| Cornerstone Community Church | |
| Location: | 11 East Coast Road, The Odean-Katong, #03-01/02, Singapore 428722 |
| Country: | Singapore |
| Denomination: | Independent |
| Status: | Church |
| Former Name: | Bedok Christian Centre |
| Churchmanship: | Charismatic |
| Membership: | 5,000+ |
| Founded Date: | 1990 |
| Seniorpastor: | Rev. Yang Tuck Yoong |
Cornerstone Community Church (Abbreviation: CSCC) is an independent, Charismatic church based in Singapore.[1] It is committed to global missions and has affiliate congregations in Kenya, Uganda, Myanmar, Pakistan, Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines.[2] Established in 1990, the church is led by founder and senior pastor Rev. Yang Tuck Yoong.
Cornerstone Community Church, previously known as Bedok Christian Centre, was established in 1990 under the umbrella of the Anglican Church in Singapore. On 1 January 1994, it was renamed Cornerstone Community Church to better reflect the growing diversity of the congregation. On 2 June 1995, CSCC became an independent Charismatic church to further facilitate the spiritual calling of the parishioners. In mid-2000, the church became officially affiliated with Zion Ministerial Fellowship Inc., a ministerial fellowship based in Waverly, New York, United States.[3]
Over the years, Cornerstone Community Church has grown to more than 5,000 members comprising ten congregations of various nationalities and languages. It has also set up bible schools and planted over 100 churches in 18 different countries. This includes Generations, their youth service. In 2012, CSCC helped to revitalise Bible College of Wales[4] and the Pisgah Chapel [5] in Swansea, Wales, an institution that intercessor, Rees Howells established in 1927.
Cell groups are a fundamental part of Cornerstone Community Church. The purpose of the cell groups is to be a setting for relational connectedness where the love of Christ is experienced in a personal way through friendship, care, encouragement, and expressions of love and kindness. It is also intended to be a place to grow, where every believer can develop and use their God-given abilities to help others and to engage in body ministry in the most powerful way. [6]
Cornerstone Community Church believes it has been called by God to be a house of prayer and to fulfil the Great Commission.[7] Since its inception, the church has dispatched many teams overseas to proclaim the gospel. Today, CSCC has church plants in almost a dozen countries.[8]
Rev. Yang was in the news after an article entitled "Gay Backlash" was published in The Straits Times on 23 July 2003.[9] [10]
The article summarised the different views of Christian organisations in Singapore regarding the remarks made by then-Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, in which he announced the government's openness to the employment of homosexuals, despite homosexual acts still being illegal in Singapore. The article reported that Rev. Yang, together with a group of Christians, voluntary organisations and professions, met to discuss a strategy and plan of action for Christians to tackle what they termed as a "volatile situation."
In September 2003, Rev. Yang issued a statement to Time magazine whereby he accused the American publication of glamourizing an illegal and condemned lifestyle in an article which reviewed the gay scene in Singapore.[11] He added that the people of Singapore have spoken up against the subject. No attestation, however, was provided by Rev. Yang with regard to this claim.
On 24 February 2008, Rev. Yang gave a sermon entitled "The Sin of Sodom" in which he called homosexuality an abomination. He argued that homosexuality is a spirit that is yet to prevail in Singapore because of official legislation, public opinion and conscience. He persuaded churches to stand up and oppose this "spirit," before Singapore is sent to the abyss in the same manner as Sodom. He also encouraged churches to be "bold" and "courageous," and to "take a stand." He lamented that a church that has lost the ability to influence and lobby society would be useless.[12]
In March 2018, remarks by fundamentalist American preacher Lou Engle that were made at a three-day conference organised by Cornerstone created an uproar. Engle had addressed thousands attending the conference, saying, “The Muslims are taking over the south of Spain. But I had a dream, where I will raise up the church all over Spain to push back a new modern Muslim movement.”[13]
The church filed a police report against Rice Media, the online news startup that first reported the remarks. The church said the article was a “scurrilous attack” and that it had a “seditious tendency”. It also said the article contained serious allegations "that seek to, and has the effect of, stirring up religious tensions and promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between Christians and Muslims".[14]
Senior pastor Yang Tuck Yoong later said Engle's remarks were "never meant to be an indictment against Muslims or the Muslim community in Spain as a whole. Instead, he was referring to the radical Islamic insurgency, including ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) advances into that nation with intentions of pressing its brand of militant ideology. He expressed his apologies that the choice of words used might have caused unnecessary misunderstandings, as it had not been in his intention to do so." Engle did not comply with a request by the police department to return to Singapore to cooperate with investigations.[15]
Yang later met with the Mufti of Singapore and other Muslim community leaders to offer an apology. He said the church was unaware of Engle's controversial past and informed him that he would not be able to speak in Singapore in future.
At an interfaith visit with a mosque months later, Yang said the church had tightened protocols and procedures to ensure "something like this never happens again".[16]