We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nick Heyward a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nick , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Before I tell the story of Cornerstone Fellowship I think it is important that I give the disclaimer that for years I would tell everyone that I would never have a church. I enjoyed working at the church as the Director of Membership and serving as an associate minister. In my mind this was my final destination, I had no idea this was simply preparation for what was to come. The idea of Cornerstone Fellowship came to me in increments. It all began with my 40th birthday celebration which I called Fortunate, Fearless, and Forty. I wanted to bring friends and family together to celebrate life. I have a large family and a very diverse group of friends, but everyone that was present helped to shape Nick Heyward. While I was giving a speech, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me that I was going to begin to write a book to encourage others. I heard His voice, but I didn’t pay much attention. About six months after my birthday I began to write “The Push Project”. “The Push Project” is a book of affirmations that was intended to remind the world about the power of positive affirmations. This book was right on time because we were in the midst of the pandemic. While writing “The Push Project” Prophesied Legacy Ministries (PLM) was birthed. PLM quickly became an outreach ministry and the umbrella company of my business endeavors.
I thought PLM was the end, but it was only the beginning. On December 12, 2020 I began to fast with my cousin, Timothy James, about next moves and direction. At the end of the fast I had a dream about a church service in the Charleston, SC area. In the dream I was sitting in the office waiting for the start of service, and Timothy came into the office and told me “Cuz, we have more people here than we have seats.” In the dream I remember peeking out and being overjoyed to see so many people present. I shared the dream with my then fiancé, and I remember laughing because in the dream the church was in South Carolina. I had no intention of moving back to South Carolina ever. Needless to say, I started to apply for jobs in South Carolina, and I secured two interviews with great companies shortly thereafter. Everything was coming together so quickly and seamlessly that I knew in faith this had to be God’s plan. It was very different from my personal plan because I had decided that Houston, TX was going to be home for me and my now wife Sudie.
When I relocated to Summerville, SC I would go for runs in my neighborhood. I enjoyed running because it gave me an opportunity to think and clear my mind. While running one Sunday morning I heard the voice of the Lord tell me that I was going to pastor a church and it would be called Cornerstone Fellowship. He said that the church would be founded on Ephesians 2:19-20. I was excited, yet very scared at the same time. I was going to start a church, in an area where I am new, and as a person with no pastoral experience. I knew this had to be God because this was not in my plan.
I thought about the years I had spent in hotel management, and my recent endeavors in leadership in the church and realized all my experiences were equipping me for this moment. Living in the Lowcountry of South Carolina there are churches everywhere, and my mind would often tell me there wouldn’t be people willing to fellowship with us because I was unfamiliar and lacked pastoral experience. When these thoughts would cross my mind, I would think back to my days in hotel management when I would explain to my staff that our role was to convert transient guests into loyal guests. We had to provide a service so unique that people would choose our hotel whenever they were traveling to the area, not because of the building but because of the service. I decided to use this same concept along with faith that if I was called to this God would provide the people that would benefit from our presence and message.
Now that we have a name and a purpose, it was time to begin planning our services and outreach opportunities. We were still in the pandemic, so everyone was having services that were virtual. We used this to our advantage because we didn’t have a building yet. We decided that in January of 2022 we would begin having prayer calls on Monday nights. #PLMprayertime would be a chance to bring people together and allow them to become familiar with our ministry. The calls were going well, and then after prayer I added #talkthroughthetext. This is our laid-back approach to bible study. The study is interactive because individuals can ask questions while I am teaching. This gave us two weekly fellowship opportunities for people to pray and learn with us. We are now about seven months into #PLMprayertime and about four months into #talkthroughthetext. We have consistent support for both fellowship opportunities.
In the midst of the pandemic everyone is searching for answers, acceptance, and peace. Cornerstone Fellowship stands as a place that welcomes everyone in love and excitedly takes the opportunity to point individuals back to Christ…the chief cornerstone Himself. I constantly tell everyone Cornerstone Fellowship stands as a recovery room for those that are hurt, not a monument to the saints. Cornerstone is not about my success, Sudie’s success, or Timothy’s success, but about Christ who chose us as vessels to share His love with all that will receive.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The journey to becoming the Pastor of Cornerstone Fellowship started many years ago, but for the sake of time I will be brief. I always had a desire to assist others and be in leadership roles. Originally, I planned to be an Early Childhood Education Teacher, but I changed my major to Hotel Management. I began my career in hospitality as a bellman at a Bed and Breakfast. Nineteen years later I had lived in five states, travelled internationally, and ended my career as a General Manager. I enjoyed the journey, and my final stop was in East Texas. I was always an advocate for my associates and took every opportunity to share life experiences with whomever would listen. While in East Texas my grandmother passed and I realized just how precious life really was. After burying my grandmother, I decided to relocate to Houston, TX and start a new career. The transition was easy, but I found myself grieving over the death of my grandmother and battling severe depression. Eventually I joined the Refreshing Church(TRC) because they really felt like family. I promised myself that I would just be a member and leave immediately after service. Being the person that I am, that was short-lived. Within three months I was employed by TRC as their Director of Membership. I shared my call for the ministry with Pastor John Murray, and I became an associate minister. I was satisfied in this capacity because I had no desire to go further in a ministerial role.
