James River Church
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2023) |
| James River Church | |
|---|---|
| James River Church | |
 | |
| 37°04′33″N 93°13′38″W / 37.07588°N 93.22714°W | |
| Location | Ozark, Missouri |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Pentecostal |
| Weekly attendance | 11,554 |
| Website | jamesriver |
| History | |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | John and Debbie Lindell |
James River Church (JRC; formerly James River Assembly) is a Pentecostal multi-site megachurch based in Ozark, Missouri with other locations in Springfield and Joplin Missouri.
John Lindell is the lead pastor alongside wife Debbie since 1991. Their 3 adult children, David, Brandon and Savannah Lindell are actively Pastoring JRC with plans for the sons to be lead Pastors following Johns retirement in March 2027.
Outreach magazine has listed James River Church for several years as one of the largest 100 churches on the US.[citation needed]
History
[edit]James River Church was founded by four couples, Rodger and Caressa Gadd, Gary and Debbie Simms, Tim and Carol Carpenter, and David and Gwenda Plummer. John Lindell was hired to serve as pastor of the congregation in September 1991. It met at a small storefront "the blue building" in Springfield off Republic Road and National (which is now presently a Christian bookstore).[1][2]
In August 1992, the church built its first home off of US Highway 65 and Evans road. In 1993, the average attendance was 800. The church continued to experience explosive growth in the mid-90s and could no longer accommodate the building after having 5 services and constantly bussing others.
In 1998, there was a plot of land off 65 and CC that a family owned since the Civil War that was well sought after. Numerous major retailers, including Wal-Mart, wanted to buy the land but the family refused to sell. John and Debbie Lindell offered to buy it but had no success. John requested the church to hold a three-day fast, and the land owners children called John to sell the land to him and no one else. This became the churches landmark location, the South campus located in Ozark.
James River moved into the South campus in March 2000 with 4,000 in weekly attendance with 198,000 square foot facility. The sanctuary holds 3,400 seats. In June 2003, a West Wing and gymnasium was added to the South Campus.
The second campus, James River Church - West Campus, was launched in September 2009, in Springfield, on 60 Hwy and FF.
In November 2013, the church officially changed its name from James River Assembly to James River Church.
In September 2016, the church launched the third campus, the North campus, in North Springfield near I-44 and West Bypass. Around this time, the church bought a plot of land off I-44 and Glenstone, for its future East campus.
On April 8, 2019, the Church expanded its fourth campus, located an hour East jn Joplin for its Joplin campus.[3]
In 2019 and completed in the following years, the James River renovated portions of the West Campus and renovated and expanded the South campus.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, the church had over 19,000 members. According to a church census released in 2024, it claimed a weekly attendance of 11,554 people.[4]
In April 2025, it left the Assemblies of God USA and became non-denominational while still adhering to AG doctrine and committing to support AG Missions.[5]
Community and international outreach
[edit]From 1997 to 2010, one of JRC's local events was the annual Fourth of July patriotic program, the I Love America! Celebration. In 2009, attendance for the 13th annual event, which was free to the public, reached approximately 120,000 people. Attendance in 2010 fell to 100,000.[6]
James River Church established James River Charities in 2008. James River Charities in a wholly owned single member entity of James River Church, and operates or manages several different areas, including James River Retreat Center, The River Fitness Center, James River Youth, Cherish Kids and James River College.
From the 2010s to present, James River Church has continued its outreach locally, nationally and globally.
Regarding Missions, the churches core value is "reaching the lost" and placed deep focus on Missions work. As of 2025, the church supports over 700 missionaries each month. It aims to plant 31 churches across the US and Globally, including funding 75 churches in Rwanda to reopen. It funded a church plant near the Iran And Iraq border in 2023. The church sponsored over 500 children monthly. The church also has short-term missions projects all across the globe, and additionally water well project expansion throughout Africa.
In 2013, the James River Church planted 100 churches in Cuba and in 2014, planted another 100 churches in Russia. Every year since then, James River Church has planted 30-60 churches across the US and abroad, altogether helped plant over 800 churches.
