Cornerstone Community Church is a small congregation, with an average of about 20 people attending service each Sunday. But the East Brainerd church's few members have big hearts, and the tiny congregation makes a greater impact each year on the lives of people in need.
During the 2017 holiday season, church members collected gently used coats for the homeless in West Virginia. They also collected small gifts and necessities to deliver to people in need in local homeless communities, nursing homes, retirement centers and halfway houses - touching the lives of more than 800 people overall, said Jerry Hullander, the church's pastor.
This year, they broadened their outreach, with a goal of impacting 1,000 people. The handful of parishioners collected donations of coats throughout the year, and also crafted toboggans and scarves to give to the homeless.
Combined with other donations of small gifts for adults, toys for kids and socks for the homeless, they were successful in meeting their goal - and more - giving to more than 1,100 people in need throughout the year, said Marcella Hullander, Jerry's wife.
Recipients included the homeless served by Chattanooga Rescue Mission and Chattanooga Community Kitchen; residents of assisted living facilities including Eagle Crest and Majestic Manor in Chattanooga and Country Haven in Ringgold, The Rosewood in Fort Oglethorpe and Mary and Martha's Personal Care in Rossville, Georgia; domestic abuse victims at Chattanooga's Maclellan Shelter for Families; and several local group homes and halfway houses.
"It is amazing what God can and will do with the smallest of congregations if they will just let him," Jerry Hullander said.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.