Jerry Johnston

Jerome Richard "Jerry" Johnston (born May 12, 1959[1]) is an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and docu-filmmaker. Johnston is currently vice president for Innovation and Strategic marketing at Houston Baptist University in Houston, Texas, and director of Christian Thinkers Society.[2] Johnston and his wife Cristie Jo Huf Johnston are professors of theology and co-producers of a documentary in production about the "Nones" phenomenon.[3][4]

Jerry Johnston
BornMay 12, 1959
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US
Alma materMidwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Acadia Divinity College
OccupationSouthern baptist, evangelical vice president, Houston Baptist University
Spouse(s)Cristie Jo Huf Johnston (married 1979)
ChildrenDanielle Newsome

Jeremiah Johnston, PhD

Jenilee Mullikin

Early life and education

Johnston was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and moved with his family when he was in the third grade to Overland Park in suburban Johnson County, Kansas. As a struggling boy, he contemplated suicide by taking valium but was converted to Jesus Christ in the summer of 1973 at the age of fourteen at a Baptist camp in Roach in Camden County in central Missouri. Within two months, he accepted the call to Christian ministry and was thereafter speaking some twenty-five times weekly to organizations while he was still in high school.[5][6][7][8][9]

Concurrent to Johnston’s senior year in high school, he took courses and graduated from Youth for Christ’s Christ Unlimited Bible Institute, and he ultimately received a General Equivalency Diploma. He was accepted on a scholarship to then named Liberty Baptist College in Lynchburg, Virginia. While at Liberty, Johnston became an "associate evangelist" for the college.[10] Jerry received his B.A. from Midwestern Baptist College in Kansas City, Missouri, and his Master of Divinity from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In May 2012, Johnston and his wife each earned Doctor of Ministry degrees from Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, an entity affiliated with the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches.[2] Johnston's doctoral thesis is entitled An Exploration of Rates and Causes of Attrition among Protestant Evangelical Clergy in the United States.[11] In 1998, Johnston delivered Liberty University's baccalaureate speech, and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary awarded Johnston an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.[12] Johnston controversially used the title "Doctor" based on this honorary degree before earning even his undergraduate degree.

Career

Evangelism

Through his Jerry Johnston Ministries (JJM), a nonprofit organization, Johnston traveled from 1978 to 1996 across the United States and Canada. His evangelistic crusades were particularly focused on struggling teen issues, including problems with narcotics, suicide, and Satanism.[10] During his full-time evangelism years, Jerry prepared various videos and wrote eight books on these very issues. Among those converted in the Johnston crusade was the Texas evangelist Jay L. Lowder Jr. (born 1966), of Wichita Falls.[13] In 1984, JJM had assets totaling $206,000; by 1990, $383,000; by 1996, $454,000.

During these eighteen years, Johnston spoke worldwide to five million people at more than three thousand colleges and universities. He preached revivals in many churches. By 1993, according to his biography, more than 500,000 copies of Johnston's books, 62,000 videos, and a million cassettes of his sermons were in circulation.[10] His sermons have been broadcast worldwide via satellite and web video streaming.[14]

Pastor

Launched in 1996, First Family Church saw exponential growth, and the church broke ground in 1999.[15] The sanctuary was completed at a cost of $10.1 million. Another $8.5 million was spent in 2006 on expanded facilities. The congregation peaked at four thousand members and was described as among the fastest growing churches in America.[16]

In 2007, the Kansas City Star reported issues relating to concerns over financial accountability within First Family Church, leading to hundreds of members leaving.[17] In his doctoral dissertation, Johnston attributed the negative media attention to his political conservatism, such as his pro-life convictions and his support for the Kansas constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage.[11] In 2004, Johnston hosted Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University, at First Family Church to rally Christian support in the general election in which then U.S. President George W. Bush narrowly defeated John Kerry. At the gathering, Falwell encouraged pastors to be politically involved in their communities.[18] After the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Kansas passed in 2005, Johnston was highlighted as a proponent of the amendment and openly voiced his opposition to abortion.[19] Journalist Jack Cashill, executive editor of Ingram’s Magazine, agreed with Johnston’s assertions that the pastor was a political media target because of his position as an influential conservative.[20] Tax liens filed by the Internal Revenue Service related to more than $107,000 in unpaid payroll taxes from 2007 were resolved quickly in 2008.[17] The Attorney General of Kansas investigated complaints but no violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act was found. A blog reported that Johnston ordered one church member asking for financial records to repent.[21]

In September 2011, the church creditor, Regions Financial Corporation, foreclosed on the property. The bank pressed for payment of more than $14 million in outstanding mortgage payments.[17] The elders of the church stated that even while the church was current in its monthly payments, Regions Bank accelerated the mortgage maturity from 30 to five years due to the 2008 banking crisis and demanded the full payment of the loan.[22] The elder board said that AG Financial made a cash offer to Regions Bank to finance First Family Church's mortgage, but Regions Bank rejected the offer.[23] The Blue Valley School District, with plans to use the structure as an early childhood facility, paid $9 million for the 51-acre church complex located at U.S. Highway 69 and 143rd Street in Overland Park.[17] Regions Financial Bank had not yet repaid the 2008 TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) loan from the federal government when it sold First Family Church’s loan to Blue Valley School District. The bank paid back its $3.5 billion in the spring of 2012.[24] 2011 marked a dramatic increase of church property foreclosures; 138 churches were sold by banks compared to just 24 in 2008.[25]

Some of Johnston's relatives also served on staff at First Family Church, making up about ten percent of the ″nearly one hundred employees″ claimed by Johnston. 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, was the 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 was a contemporary worship leader. The younger son-in-law was the 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.[26] Christian and Danielle Newsome left First Family Church in 2011 before the bank's foreclosure to begin a new congregation in Lee's Summit in western Missouri.[17]

