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The mode of presentation usually involves analyzing the various sides of a hot issue. "We want this to be a place where people come to seek the truth and debate about it," Herrin says. "We aren't some liberal hotbed where any goofy theory is given equal footing, but it is a place where we can talk about any number of things and look at all sides of the discussion."

JPUSA is much more selective in programming Cornerstone U, Herrin says, than in who it allows to play a stage. "We want assurance we can vouch for them," he tells CT. "We might not agree with them, but we ensure they have a point of view that is biblically based and can be defended as such."

What often impresses speakers is not that there is such heady, in-depth learning happening at Cornerstone but the seriousness with which festivalgoers take it. With about 10 sessions happening at once, most still draw audiences of more than 50 who stay with their courses for the week.

"I get to speak in a lot of churches and venues, but there is no place like Cornerstone to encourage me about the coming generation," says Elliot Miller of the Christian Research Institute. "Hundreds of young people travel across the country and live in tents to spend their days in lectures on really heady, intellectually challenging Christian material. And they just eat it up. They ask engaging questions. They line up to continue the discussions with me afterward."

Haddad, who spoke at Cornerstone for the first time last year, was shocked by the scholarship of festivalgoers. People gather materials, study them overnight, and return to discuss what they learned. A 17-year-old woman studied from a Greek New Testament. A young man carried the entire works of archaeologist W. F. Albright on his laptop.

"This is a group of Christian pilgrims," Haddad told CT. "They are not settled into their opinions; they want to continue to explore, learn, and debate. You are going to find your leaders of tomorrow from this group. How many 17-year-olds read the Greek Bible?"

That this studious young woman is at a fest with bands called One Bad Pig and Noise Ratchet illustrates the balance struck at Cornerstone. But such a delicate balance and loosely organized structure may not last forever.

"It started out as a big party and every year it continues is a miracle," says Phantom Tollbooth's Lafianza. "There are simply some aspects to it that just are not permanent."

In the meantime, Cornerstone is expanding. This spring and summer, JPUSA has launched two-day festivals in both Florida and North Carolina. "I found this move astounding since these guys are so loosey goosey," says Phil Olson, a vice president with Evangelicals for Social Action, who has spoken at four Cornerstone festivals. "Cornerstone organizers don't return e-mails, they don't call you back, but now they are adding two more events? I'm amazed."

Todd Hertz is Christianity Today's online assistant editor.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The official Cornerstone site covers the festival live as well as posts concert schedules, seminars, and other information for all three 2003 festivals.

The JPUSA website has more information on the community including a full history written by John Trott. An entire chapter of the account focuses on the birth and development of the Cornerstone Festival.

Cornerstone Magazine is available online. A current article tells the "unofficial story" of the festival.

More information about The Phantom Tollbooth, Creation Festival, and the Greenbelt festivals is available at their respective websites.

Christianity Today's earlier articles on Cornerstone and Jesus People U.S.A. include:

Stryper Returns to Play the Festival They Always Should Have | Cornerstone Music Festival takes a look back at artists who paved the way. (July 12, 2001)

Come for the Music, Stay for the Worship | Diversity in artists, worship and people last through 18 years of the Cornerstone Festival. (July 6, 2001)

Weblog: Chicago Tribune Investigates Jesus People USA (Apr. 3, 2001)

Conflict Divides Countercult Leaders | A 1994 Christianity Today article reports on the conflict between sociologist Ronald Enroth and JPUSA. (July 18, 1994)

Jesus' People | Lessons for living in the "we" decade. (Sept. 14, 1992)

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July 2003, Vol. 47, No. 7