Riordan welcomes Cornerstone Church to campus

Riordan has a new visitor on campus, with Cornerstone Church using the Lindland Theater as well as several classrooms on Sunday mornings for services.

Cornerstone is non- denominational Christian church located in San Francisco, with the purpose of giving people a welcoming and safe environment to grow in faith with God.

Cornerstone recently outgrew their previous location at the Armenian School on Brotherhood Way and sought a bigger space to hold their services.

Dr. Andrew Currier said, “The negotiations included the President (me), the Archdiocese, and leadership from Cornerstone Church. There were several iterations of the contract to assure mutual satisfaction with both parties.”

He added, “Any time an Archdiocesan Catholic school enters into an agreement for use of facilities for longer than three years, then Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone must sign off in agreement prior to entering into a contract. As Superintendent Pam Lyons stated at the September board meeting, the Archdiocese of San Francisco encourages schools and parishes to find creative ways to use the facilities to help with tuition assistance if the use of the facility aligns with the Mission of the Roman Catholic Church. In this case, the promotion of Jesus Christ to his followers aligns with the aims of Archbishop Riordan High School’s reason for being.”

At each service, Cornerstone Pastor Terry Brisbane is broadcasted preaching to the live audience at Riordan as well as live music in the theater before the services begin.

Along with their use of the theater, Cornerstone also uses several classrooms in the school to host younger children and help incorporate them into the Christian faith as well.

With Riordan lending many of the facilities, Cornerstone has also done many things to help benefit the Riordan community in return.

Currier said, “The light and sound upgrades are direct benefits to Riordan. Also,there is a significant movement to upgrade our internet speed and Cornerstone has done an incredible amount of work in that effort. Riordan stands to benefit from the high speed internet upgrades in the next couple of years.”

“Also, one of the best benefits is that Riordan families who are Cornerstone Members already get to worship at Riordan on Sundays. In addition, many faith- filled families get to see Riordan and will hopefully consider Riordan as an option for their sons in the future,” Currier said.

Currier also said, “I occasionally stop by to witness their services primarily to make sure everything is okay… When I have seen their services, I am impressed with the level of professionalism put forth into their program. It’s impressive to say the least. The sound, the messaging, the heartfelt promotion of Jesus, and the community atmosphere allows them to have a very vivid experience of the Word of God.”