For a year afterward, Johnston was the founding pastor of a second congregation, New Day Church KC, which was located, respectively, in two school buildings in Olathe near Kansas City, Kansas. The church closed in September 2012.[17] The Johnstons were living in Branson, Missouri, rather than Olathe, and a blog claimed that New Day Church paid their commuting expenses each weekend even as the congregation continued to lose money.[21]

Books
  • The Edge of Evil (1989);[27]
  • Why Suicide? What Parents and Teachers Must Know to Save our Kids (1987);[28]
  • Going All the Way: The Real World of Teens and Sex (1988);[29]
  • It’s Killing Our Kids: Teenage Alcohol Abuse and Addiction (1990);[30]
  • The Last Days of Planet Earth (1991);[31]
  • Who’s Listening: What our Kids are Trying to Tell Us (1992);[32]
  • Inspire your Kids to Greatness (1993);[33]
  • How to Save Your Kids From Ruin (1994).[34]
  • DANIEL Principles of Leadership, Success, and Achievement (2007)[35]
  • Apostasy Now: Similarities and Differences of Belief Systems (2007)[36]
  • Why They Die: Curing the Death Wish in our Kids (2012)[37]

References
  1. Birth Certificate for Jerome R. Johnston, May 12, 1959, State File No. 135-59-017058, Oklahoma State Department of Health. Certified copy in possession of author.
  2. "Jerome (Jerry) Johnston – Houston Baptist University". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  3. "Cristie (Cristie Jo) Johnston – Houston Baptist University". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  4. "Baptist filmmakers take cue from atheists in battle for 'Nones'". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  5. "YFC Plans Super Week April 19–24". Freeport (III.) Journal-Standard. April 16, 1976.
  6. "Evangelist to speak here". Stephenson County Scope. April 22, 1976.
  7. "Kansas City Youth". Kansas City Star. November 22, 1976.
  8. "Youth evangelist here Dec. 5–6". Phillips County Review. December 4, 1975.
  9. "Two brothers on drugs find purpose in life". Buchanan County Farmer, Number 20. May 22, 1975.
  10. Judy L. Thomas (March 11, 2007). "Church camp turned around a troubled childhood". Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  11. "An Exploration of Rates and Causes of Attrition among Protestant Evangelical Clergy in the United States". openarchive.acadiau.ca. April 12, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  12. Meyer, Bill (March 31, 1998). "Graduation date returns to May 9". The Liberty Champion. 15 (20). Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  13. "Passion For Souls: An Interview With Evangelist Jay Lowder". SBC Life: Journal of the Southern Baptist Convention. April 2002. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  14. "Jerry Johnston: Vice President for Innovation and Strategic Marketing". Houston Baptist University. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  15. "Document: First Family Church breaks ground in south Overland Park - Access World News – Historical and Current". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  16. "Document: First Family Church ousted from home, will 're-launch' Sept. 18 - Access World News – Historical and Current". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  17. Judy L. Thomas (October 10, 2012). "Jerry Johnston's New Day Church shuts down". Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  18. "Document: 'Pastor briefings' to focus on political involvement - Access World News – Historical and Current". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  19. "Document: Same-sex marriage ban leaders eye other causes - Access World News – Historical and Current". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  20. "About Jack Cashill". www.cashill.com. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  21. "New Day Church KC? Exposing Jerry Johnston". thenewdaychurchkc.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  22. "Kansas mega church faces foreclosure". mcclatchydc. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  23. Oberholtz, Chris. "Overland Park mega-church closes its doors". Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  24. "Document: Regions/ repays $3.5B bailout - Access World News – Historical and Current". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  25. "Banks foreclosing on churches in record numbers". Reuters. March 9, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  26. "First Family Church payroll includes several Johnston family members". religionnewsblog.com. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  27. Johnston, Jerry (May 1, 1989). Edge of Evil: The Rise of Satanism in North America. Dallas: W Pub Group. ISBN 9780849906688.
  28. Johnston, Jerry (February 1, 1987). Why Suicide?. Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books. ISBN 9780840790811.
  29. Johnston, Jerry (March 1, 1988). Going All the Way: The Real World of Teens and Sex. Waco, Tex.: W Pub Group. ISBN 9780849931000.
  30. "It's Killing Our Kids by Johnston, Jerry: W Pub Group 9780849932960 Paperback - Atlanta Book Company". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  31. Johnston, Jerry (July 1, 1991). The Last Days of Planet Earth (Reprint ed.). Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Pub. ISBN 9780890819012.
  32. Johnston, Jerry (October 1, 1992). Who's Listening? What Our Kids Are Trying to Tell Us. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan. ISBN 9780310578703.
  33. Johnston, Jerry (October 1, 1993). Inspire Your Kids to Greatness: How Parents Can Nurture God's Next Generation. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan. ISBN 9780310578611.
  34. Johnston, Jerry (September 1, 1994). How to Save Your Kids from Ruin (Later Printing ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books. ISBN 9781564764058.
  35. Johnston, Jerry (January 1, 2007). DANIEL Principles of Leadership, Success, and Achievement. Overland Park, Kan.: First Family Inspirations. ISBN 9781934438008.
  36. Johnston, Jerry (January 1, 2007). Apostasy Now: Similarities and Differences of Belief Systems (1st? ed.). Jery Johnston Publishers.
  37. Johnston, Jerry; Simmonds, Don (January 1, 2012). Why They Die: Curing the Death Wish in Our Kids. Burlington, Ont.: Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. ISBN 9781896930503.
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