After four years of service and immense growth in ministry I relocated to South Carolina to get married and continue to work with my outreach ministry. I started running at the beginning of the pandemic, and I found this to be the perfect time to clear my mind and talk with God. One Sunday morning while out running God spoke to me and gave me the revelation for Cornerstone Fellowship and that I would be Pastor. After much prayer I began to see how my life experiences were preparing me for this new venture in life.
At Cornerstone Fellowship we really don’t sell a tangible product, we give hope to those that are in need. I share transparent moments from my life which give hope to everyone that God loves us and we are never beyond the grip of His grace. My life is just like everyone else’s story, but I found Christ and then I found ultimate peace and purpose. I was so moved by the understanding that despite all my mistakes, my depression, my attitude, and lack of self-worth Christ’s love found me and gave me another chance.
Sometimes it’s hardest to convince the people that know you best, so to be supported by individuals who know both Nick and Pastor Nick is the best feeling ever! I view these supporters truly as my angels that became my wings when I forgot how to fly.
Potential followers and members should know that Cornerstone Fellowship welcomes everyone. We understand that everyone has a chapter in their life that they would not want read out loud. We understand our role is to introduce individuals to Christ and teach them about having a personal relationship with Christ. Once we have done that, we allow the relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When I first relocated to Houston I became severely depressed. I sprained my left ankle and tore my right meniscus. I stopped working because I wasn’t able to get around really well and sitting at home made me even more depressed. I had no health insurance so the medical bills were piling up, and that pushed me further into a slump. I felt alone, and my mind convinced me the world would be a better place without me. My grandmother, my first best friend, had passed away and I felt like I had nothing else to live for. I didn’t know many people in Houston, and I stayed to myself. One night while sitting at home stressed over my current situation I had the idea of committing suicide. I decided that I would get all the pain meds I had, go into my closet, close the door and overdose. Briefly I became scared. I was scared because I had never had thoughts like this before, but I was even more terrified that I actually was considering this. I mustered up a little bit of faith and decided to pray first. I told God if He loved me He would send me an undeniable sign of His love. I wanted to feel His embrace or see an angel there with me. I cried uncontrollably and when I opened my eyes I was still alone. This hurt more than anything I had ever experienced. With tears flowing from my face I hopped to my bathroom, grabbed the meds and was making my way to my closet. On my way to the closet I got a phone call from my cousin Shanelle Bowers. We talked often, but I never shared with her that I was depressed. I tried to perk up my voice so she wouldn’t know what was happening. Shanelle began to tell me how proud she was of my many accomplishments and how I had no fear to move around and start over. I broke down in tears and shared with her what I was planning to do. She prayed for me and encouraged me. In that moment I realized God heard my prayer and this phone call was the answer. I decided that night that the same way Shanelle was there for me I wanted to be that same product of faith for others. It was quite a process, but that moment took my passion of helping others to a new level.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
To build an audience on social media I studied the social media pages of individuals that I admire. I decided that Cornerstone Fellowship needed to be constantly on the minds of the people. On Monday nights we have #PLMprayertime which is our prayer call. My wife, Lady Sudie, takes a thought from the prayer calls and shares them on Tuesdays as a post. The post gives people a positive thought to get them through the week. On Tuesdays we have #talkthroughthetext which is our version of bible study. The lessons are shared on our YouTube page, and I take a snippet that I share on Facebook, IG, and TikTok. Weekly we have 4 to 5 posts, and I constantly get messages from individuals that express how they look forward to the posts. If you are beginning to build your social media presence, always remember to be authentic in your posts. Get to know your audience and share posts that will encourage and uplift. Posts should be short, but inspiring enough that people will want to comment and share.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Mistaheyward
- Facebook: Nick Heyward
- Linkedin: Nick Heyward
- Twitter: NickHeyward1
- Youtube: PLM Cornerstone
Image Credits
Johannas J Photography