A Family-Building Church on East Mennonite Road
Cornerstone Church of Aurora sits along East Mennonite Road in Aurora, Ohio, in Portage County. The congregation's vision is direct: to reach and build families who grow in Christ, give to Christ, and go to their community and beyond for Christ. To that end, the church runs a full range of ministries for every age and stage, from a weekday preschool to a recreational basketball league, alongside the steady rhythm of Sunday worship, midweek Bible study, and preaching that walks straight through books of the Old and New Testaments.
Lead Pastor Drew Carroll has been on staff since 2005 and has served as lead pastor since 2009. He grew up in the area, met his wife Megan in sixth grade at Harmon Middle School, and later graduated from Cedarville University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His roots in Aurora give the church a strong sense of place, and a calendar of ministries that has been investing in the same community for years.
Sunday in Aurora
The doors open early on Sunday morning. Adult Life Groups gather at 9:00 AM, with classes led by Dan R., Tom C., Dave E., and Randy A. working through the Bible Studies for Life curriculum. The main worship service begins at 10:30 AM in the sanctuary, with nursery care available throughout for children from birth through two years. After a time of singing and prayer, children three years old through third grade are dismissed to King's Kidz, and the rest of the congregation settles in for a Bible-centered message.
The music draws on a contemporary repertoire that includes artists like Crowder, Hillsong, and Elevation Worship, and a Spotify playlist of the songs used on Sunday is available to listen to during the week. After the service, students in grades 9 through 12 head to Restoration 44 in Mantua for FaithWalk, a small group study and mentoring time that runs from 12:30 to 2:00 PM. Middle schoolers in grades 4 through 8 return in the evening for Club 408 at 6:00 PM, with Bible study, fellowship, and monthly special events.
Visitors are welcome to simply show up on Sunday morning. The office is happy to answer questions at 330-562-8233 or info@cornerstoneaurora.com, and the church is glad to host families from the neighborhood and beyond for an uplifting service, a Bible-based message, and a warm welcome.
Children and Students at Every Stage
Children and students are central to the life of Cornerstone, and the church has built a full pipeline from nursery through high school.
The Nursery welcomes children from birth through age two during the entire 10:30 AM worship service. Parents who are not yet ready to leave their infants and toddlers with volunteers can also use a cry room located in the Worship and Activity Center, where they can see and hear the service while still caring for their child.
King's Kidz, for children three years old through third grade, uses the Simply Loved curriculum and is designed to help kids love Jesus and each other. Children are signed in at the welcome center in the foyer, given a name badge, and start the service with their parents. After a time of singing and prayer, the pastor dismisses them to their own Bible-focused time.
Club 408 picks up where King's Kidz leaves off. As the name suggests, the ministry serves students in grades 4 through 8 and meets Sunday evenings at 6:00 PM for fun, fellowship, and Bible study, with monthly special events thrown in. FaithWalk is the high school ministry for grades 9 through 12, meeting Sunday afternoons at Restoration 44 in nearby Mantua. Students receive mentors for accountability and fellowship, and once a month the high schoolers join Club 408 for a combined event.
The Parent Ministry supports all of this with twice-monthly emails that dive deep into a parenting theme, once-a-quarter seminars for parents to connect, and a year-round calendar of family experiences. Resources are tailored for three stages: preschool (birth through age four), kids (kindergarten through fifth grade), and youth (sixth through twelfth grade), with a dedicated parent page for each.
My First School
My First School is a state-licensed weekday preschool ministry that is led by Director Julie Kaiser. The preschool offers classes for three-year-olds, four-year-olds, and Pre-K, and is open to the wider community at an affordable price. Julie came up through the program herself, first as a teacher in the 3's, 4's, and Pre-K classrooms, then as assistant director for six years before taking the role of director. The school shares a phone line at 330-562-8070 and can be reached through the church office for a free tour.
Adult Life Groups
Beyond Sunday morning, Cornerstone offers two weekly slots for adults to dig into Scripture together. The Sunday morning group at 9:00 AM studies the Bible Studies for Life material and is led by a team of four men. The Thursday evening group at 6:00 PM works through the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, under the leadership of Jim T., Tom C., and Adam A. Childcare is provided for the Thursday evening group, making it easier for young parents to attend.
Upward Basketball
For more than twenty years, Cornerstone has partnered with Upward Sports to host a Christ-centered recreational basketball league for boys and girls ages four through sixth grade. The league runs from January through March each year, with one weeknight practice and Saturday games, and focuses on building skills, forming friendships, and sharing the hope of the Gospel through sports. Each player attends a short evaluation in November, receives a reversible Upward jersey and t-shirt, and finishes the season with an end-of-season award and a team party. Parents are encouraged to volunteer as coaches and referees, with training provided for those without prior experience.
