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What is CFM?
Cornerstone Fellowship of Ministries is an apostolic network
that provides covering for ministers, churches, and ministries;
and exists to help equip, support, and strengthen ministers,
ministries, and churches in their work for the Kingdom
of God. CFM desires to facilitate and nurture meaningful
relationships among member ministers, ministries and churches,
enabling them to be more effective in their calling, for
the purpose of building and multiplying strong local churches
and ministries around the world.
The Lord is involved in networking. His first disciples "worked
nets" before they became networkers. In this hour, the
Lord is weaving link by link a massive worldwide dragnet
to bring in the last harvest of souls. Through apostolic
ministry He is birthing and raising up sons and daughters
from all over the world to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ
and to manifest the marvels of His glory with signs and wonders
following. I find it interesting that when Jesus first began
to call His Apostles, they were found spending time mending
and washing their nets. Yet, with all the attention on their “nets”,
their nets still broke under the stress of the harvest
(Matthew 4:21, Luke 5:6). I believe that we must be rightly
connected
or our nets will also break during the harvest.
Cornerstone Fellowship of Ministries is a networked family
of ministers and ministries where relationship, support,
and accountability occur. We are a family of ministers,
congregations and ministries voluntarily united for the
purpose of fulfilling
the apostolic mandate of the Church. To fulfill the mandate
of the Holy Spirit in these last days requires equipping,
cooperation and passion! To this end many local churches
throughout the world are recognizing a need for the full
restoration of all the Ephesians 4:11-16 ascension gifts;
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
The early church operated under a spiritual government
where these ascension gift ministries were in full operation,
working
as a team equipping and releasing saints to the work
of the ministry. It is essential that this form of apostolic
order
be restored in the Church. Christians are becoming aware
that there are apostolic men and women who function as
spiritual parents. God wants his people cared for and
mentored by these
apostolic parents. God is also interested in local churches
building according to New Testament patterns as they
relate to apostolic spheres of authority and ministry.
When a network is functioning properly, it conveys helpful
Biblical foundational principles without proselytizing
unique churches toward conformance to a rigid stereotypical
mold.
It is our belief that each church that is part of our
network has its own particular assignment, personality,
and uniqueness
that is God given. Local churches are not supposed to
be “franchises” like
McDonald’s. CFM operates under the premise that
the end goal is to loose the local church to a state
of autonomy.
The local church should not be misled to believe that
its life comes from the network. A characteristic of
life is
that life is self-sustaining and regenerative. We believe
networks will assist in the planting, birthing, and nurturing
aspects of the new church. We also believe that when
local churches spring from the apostolic seed, they flourish
upward and outward, producing native fruit to export
to
the nations.
Apostolic refers to ministries and churches committed
to the restoration of Apostolic Christianity, the faith
and
discipline of the New Testament Church. While we desire
to maintain an accurate understanding, a proper appreciation,
and a practical appropriation of the rich heritage that
is
ours as Christians through the varied and diverse movements
that have been raised up throughout the history of Christianity,
we strongly recognize that the early church was an apostolic
church with an apostolic faith, the doctrine of the apostles;
an apostolic experience, the baptism of the Holy Spirit;
an apostolic structure or governmental order, built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets; an apostolic
mandate or mission, to fulfill the Great Commission;
and an apostolic vision and destiny, to grow up into
the head
in all things, filling the earth with the glory of God!
CFM History & Beginning
CFM was officially established in June of 1999. CFM was
founded by Apostle Dell Young in response to the leading
of the Holy
Spirit as five-fold ministers began to come to Apostle
Dell for oversight, fellowship, and covering. Apostle
Dell had
several years earlier submitted himself and Cornerstone
Ministries to the apostolic covering and oversight
of Apostle L.A. Joiner.
Apostle Dell Young serves on the Apostolic Team with
Apostle L.A. and is part of Christian Alliance of Ministries
(CAM).
CFM & CAM are both connected and submitted to Apostle
Ken Sumrall. Ken Sumrall is founder and apostle of Church
Foundational Network.