Controversies
[edit]On October 28, 2018, John Lindell stated during a sermon that yoga is a "form of Eastern mysticism that Christians should absolutely avoid".[7][8]
Between December 5–6, 2020, James River Church hosted several large indoor gatherings to celebrate Christmas.[9][10] Due to the recent surge of COVID-19 infections, the Christian County Health Department issued a notice that attendees should monitor their symptoms for 14 days after the event, and to contact a medical professional if any symptoms arise.[11][12]
In March 2023, John Lindell publicized the story of his congregation's alleged restoration of a woman's amputated toes, saying that people watched them miraculously regrow during an hour of the church service under the power of faith. The church and the woman have refused to provide any evidence or respond to journalistic inquiry, and a website, showmethetoes.com, was spawned in offer to host any such evidence or eyewitness account.[13][14][15]
Feud with Mark Driscoll
[edit]James River Church organizes annual "Stronger Men's Conferences". At the 2024 event, one of the opening acts was Alex Magala, a former go-go dancer (where men and women dance erotically in little clothes for monetary tips in the form of bills suspended from their clothes by patrons) who says he is an Orthodox Christian, born into Christianity by birth ceremony, and who performed a sword swallowing act while climbing a pole. He has said the purpose of the act was to "inspire audiences to reach new heights of what’s possible in their lives". Later, planned speaker Mark Driscoll denounced this act, saying on stage that the "Jezebel spirit opened our event" and compared it to an ancient pagan ritual. John Lindell told Driscoll he was out of line and "You're done" and Driscoll gathered his things and left the stage.[16]
Driscoll has previously used the term Jezebel spirit many times, including during a 2023 sermon series in which he applied the phrase to the Biden-Harris administration and claimed that passive men and domineering women were ruining society.[17]
Although Lindell and Driscoll met later and supposedly reconciled, Driscoll continued attacking Magala and James River Church's leadership on social media. Driscoll also allegedly contacted Lindell's son and urged him to oust his father and brother and seize control of the church. Lindell described Driscoll's behavior as "demonic", a term Driscoll had also used to describe Magala. He also said that Driscoll's comments had led to a flood of death threats directed against Magala, James River Church, and the headquarters of the Assembly of God. Lindell said that Christians should have nothing to do with Driscoll unless he repents.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ Jackie Rehwald, James River Church to launch fourth campus in Joplin, hopes some local members will move, news-leader.com, February 8, 2018
- ^ Taylor Berglund, Why This Popular Megachurch Pastor Almost Gave Up His Ministry, charismanews.com, June 18, 2019
- ^ Warner, Chris (April 9, 2019). "Price Cutter in Joplin to close before the end of April". KOAM. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ Outreach Magazine, James River Church, outreach100.com, USA, retrieved February 5, 2025
- ^ Leonardo Blair, James River Church announces exit from Assemblies of God, blindsiding national office, christianpost.com, April 24, 2025
- ^ Riley, Claudette. "James River cancels 'I Love America' event". Springfield News-Leader. Archived from the original on March 24, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
- ^ Church, James River. "Haunted: Pursuing the Paranormal". James River Church Online. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ Zhu, Alissa. "Assemblies of God pastor says yoga has 'demonic roots.' Yogis respond: That's 'ludicrous.'". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ Holman, Gregory J. "COVID-19 'doesn't care about our religion': Busy Christmas church services at James River spark viral outrage, criticism". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ Staff, KY3 (December 8, 2020). "Christian County Health Department asks participants at James River Church weekend events to monitor symptoms closely". www.ky3.com. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Missouri Coronavirus Map and Case Count". The New York Times. April 1, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ "Health Department is "extremely concerned" for those who attended an event at James River Church". KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ Szuch, Susan (March 23, 2023). "A Missouri church leader claims prayer regrew a woman's toes. Others are skeptical". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via USA Today.
- ^ Slisco, Aila (March 22, 2023). "Pastor Says Prayer Regrew Woman's Toes—But People Want Proof". Newsweek. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ "Megachurch pastor claims to have regrown amputee's toes through prayer". The Independent. March 24, 2023.
- ^ a b "John Lindell Calls Mark Driscoll To Repent for 'Trying To Destroy James River Church' and 'Sow Disunity' in the Lindell Family". April 17, 2024.
- ^ "'The Jezebel Spirit Literally Castrates Men' — Mark Driscoll Plugs His 'Most Controversial' Sermon Series Ever". March 2, 2023.