Summary: Investigative reporter Judy Thomas of the Kansas City Star did a series of revealing and highly controversial stories on Pastor Jerry Johnston of the First Family Church nearly a year ago. The stories still have folks talking. 02-13-2008 THOMAS FIRST FAMILY STORY STILL HOT TOPIC In the media world the reference "the story has legs" basically means that the public continues to talk about a story long after it was originally published. That certainly has been the case involving an article written by Judy Thomas of the Kansas City Star exposing the First Family Church of Overland Park, KS and its controversial pastor Jerry Johnston. In a front page story on March 11, 2007 titled "Lavish lifestyles at odds with pastor�s calls for the faithful to sacrifice; Johnston and his family travel abroad, live in big houses and drive church-owned SUVs," Thomas outlined questionable operations at the church. That article led to a discussion on the Internet site http://www.kctalk.com/ titled "KC Star Exposes Pastor Jerry Johnston." The Johnston thread has been the single most responded to one in the history of the site. To date nearly 5,000 individuals have posted comments about the story and operations at the First Family Church. Overall more than 250,000 people have viewed the topic. In comparison, most threads on the site average fewer than 30 responses. Many of the posters include current and former members of Johnston's congregation who continue to have serious issues with the church: "After reading the newspaper articles and reading the entire blog, I realized Jerry is morally criminal and possibly legally criminal. "I am glad to be out of FFC although it was very hard to leave despite all of the above. Much pain has been suffered and much more will have to be dealt with. I am sometimes very angry against the Johnstons, but sometimes I feel they need my prayers and my forgiveness." Link to thread: http://www.kctalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6082
01-22-2008 Companies operated by First Family Church's pastor and his son are shut down By JUDY L. THOMAS The Kansas City Star A company run by the founder of First Family Church and another company run by his son have quietly shut down. Jerry Johnston Publications, a for-profit corporation operated by the Rev. Jerry Johnston, and J Cubed Media, a business run by Johnston�s son, Jeremy, were dissolved on Dec. 31, according to the Kansas secretary of state�s office. Jerry Johnston is senior pastor of the Overland Park church, and Jeremy Johnston is an associate pastor there. Eddie James, the church�s attorney and spokesman, declined to say why the two companies were closed. �J Cubed Media and Jerry Johnston Publications were voluntarily dissolved and have not been replaced by any successor or replacement entity,� James said in an e-mail. The companies were part of an investigation last year by The Kansas City Star. It found that hundreds of members had left Johnston�s church over the past few years because of concerns about financial accountability. Link to rest of article: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/454740.html
