HISTORY
You can’t see our future if you don’t understand our history.
Cornerstone Church was founded in November 1986 in a small, white, church building in northern Salisbury; the first Sunday had 12 in attendance (5 being the Godair family). Bishop Godair founded the church and laid the rich legacy we see still today.
In 1989, after out-growing the original building, the church relocated to Downtown Salisbury (127 S. Main St.). For 7 years, we continued to experience growth. Then, in July 1996, after several financial miracles, the church bought the present campus from CCB which was appraised at $2.3 million. The church purchased the building and 8 acres for $500,000!
In 1999, Bishop Godair met Tina Samples, a single mother from Toledo, Ohio. Bishop Godair and Tina got engaged a few months later on the top of the Empire State Building in New York, NY. They were married in 2001, blending their families with children, Jonathan, Kristen, Bethany, and Joshua. Shortly after moving to Salisbury, Pastor Tina began working with the child development centers and grew them into what we see today, the largest childcare provider in Rowan County. Pastor Tina also established our women’s ministry. The Girlfriend’s ministry reaches women from all over the community and provides them a safe space to connect with their girlfriends and Christ!
On Easter Sunday 2008, we moved into our new facility, The Event Center. The Event Center was built with the growth of the church and community in mind, and it has accomplished its goal. The church continues to grow, and we’ve been blessed to host meetings and events for the City of Salisbury, Livingstone College, Rowan-Salisbury School System, Atrium Health Medical Center and many more. In the fall of 2008, the original building was remodeled and renamed The Education Center which consists of the Business Center (Lead Pastor and Church Offices), Cornerstone Kids (Preschool & Elementary Students), Cornerstone Youth (Middle & High School Students), several Suites and Cornerstone Child Development Center-Main.
In June of 2021, the unimaginable happened; Bishop Godair received a report from the doctors stating that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Despite this, he continued to preach and minister to others during his chemotherapy treatments. In that same year, additional leadership was brought in to help carry the vision forward.
On December 7th, 2021, at Duke Hospice in the Hock Family Pavilion, Bishop Godair transitioned over into eternity with his wife, Tina, beside him. He fought a good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).
Today Pastor Tina and the Pastoral Team continue to build upon the foundation and legacy through Cornerstone Church, the five Child Development Centers, The Legacy School, and Cornerstone’s future sports complex. Because of the solid foundation that has been built, today Cornerstone is a strong, thriving, diverse spirit-led church that is affecting individuals in our community from all walks of life. We are passionate about connecting the hearts of people to the heart of God.