Prayer, the Bible, and Worship All Week
Cornerstone's teaching ministry extends well beyond the sanctuary. The church offers a Virtual Prayer Gathering on Tuesdays at 10:00 AM, hosted by Pastor Drew through GoToMeeting. The 45-minute gathering is a chance to share prayer requests and praises, with the option to join online or by phone.
A church-wide Bible Reading Plan covers January through June and July through December, helping the congregation read through Scripture together. The Worship All Week Spotify playlist mirrors the songs used in Sunday services, so members can sing along at home and come prepared to worship together on the weekend.
Sermons are available as audio recordings going back to at least 2014, organized by book of the Bible. The current series is a walk through Deuteronomy, and the archive includes full series on Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Ezra, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Daniel, the Minor Prophets, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, and James. Sermon notes and family devotionals are often included alongside the audio.
Equipping the Church to Share the Gospel
Two ministries focus on helping members reach outside the walls of the church. The 3 Circles Evangelism Training walks participants through six sessions that teach them to turn everyday conversations into gospel conversations, with a downloadable trainee guide, fill-in-the-blank notes, and class and personal practice reps. The training emphasizes a TGI rhythm of transition, gospel, and invitation, and walks through how to respond to red, yellow, and green gospel responses.
Bless Every Home partners members with a daily prayer prompt to pray for five families by name in their neighborhood, with the broader strategy of praying, connecting, and speaking in the surrounding community. Members sign up online, confirm their email, and gain access to a dashboard with a prayer map, prayer list, training resources, and confidential notes for each adopted family.
What Cornerstone Believes
Cornerstone's doctrinal essentials, set out in ten points, anchor the church in historic Baptist convictions. The Bible, in its sixty-six books, is held to be the inspired, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God. There is one God, eternally existing in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully man without sin. The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, convicts the world of sin, and seals, gifts, guides, and progressively sanctifies believers.
Humanity was created in God's image, and all human life from conception through natural death is sacred. Man has sinned, resulting in physical and spiritual death, and all human beings inherit a sinful nature and are under divine judgment. Salvation is by God's free grace through faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; believers are regenerated, adopted, redeemed, and justified through Christ, and kept by God eternally.
The local church is composed of immersed believers, autonomous though willing to cooperate with churches of similar belief. The two ordinances are believer's baptism and the Lord's Table. The two biblical offices are elder (pastor or overseer) and deacon, with the office of elder limited to men. Jesus Christ will return personally to the earth, raise the dead, and judge all people, consigning the unrighteous to a literal, eternal hell. Marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman for life, providing the framework for sexual love, and believers are called to flee from sexual immorality.
The church's stated values are Bible-Centered, Mission-Focused, Prayer-Dependent, Life-Change-Targeted, Leader-Empowered, and Team-Orientated.
A Staff Rooted in the Region
Pastor Drew Carroll leads the church with a long history in Aurora. He joined the staff in 2005 as associate pastor of discipleship and assimilation, became associate pastor, and then took the lead role in 2009. He previously served as a pastoral intern at Faith Baptist Church in Streetsboro, Ohio, before buying a small pressure washing business and then returning to ministry.
Pastor Adam Vodicka serves as Worship and Family Pastor. He has been in ministry and serving the local church since 2008, with experience as worship leader, youth pastor, and contemporary pastor at Southern Hills UMC in Lexington, Kentucky, and most recently as Director of Student Ministries at Mayfield Church in Chesterland, Ohio. Adam holds a B.A. in Religion with a minor in music from Case Western Reserve University and pursued a Master of Divinity at Asbury Theological Seminary, becoming ordained at Cornerstone in October 2025. He and his wife Kate have two daughters and live in the area.
Julie Kaiser leads My First School, having first served as a teacher in the 3's, 4's, and Pre-K classrooms, then as assistant director for six years before becoming director. She holds a B.S. in Business from Davis and Elkins College and lives in Garrettsville with her husband Joe.
Getting Connected
The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at 79 East Mennonite Road, Aurora, Ohio 44202. The main phone line is 330-562-8233, and the email is info@cornerstoneaurora.com. Visitors who want to ask Bible questions can submit them through the Pastor Q&A form, and the pastors answer selected questions in services, videos, and other formats over time.
Giving is offered in several ways: in person during the 10:30 AM worship service, by mail to the church address, through Zelle by sending to treasurer@cornerstoneaurora.com, or through Venmo at @Cornerstone-ChurchofAurora. The church can also be found on Facebook and X for ongoing updates and community connection.