one another in Christ. Community leaders regularly invite local churches into the life of the city through events like the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast and National Day of Prayer at City Hall. It's a place where a pastor can faithfully serve, build relationships, and be welcomed as a meaningful part of the community.

A Wonderful Place to Raise a Family

Families flourish here. Glendora Unified School District is consistently recognized as one of California's top public-school districts, while numerous private Christian schools, homeschool communities, Citrus College, and nearby Azusa Pacific University offer excellent educational opportunities for every stage of life.

And when it's time to explore, there is no shortage of adventure. Miles of hiking and biking trails begin practically in our backyard, with the San Gabriel Mountains just minutes away. The beaches, Disneyland, professional sports, mountain lakes, and even snow-covered ski slopes are all within a one-hour drive.

Glendora offers the warmth and connectedness of a small t