Pastor Michael McDowell's connection to Cornerstone Baptist Church runs deep. He first served here as youth pastor from 1997 to 2002, where his love for this congregation and community was first shaped. Following that season, he spent seventeen years pastoring and ministering in the Pacific Northwest — one of the most secular mission fields in the United States — before sensing God's clear call to return to Cornerstone as pastor in October of 2019.
His path to ministry began early. Called to preach at the age of sixteen, Pastor McDowell was trained in his local church's Bible Institute before going on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Bible from Pensacola Christian College. His commitment to theological depth continued with a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Theology from Baptist seminaries — equipping him to handle the Word of God with both scholarly rigor and pastoral warmth.
Pastor McDowell is known for his expositional preaching — working carefully and systematically through the Scriptures, opening the text with clarity, and applying it faithfully to everyday life. His sermons are rich in Scripture without being beyond the reach of the ordinary listener. He believes, deeply and simply, that the Word of God changes people — and he preaches accordingly.
Beyond the pulpit, Pastor McDowell is a shepherd in the truest sense. He is available to his congregation at any hour, is warm and welcoming to every visitor, and invests personally in the lives of those he serves — through counseling, teaching, and practical help in times of need. Those who know him best describe him as a man with a servant's heart who loves his people not just spiritually, but in every way he can.
He has been married to his wife, Kami, since 1995. Together they have eight children — five sons and three daughters — four of whom are married. He is the proud grandfather of three grandsons.
His vision for Cornerstone is clear and compelling: a church where every member is fulfilling God's will, engaged in the Great Commission, and experiencing the joy of being used by God in the lives of others. He dreams of a reproducing church — missions-minded, missionary-sending, and reaching the community around it with the genuine gospel of Jesus Christ.
"My heart for Cornerstone Baptist Church is threefold: that we would be a church where God's Word is preached with clarity and conviction, that we would be a people who genuinely love one another and those around us, and that we would become a missionary-sending church that takes the Great Commission seriously — not as a slogan, but as a way of life. The community around us is one of the most religious in the region. It is also one of the most in need of the genuine gospel. I believe God has placed Cornerstone here for exactly this moment — to be a church rooted deeply enough in the truth to reach boldly into the world around us."