MEET OUR ELDERS
JIM ADAMS
Jim and his wife Nancy have been serving Christ together for over 50 years, and God has blessed them with three children. Jonathan and wife Elisa from Costa Rica are raising four children for Christ’s kingdom; Debbie and her husband Tomi, a medical doctor from Peru, with their four children who are joyfully learning to love the Lord; and David with wife Daniella, who has accepted the challenge of starting Poiema Publicaciones, a non-profit Christian publication company in Medellín, Colombia. All are actively serving Christ in local churches. Jim has degrees from The Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church and Westminster Theological Seminary in California.
JON PATTON
Jon is a native of Arizona who spent most of his early years in Colombia, where his parents served as missionaries. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a music degree in Vocal Performance. Upon graduation he moved to East Asia where he spent four years teaching English and music while leading Bible studies among college students. It was there that he met his wife, Sarah, and together they moved to the States in 2011. The Lord has since blessed them with three precious children: Rylynn, Noelle, and Asa. Jon joined Cornerstone in 2011 and was ordained and called as a pastor of the church in 2016. He received his Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary.
JEFF LARKIN
Jeff was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1980 and has been practicing pharmacy ever since, currently at Express Scripts. He moved to Arizona in 1981 and became a Christian while attending church in Globe in 1991. A few years later, he moved to Mesa and attended Phoenix Seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity in 1996. He has been a pastor at Cornerstone Church since 1997.
CHARLES HART
Charles grew up among the green rolling hills of Devon, England. Despite not growing up in a Christian family, God delivered him out of darkness and into the kingdom of His Son at age seventeen. He graduated from the University of Chichester with a degree in Music Composition. After University he served at a church in North London, followed by working full-time at Carey Baptist Church in Reading, England. After a couple of years working at Carey, the church sent him off to gain his M.A. in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. He graduated in 2020. He is married to Lindsay, and God has blessed them with a son, Elisha John. They have been a part of the Cornerstone family since November 2020.
MEET OUR DEACONS
TOM HALL
In 2019, Tom retired as Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology (IT) for Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK). Prior to his IT career, Tom was a Spanish and ESL Instructor at San Diego State University, where he also graduated with a master’s degree in Spanish Linguistics. It was in San Diego where he and his wife, Mariú, met, married and started their family. Soon afterwards, Tom took a job in Saudi Arabia, where he and Mariú, along with their two children, lived for six years before relocating to Arizona. Tom has been part of the Cornerstone family since the year 2000 and was ordained as a deacon the following year. Since 2019, he has served on the board of directors of the Superstition Community Food Bank, which strives to address food insecurity in the East Valley. Tom and Mariú enjoy traveling, language learning, and delighting in God’s abundance through experiencing new places, cultures and people.
RICK HOLMAN
Rick was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, and moved with his parents to Mesa when he was 4 years old. He started working with his father, who was a bricklayer, when he was 10 and believes that experience enabled him to develop a good work ethic. After 2 ½ years of college, he decided to go into the bricklayers’ apprentice program. He worked 11 years for a contractor and then started his own business as a masonry contractor for 26 years and retired in 2018. He still does small jobs to stay active. Rick’s spiritual awakening began several years after graduation from high school when his former football coach died in a traffic accident. His former basketball coach gave the eulogy and stated that Coach Copeland was in heaven because of his relationship with Jesus. Immediately Rick was deeply troubled about where he would be when he died. An old friend invited him to church, where after some time he made a profession of faith in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. About 11 months later, his old friend, Debbie, and he were married. They have 3 children who are walking with the Lord. They also have 7 grandchildren.
MICHAEL LOWERY
A native of Arizona, Michael is the Chief Technology Officer for a small, local software company. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona. While in school Michael met his wife Laura. They have been married for more than 30 years and have two adult children, Hannah and Joseph. After being a member of Cornerstone Church for several years, Michael was ordained as a Deacon in 2015 and currently serves as Cornerstone’s Treasurer. He is also on the board of directors for Poiema Publicaciones.
MERL MILLER
Merl was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM. He began his career working in Miami, Florida and moved to Arizona with his wife Tracy in 1994. He completed degrees from the University of New Mexico and Florida International University and runs a small business focused on helping organizations make improvements to their workplace. He was active in Bible Study Fellowship International, an interdenominational study for adults and school-age students, for 20 years. He served as the teaching leader for the Phoenix men’s class for five years and credits these studies with consistent growth in Biblical knowledge. He and his wife, Tracy, have been married since 1993 and have four children. The Millers have been members at Cornerstone Church since 2008, and Merl was ordained as a deacon in 2016.
BOB NEITZ
Bob moved to Arizona in 2001 after retiring from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation where he managed the facilities programs which included building maintenance, renovation and new construction. He has an Associate degree in Engineering from Penn State University and a Masters level certificate in Facilities Management from Michigan State University. Bob and wife, Beryl, joined as members of Cornerstone in 2013. Bob and Beryl have 5 children and 4 grandchildren (in Florida, Pennsylvania, California, Virginia and Arizona). Bob was ordained as a deacon in January 2016 and serves as our Facilities Coordinator who oversees all of our maintenance and custodial needs.
Ryan Olmstead
Ryan is an Arizona native, his parents being founding members at Cornerstone when Ryan was still in the womb. Ryan literally grew up at Cornerstone and was baptized at age 12. He graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Music Therapy and later went back to school to also become certified as a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant. He works with children on the Autism spectrum (and other diagnoses) across the East Valley. He and his wife, Julie, enjoy raising their two children, Sam and Kaelyn. Ryan has been a part of Cornerstone’s Music Ministry for over 20 years.