First Family Church

Exterior of the First Family Church/campus
Basic information
Location	7700 W. 143rd Street, Overland Park, Kansas, 66223
Affiliation	Southern Baptist Pastor Jerry Johnston
Status	Inactive/Closed
Architectural description

First Family Church was a large Evangelical Christian church located in Overland Park in southern Johnson County, Kansas, on 51 acres (210,000 m²) in the southwestern portion of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area of the United States.

First Family Church was affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and has among its guiding principles, the stated mission to reach lost people, bring them into the family of God, and inspire them to mature in Jesus Christ.^[1]

Worship Service during Discover Life Kansas City Crusade 2005 held at FFC

Leadership

Jerry Johnston, who was reared in Overland Park, founded the church and was its senior pastor from the beginning in 1996 until its closing in 2011.

Among the nearly one hundred employees of First Family ministry were Johnston's closest relatives. Wife Cristie Jo Huf Johnston, a native of Zeeland in southwestern Michigan, whom he met on an evangelistic tour in the fall of 1978 and wed five months later, held the unusual title of "Director of Open Arms & Chesalon Comfort Circles.” Their only son, Jeremy Johnston, was the executive pastor and the chief operating officer of the media. The older son-in-law, Christian Newsome, husband of the Johnstons' daughter, Danielle, was the associate pastor of family and youth. Danielle herself was contemporary worship leader. The younger son-in-law, Luke Cunningham, was pastor for preteen boys; his wife, Jenilee, the Johnstons' younger daughter, held similar duties for girls. Joyce Johnston, Jerry's mother, was an executive secretary of the church.^[2] Christian and Danielle Newsome left First Family Church in 2011 before its demise to begin a new congregation in Lee's Summit in western Missouri.^[3]

History

First Family Church began when Pastor Johnston liquidated nearly $200,000 in assets from his debt-free ministry organization Jerry Johnston Ministries to start the congregation in his hometown of Overland Park. From its beginning in September 1996, FFC had eleven different rental facilities, everything from schools to movie theaters. It had a membership in excess of four thousand.^[4] On September 11, 2011, First Family Church closed it doors, having the bank seize the church buildings and all contents inside.^[5]

In July 2001, First Family Church launched its television ministry.^[6] Some sermons were broadcast globally via satellite and archive web video-streaming.

Its 125,000-square-foot (11,600 m²), state-of-the-art facility featured an indoor jungle gym and youth center with basketball courts, fitness room and youth café.

In the fall of 2007, First Family launched First Family Academy.

First Family Church offered many outreach ministries to the community of Kansas City. Some of which were: the annual Operation Thanksgiving which provides hundreds of meals to those without. The Shelter Shower ministry which provides a baby shower for expectant mothers who do not have friends or family to offer that for them. The Shelter Barrels ministry that are available for First Family Church members bring designated items each month for families in need. Every month First Family Church members prepare meals for homeless shelters in the Kansas City metro. Gifts were taken to a battered women’s shelter and Bibles and blankets were taken to those in need during the winter months.^[7]

With the closing of First Family Church, Johnston reorganized as "New Day Church Kansas City". This congregation met in Olathe, Kansas, first at Olathe East High School and then at a middle school in Olathe. New Day Church closed in September 2012.^[8]

Impact of First Family Church

First Family Church launched a sermon series on Christian Ethics. In a Reuters publication the writer addressed the issue of “Ethics crisis in America? Church leaders say yes.” The pastor of First Family Church commented on the crisis “Honesty is honesty. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, whatever. A lot of these debacles we're seeing can be traced and sourced back to a lack of good old ethics”.^[9]

The Boston Globe reported that conservative churches in the state of Kansas, First Family Church among them, opposed same-sex marriage and supported a measure to ban it.^[10]

On May 7, 2005 First Family Church’s pastor Jerry Johnston reportedly stands against evolution and believes evolution is a non-scientific theory and should be taught as such. Other evangelical Protestants and Catholics worked together on passing Kansas' ban on same-sex marriages.^[11]

In an interview with ABC News First Family Church pastor Jerry Johnston comments on the Mel Gibson blockbuster film The Passion of the Christ and whether or not children should be allowed to view the film. First Family Church arranged for a number of private screenings for adults and youth in the Kansas City area.^[12]

In 2004 Religious Tolerance.Org reported on the Passion of the Christ film and whether children should be allowed to view it. First Family Church endorsed the educational value the film provides to children regarding the life of Jesus Christ.^[13]

The Baptist Press News reported that pastors and their wives of First Family Church all graduated with their Master of Divinity degrees.^[14]

September 22, 2004, The Lawrence Journal World reported that First Family Church Pastor Jerry Johnston and the Reverend Jerry Falwell urged Christian leaders in Kansas to mobilize their congregations for upcoming elections.^[15]

May 7, 2005 NPR reported on a meeting held in the capital city of Topeka on how the theory of evolution should be taught in Kansas schools. Johnston was among those proposing that students and teachers be encouraged to discuss alternate views to the theory.^[16]

Controversy

In March 2007, The Kansas City Star ran a front-page investigative series of articles on financial concerns at First Family Church.^[17] The paper published several follow-up articles on additional questionable activities of the Johnstons: Lavish lifestyles,^[18] Jerry and Jeremy Johnston side businesses,^[19] as well as delinquent tax payments. - The Kansas City Star/March 11, 2007 - By Judy L. Thomas^[20] Additional reporting was done referencing that all of Jerry Johnston's children and his mother work on staff with him.^[21] Online reporting also reported on the honorary degree granted to Jerry Johnston.^[22]

After the stories appeared, Bott Radio Network, a Christian network with 50 stations based in the same city as First Family Church, announced it was dropping Jerry Johnston and First Family Church from its local AM station (the only station in its network that the show was on). "Bott said the newspaper report raised some serious questions that could be easily answered if the church joined the ECFA" and that the ministry refused to join the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) pursuant to the radio networks standards.^[23]

In July 2007, a follow-up article was printed in The Kansas City Star citing additional allegations, including the misuse of a $50,000 contribution to Jerry Johnston Ministries that was allegedly diverted to a personal account of the Johnstons'. The article also reported that after the initial March 2007 articles in the Kansas City Star, the Kansas Attorney General's office began an investigation into whether Jerry Johnston used church money for personal gain.^[24]

A contractor who worked for the church filed several complaints regarding the companies with the Internal Revenue Service, charging that church employees are forced to work for the companies, that church donations are used to fund Jerry Johnston Publications, and that church resources are used by J Cubed Media to conduct business.^[25]

Foreclosure and shutdown

In February 2011, Regions Financial Corporation filed a foreclosure petition on the church. The bank requested the church be placed in receivership. The bank claims the church currently owes $14.4 million on two loans. Part of the bank's filing mentioned the church has a payroll of $915,000 a year, with over $600,000 of that going to the Johnston family.^{[26] [27]} On September 5, 2011, Jerry Johnston announced the church was losing their building. They started hosting services at Olathe East High School (since moved elsewhere) and change their name to New Day Church Kansas City.^[28] New Day Church Kansas City closed down as of September 2012.

The building was purchased by Blue Valley USD 229 school district and made into their Hilltop Learning Center.^[29]

External links

• http://www.ffc.org First Family Church - Down as of January 2012

References