While serving in leadership at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, Chris McCarrick started a home group at his house in Toms River, New Jersey.  As the home group grew in number, Pastor Chris felt God's leading to start a church through the umbrella of Calvary Chapel.

On April 17, 1994, Calvary Chapel of Toms River started in the McCarrick’s home, with the children's ministry meeting in the garage.  Eventually, they grew out of their home and moved the church to an elementary school, and then later that year, they moved into a middle school, Toms River Intermediate West. 

After three years a facility opened up in the Cross River Mill Plaza in Lakewood, and the church moved again. During that time, God was blessing the ministry and there was an exceptional amount of growth, both in numbers and spiritually, and the church transitioned into two services. 

In March of 2001, an old movie theatre in Howell, NJ became available and the church was able to renovate and occupy it by December 16th, 2001. The church manifested as Cornerstone Calvary Chapel and has maintained the Howell location ever since.

In 2019, Pastor Chris began the process of transitioning the ministry to his son Mike McCarrick. Pastor Mike was serving in the Assistant Pastor and Worship Pastor roles at Cornerstone for 10 years prior to the transition.

In September of 2020, Pastor Mike officially took the role as Lead Pastor. With fresh vision from the Lord, the name was changed to Cornerstone Church in 2021. Cornerstone Church continues to operate in Howell, NJ, serving the local community.