Organization
Although CFM is relationshionship-based and we believe
that in order for there to be true relationships formed,
spending
time together in fellowship is very important. Therefore
ordination in CFM requires a genuine commitment to
the vision of CFM and a continuing, growing relationship
to Apostle
Dell Young and the CFM family. We do not have any “in-active” members.
Because some want to relate to Cornerstone Fellowship
of Ministries on different levels, and we believe that
there
is a strategic purpose with each level, two different
divisions to CFM have been developed.
• The First Division is for ministers that are ordained through
CFM and look to Apostle Dell Young as their spiritual
covering and their primary source of equipping and accountability.
• The Second Division is for ministers who want to be related
to CFM in order to partake of the fellowship, interchange,
and personal ministry, but are primarily accountable
to another ministry, church, movement or denomination. They are not
credentialed by CFM.
We do not consider one of these divisions more or less
important than the other. However, if someone in the
Second Division
needs personal counseling, or discipline, we defer
to their primary source of accountability for this.
OUR
MISSION
1. To radically and passionately pursue God; to be
a worshipper (Matthew 22:37).
2. To equip and release apostolic and prophetic ministry
in the Body of Christ and the marketplace (Ephesians
4:11-13).
3. To expedite the completion of the Great Commission
(Matthew 28:18-20).
4. To accelerate the advance of the Kingdom of God.
To fully participate in the current move of the Spirit
throughout
the world.
OUR GOALS
1. To connect and network like-minded leaders.
2. To pursue and promote apostolic relationships.
3. To help plant churches and launch ministries.
4. To be a resource for ministers and ministries.
5. To host leadership seminars, workshops, minister’s
advances and CFM family conferences.
6. To offer personal ministry and counsel to credentialed
ministers and their families as needed.
7. To provide an accountability structure for pastors,
ministers, and leaders.
8. To establish partnering and support on ministry
projects which transcend each individual's sphere of
influence.
9. To be an example of and promote and release apostolic
and prophetic ministry in the church and the marketplace.
10. To be an apostolic training and sending center
by releasing ministry to support and protect the local
church
and to equip
and train local church and workplace leaders.
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
The primary benefit of CFM is the blessing of Family. There
is a divinely inspired motivation among pastors and leaders
to be a part of something greater than themselves. Cornerstone
Fellowship of Ministries provides that opportunity to pastors
and leaders not to be independent or solely autonomous, but
rather interdependent and part of a family where there are
spiritual fathers, brothers and sisters that make up a network
team affecting dynamic change in the earth.
1. Accountability.
2. Personal counseling.
3. Relationships with like-minded peers.
4. Help in a crisis.
5. Apostolic parenting and mentoring.
6. Cornerstone Connection bi-monthly newsletter.
7. Message of the Month subscription
8. To be in peer level relationship with other leaders of
like mind and spirit.
9. The availability of an apostolic team of ministers moving
in spiritual authority, anointing, and gifting.
10. Overseeing of licensing and ordination services.
REQUIREMENTS OF MEMBERSHIP
Credentialed Ministers (Division One)
Because CFM is based on personal relationships, it is required
of all members to attend at least three CFM functions every
year. These functions include advances, conferences, monthly
network meetings, etc. This requirement can only be waived
if it is established that the member is providentially hindered
from attending and is maintaining a relationship through
personal visits to Apostle Dell Young. The Primary goal of
CFM is to grow in quality and depth of relationship, not
just numbers. CFM is open to a relationship with ministries
that are:
1. Devoted to the promulgation of the gospel
2. Committed to sound Biblical teaching
3. Has a lifestyle that reflects the Biblical standards of
leadership
4. Committed to unity with other streams and movements in
the church
5. The fruit of their ministry exemplifies the character
of the Holy Spirit, and glorifies the Lord Jesus.
REQUIREMENTS OF MEMBERSHIP
Non-Credentialed Ministers (Division Two)
• The Second Division is for ministers who want to be related
to CFM in order to partake of the fellowship, interchange,
and personal ministry, but are primarily accountable to another
ministry, church, movement or denomination.
