''Cornerstone'' was a newspaper and later a magazine published by

Jesus People USA Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. JPUSA emerged from Jesus People Milwaukee in 1972, and maintains one of the largest continuing communities ...

, focusing on topics of

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

faith and engagement with politics and culture. ''Cornerstone'' began as an 8-page black-and-white newspaper in 1971, printed at various locations by the itinerant Jesus People community. In 1973, its publication address settled permanently in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. ''Cornerstone'' quickly grew throughout the United States (and other countries) in artistic style, content, page count and circulation. The newspaper carried nearly a thousand addresses of "bulk distributors", providing an early networking vehicle for members of the

Jesus movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

and the Christian counterculture. The newspaper regularly focused on

Jesus music Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music that originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement ...

and musicians. It covered Christian evidence, racism, the drug culture,

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

testimonies and stories from the Jesus People commune which published it. Subtitled "The National Jesus Paper", ''Cornerstone'' peaked in circulation at 250,000 copies by 1979, the year it changed to magazine format. Though its press run dropped by half with the change in format, its influence and literary variety matured. Regular features were poetry, short fiction, Christian visual and performing arts, news on cults and persecuted Christians, investigative reporting, and full-color comics. The ''Cornerstone'' logo on the cover changed each issue of its existence. The magazine received both criticism and praise for its

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

of Lauren Stratford, John Todd and Mike Warnke, who had made names for themselves with stories of first-hand involvement in

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

and

Satanic ritual abuse The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in North America in the 19 ...

(which turned out to be untrue). ''Cornerstone'' magazine also spawned the

Cornerstone Festival Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...

. In 2003, ''Cornerstone'' ceased publication after publishing 124 issues over thirty-two years.

References

External links

Jesus People USA
{{Authority control Magazines established in 1971 Magazines disestablished in 2003 Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct Christian magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in Chicago Evangelical magazines

See also

References

External links