Elders Council
The Elders Council provides guidance and protection as FiveStone Churches seeks to plant and strengthen local churches. The Elders Council seeks to bless other church leaders through the mutual exchange of pulpit supply, coaching seminars, retreats, assessments, conferences and seed money for church planting and strengthening.
Gordon Zwirkoski, Brian Jones, Dave Corning, Jacob Panero
Gordon Zwirkoski, founder and director of FiveStone Churches, focuses on planting and developing life-giving local churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ. He is devoted to helping pastors and elders in their work. Before founding FiveStone Churches in 2010, he invested 20 years as a teacher and elder for dozens of churches in the U.S., Canada, and in Europe.
Gordon created a spiritually focused and pragmatically sound church plant manual that serves as a template for church planting at FiveStone Churches. He serves as an elder and teacher-coach to FiveStone church plants and works with FiveStone Partner and Supporting churches.
Gordon left a corporate career in 2001 to create and organize Harvest Bible Fellowship. He created and organized residency programs for new senior pastors. He initiated and developed church shepherding conferences to build elders’ shepherding skills and to help them see their work through the grid of the Scriptures.
In addition to his work in church planting and strengthening, Gordon's ongoing ministry includes leading shepherds retreats focused on biblical, practical understanding of shepherding work in the local church. Gordon has created systems for church and church planter assessments and ministry leaders assessments, as well as systems for assessing and building church health.
He and Joyce have four grown children and four grandchildren. He enjoys motorcycling, gardening, reading and spending time with family and friends. He has masters degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., and the University of Illinois at Springfield. He has a bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University.
Gordon Zwirkoski
Brian Jones is the senior pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Brian is passionate about studying the Scriptures and helping people understand and apply them to their lives. He began serving as assistant pastor at Calvary in 2007 and became senior pastor early in 2010.
Prior to coming to Calvary, Brian was teaching pastor at Wellspring Chapel in DeKalb, Ill. He previously had served as a senior pastor, interim pastor and a seminary staff member in other ministries. He has taught courses on both the college and seminary levels.
Brian has a doctor of ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he studied preaching under Haddon Robinson. He has master of divinity and master of theology degrees from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.
Brian is married to Suzanne, a General Surgeon and vein care specialist at Michigan Vein Care Specialists in Ann Arbor. They have three children—Jeffrey, Hannah and Daniel. Brian enjoys NFL football, especially the Detroit Lions, and likes to travel, read and jog.
You can learn more about Brian and contact him through his website: http://brianjones.org, or you can follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jonesay
Brian Jones
Dave Corning
Dave Corning has served 26 years as an elder in three churches. He is passionate about the church, shepherding and establishing new believers in their faith in Jesus Christ.
Dave is chairman of the board of directors for Entrusted Ministries, which he and his wife, Betsy, founded in 1997. Entrusted teaches families to live and flourish under the authority of the Scriptures. Entrusted is devoted to building a culture of biblical parenting, creating a community of encouragement and offering tangible hope for everyday life
Dave and Betsy live in Tennessee. They have three married children and seven grandchildren. His ministry extends into his work as an independent insurance agent at CFM Insurance in Palatine, Ill. Dave has a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Michigan University, where he also played football.
Jacob Panero
Jacob Panero is a faithful servant in the Lord’s local church. He also for several years has been a trustworthy and faithful friend to FiveStone Churches. He has served with distinction as a member of a FiveStone church plant’s pastoral advisory team, as a deacon and then as an elder. He has had large roles in shepherding and in serving in administration of several local churches.
In addition to his work for the Lord’s church and with FiveStone Churches, Jacob is an executive manager at Burrtec and is a general partner at both WDC Genesis and Kern Venture Group. He was the CEO of Varner Brothers, Inc. in Bakersfield, California, through 2022. Jacob and his wife—Nicole—have two sons and two daughters and live in Bakersfield.