We do not consider one of these divisions more or less important
than the other. However, if someone in the Second Division
needs personal counseling, or discipline, we defer to their
primary source of accountability for this. Some may want
to join this division in order to get to know Apostle Dell
and to observe the apostolic ministry. Those in this division
are asked to contribute $20.00 per month as an associate
member. All associate members of division two receive a subscription
to both the Message of the Month and the bi-monthly newsletter
Cornerstone Connection distributed by Cornerstone Ministries.
These subscriptions are to keep the members abreast of the
message that is being promulgated through Cornerstone & CFM,
as well as being part of our commitment to help equip our
members. You will also be placed on our CFM mailing list
and notified of all conferences, minister’s advances,
workshops, and monthly gatherings in which you may participate.
PROCESS OF BECOMING A MEMBER OF CFM
1. Set up a personal meeting with Apostle Dell Young for
relationship, fellowship, and sharing of vision.
2. Willingness to be a part of a network of local churches,
pastors, ministries, and leaders.
3. Complete CFM ministry application.
4. Agreement with governance, objectives, finances, statement
of faith, and vision of CFM.
5. Support the ministry and mission of CFM with finances.
6. Credentials will be issued.
FINANCES
Every church, movement, and network needs adequate resources
to grow and advance. CFM Network Churches and Ministries
believe strongly in the principle of tithing. We believe
that all members of local churches should tithe to their
church or “storehouse”. We believe that senior
pastors and traveling ministers should tithe upward to their
apostolic covering and not back to themselves. We also encourage
churches to tithe by establishing a missions fund and give
to missionaries and other outreach opportunities outside
their own local ministry. We encourage each church/ministry
to send a tithe of the tithe to the apostolic fund. The apostolic
fund is used to host regional conferences, ministers advances,
support new church plants, and ministers in need.
I realize that some may misunderstand, misquote and question
motives, especially those who have not crucified the god
of mammon. Therefore, I will quote what several notable apostles
have written on this subject:
Apostle John Kelly, Southlake, Texas. Apostle
of Antioch Churches & Ministries
When Malachi says bring your tithes into the storehouse,
we think it means just that. I have found that the majority
of believers in the new apostolic churches tithe correctly.
Many of the ministers, however, tithe incorrectly. The two
questions I ask ministers concerning tithes are as follows:
Where is your storehouse? And Where do you feed from? If
they tithes to their local church, they are tithing back
into their own paychecks. Their church is not their storehouse.
A minister’s storehouse is what we call the “covering”.
Our local churches also tithe, but they tithe to the network
for global impact and a global harvest. Quoted from The
New Apostolic Churches, author C. Peter Wagner, pages 37 & 38.
Apostle Mark Hanby, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Most
pastors tithe back into their own churches; hence they
are paying themselves. That is not tithing up. The New
Testament
story in the Book of Hebrews concerning Abraham and Melchisedec
says that Abraham paid tithe of all to Melchisidec, and
hence the lesser paid tithe to the greater (Heb 7:2,7).
Tithing
must always go up so the connection can be made all the
way to the head. Quoted from You Have Not Many
Fathers,
author
Dr. Mark Hanby, page 213. Apostle Ken Sumrall, Pace, Florida, Apostle of Church Foundational
Network
From my perspective, the tithe of the senior minister, .
. . . should be paid to his spiritual father’s apostolic
fund. There may be senior ministers who feel their own local
ministry needs the funds more so than the apostolic ministry
needs it. That may be so. But in order to be completely honest,
that minister should teach his people they can simply give
their tithes to whatever ministry needs it most or keep it
for themselves if they think they need it more than his/her
local church does. Quoted from Apostolic Fathers
and Their Families, author Apostle Ken Sumrall, page 91.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. We believe in one God eternally subsisting in three Persons:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through His
miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth.
He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to
the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the
dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the
Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.
3. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply
the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of
sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling our hearts, He
gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for
service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals
us for the day of redemption.
4. Our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God's
free grace. God credits His righteousness to those who put
their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby
justifies them in His sight. Only such as are born of the
Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God
and heirs of eternal life.
5. The true Church is composed of all persons who through
saving faith in Jesus Christ and sanctifying work of the
Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The
Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local
congregations.
6. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth-personally,
visibly, and bodily to judge the living and the dead, and
to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.
