Summary: Investigative reporter Judy Thomas of the Kansas City Star did revealing and highly controversial stories on Pastor Jerry Johnston of the First Family Church nearly a year ago. The stories still have folks talking. 01-13-2008
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 4,500 posts have discussed the story and operations at the First Family Church. 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
