July 21, 2010

Cornerstone partnered with Echo the Story and Imago Media to present Merge, a student conference, on campus the last week of June.

“[Merge is] a week long student conference where – through creative storytelling, art and media, discussion, learning stations and interactive experiences – Merge inspires high school students to merge with God's story, merge with God's way of life, and merge with God's mission,” said Don Perini, associate professor of youth ministry and creativity, who acted as the liaison between Cornerstone and Merge.

The partnership was the result of a task force that was created to see how Cornerstone could engage with local and regional churches, Perini said.

“Merge had incredible success in the past with this conference, so we figured they would be a great choice,” Perini said. “Also, the content fits our values: teaching God’s story through innovative learning experiences.

Thirty students attended the event held June 27-July 2.

“From what I have heard from those who have attended, [Merge] is the most meaningful experience in their high school career,” said Perini.

Cornerstone plans to host next year’s Merge conference as well, during the week of July 11-16.

To find out more about Merge, visit its Web site at www.mergeexperience.com. To schedule a visit to Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstone.edu/future_students/visit/.