7. The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim
the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of
all peoples. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total
commitment to "him who loved us and gave Himself for
us." He calls us to a life of self-denying love and
service.
GOVERANCE
GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH: We believe that the New Testament
Church should be apostolic in nature and governed by delegated
authorities. Those authorities are pastors and elders with
trans-local apostolic oversight. We understand and believe
that God’s order of government for the local church
begins with the church being birthed under the oversight
of an apostle. Once that level of local government is established,
the church operates in an autonomous way under the oversight
of an apostle in an ongoing relationship. This relationship
is to be one by mutual consent of the apostle, the pastor,
and elders of the local church.
Local ministries, once established, will continue to need
apostolic guidance. When summoned by the local ministry that
is facing a crisis or difficult situation, Apostle Dell and
his Apostolic Team will give input or personally come to
the ministry. The Apostolic Team shall bear a parenting relationship
to the local ministries and ministers. When it comes to the
attention of the Apostolic Team that there is a problem,
the Team appeals to the local leadership to solve the problem.
If the local Elders cannot come to an agreement, then Apostle
Dell and his Apostolic Team will speak into the situation.
Apostolic networks are different from most denominations
and organizations because relationships are priority rather
than policies, procedures, and rules. From these relationships
comes the strength of the network. Governance is accomplished
through the partnership of prayer, dialogue and visionary
leadership. The network serves. It does not control. It is
our intention to make association and membership as easy
to leave (should you feel the Lord is leading you out) as
it is to join.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What does CFM stand for?
Cornerstone Fellowship of Ministries. CFM is dba of Cornerstone
Christian Church Inc. of Sparks Georgia. Cornerstone Christian
Church is an IRS approved 501 C 3 non-profit incorporation
in the State of Georgia.
2. What is meant by the term "apostolic"?
Apostolic is derived from the Greek word apostolos, which
means “a sent out one” with an emphasis on commissioning.
Therefore, apostolic has the connotation that all authority
and responsibility is from the sender. The New Testament
uses the word apostolos in a variety of ways.
First, Jesus is called the Apostle of our confession in (Heb.
3:1) and He is the One sent from God the Father (John 20:21).Second,
there were men who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry
who Jesus called apostles. These men were referred to as “The
Twelve” and have a special place in the Kingdom of
God. (Matt 10:2; Acts 1:21-26; Rev. 21:14).
Third, There are many other references to the ministry of
apostles in the New Testament. Outlined in Ephesians 4:11-13,
I Corinthians 12:28 they are given for the edification of
the church until Christ returns. There are certainly other
individuals besides the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb referred
to in scripture as “apostles of the churches” for
example, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Barnabas, James, Apollos,
Epaphroditus, and certain unnamed brothren (I Thessalonians
1:1, 2:6; I Corinthians 4:6,9; Acts 14:14; Galatians 1:19;
Phil 2:25; II Corinthians 8:23). Different from the “Twelve
Apostles of the Lamb” these “apostles of the
churches” had a primary role of establishing new and
strengthening existing churches. It is noteworthy that the
Latin cognate of the word apostle is missionarius from which
we derive our word missionary. The church has historically
recognized the need for this vital ministry, no matter what
it has been called. We prefer to use the biblical Greek word
apostle, instead of missionary or church planter, because
it connotatively links more clearly our ministry endeavors
with that of the first century church.
3. What is an apostolic team?
An apostolic team is not merely a group of apostles working
together, in fact “the apostolic team” may or
may not have apostles on it. An apostolic team is a team
of like-minded men and women (usually consisting of apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The authority
of the apostolic team stems from the “sender” and
has delegated authority to act on behalf of the sender.
4. Who is in charge of CFM?
CFM was founded and is overseen by Apostle Dell Young.
5. Is Apostle Dell Young and CFM accountable to any leaders?
Yes. Apostle Dell is submitted to Apostle L.A. Joiner and
serves on the Apostolic Team for Christian Alliance of Ministries
(CAM). CFM is also covered and served by the CAM A-Team.
APPLICATION
To receive an application or further information, please
contact the office of Cornerstone Ministries.
Phone: 229-549-6721 ~ Email: cfm@cornerstoneministry.com Fax: 229-549-8004
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