About Cornerstone Ministries

Cornerstone Ministries is a cooperative ministry of three United Methodist Churches (Boothsville, Eldora, and Janes Memorial) serving the greater Fairmont area of south Marion County, west Taylor County, and north Harrison County, West Virginia. While each of the churches of Cornerstone Ministries has a distinct feel, we share a concerted vision of being vital expressions of the Body of Christ in and to our world.

We are communities of grace and faith which serve, worship, study, and journey together in our pursuit of Christian and human authenticity, growth, service, and transformation. We do not seek perfect people to journey with us, because we are not perfect ourselves. Instead, we seek to be a welcoming body where each person can fulfill their God-given potential and promise through every stage of life and faith development.

"WE DO NOT SEEK PERFECT PEOPLE TO JOURNEY WITH US, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT PERFECT OURSELVES."

While we stand within the consensus of historic Christian faith, we also recognize that faith and life can be messy and difficult. We do not believe that faith offers easy answers or false certainty. For us, faith is not the absence of doubt, but the ability to believe and trust God in spite of our uncertainties. We seek understanding, not conformity or uniformity. Truth can only be asserted as it is done so in genuine humility and openness to deeper truth.

At the same time, we are unapologetic about the truth that God, in Jesus Christ, has entered our lives, transformed our hearts and minds, and made us new. We have been born again to a new life, a new hope, and a new destiny. The core truth is at the heart of our lives together and motivates our ministry to the world.

Our Pastor

Dr. Michael Richards has served as pastor of the churches of Cornerstone Ministries since 2009. He lives with his wife Chrissy and their sons in Boothsville, West Virginia. Mike also serves as the Clinical and Executive Director of Cornerstone Pastoral Counseling and Wellness Center, which provides life coaching, pastoral counseling, marriage counseling, and spiritual direction. He is a certified teacher in the state of West Virginia and WV Licensed Graduate Social Worker. In addition, he is a licensed Clinical Pastoral Counselor, Advanced with the National Christian Counseling Association. Mike also serves as an adjunct professor of English at the Department of Humanities at Fairmont State University.