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25th ANNIVERSARY WORSHIP“BIG SUNDAY” SERVICE:The Torch Is Passed, The Vision Continues
25th Anniversary Sunday Service at the Verizon Center, Washington, DC.
Declaring Our Onenessthrough Our Character, Conduct,
and Commitment to the Faith
Preaching the Gospel,Building an Infrastructure,
Reforming the Church!
“It’s a wonderful thing for a father to beable to see his son take up the mantle.” – Episcopal Pastor John A. Cherry
The ProcessionalThe largest church processional in
the history of From the Heart ChurchMinistries began early Sunday morning,June 4, 2006, when dozens of ministryworkers descended upon the VerizonCenter in Washington D.C., to transformthe state-of-the-art sports and entertain-ment facility into an authentic From theHeart sanctuary. Men’s Fellowship, Spe-cial Services, Ushers, and Deaconessministries all worked to ensure that thefacility was ready for worship, complete
with all of the traditional From the Heart(FTH) regalia including the pulpit fromour South Location in Clinton, Maryland.When the doors opened at eight o’clockmany more volunteer ministries were inoperation as people poured into Washing-ton D.C., from as far north as upstateNew York, as far south as South Africa,as far east as Indonesia and as far westas California - all to worship the Lordand to witness the first ever change inleadership of our local church.
Pomp and circumstance were notforsaken on this historic day. In additionto an estimated 10,000 parishioners pa-rading down the aisles to their seats,
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In This Issue
From the Heartof the Episcopal Pastor 2
From the Heart of the Pastor 3
2006 Year In Review 4
Anniversary Weeklong CelebrationEvents 5
From the Heart Church MinistriesSpotlight: FTHCM of Richmond 8
Volunteer Ministry Highlight:Intercessory Prayer Ministry 9
The One To Watch 10
Broadcast and Radio 12
2007 Theme:
By Sis. Summer McLin
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2 From the Heart • January 2007 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
God’s richest blessingsupon you as you begin thisNew Year!
It is almost impossible tobelieve that another year hasexpired. On New Year’s Eve2005, I announced our themefor 2006 as “Allow God To DoA New Thing” and informedthe Church that I had appointedmy son, John A. Cherry, II, asPastor-elect of this local church. Mrs. Cherry and I then leftthe area to allow God an opportunity to speak to and to perfectthe Pastor-elect.
June 2006 marked the end of my 25-year vision for the lo-cal church, and on June 4, 2006, I had the awesome privilegeof installing my son as pastor of From the Heart Church Minis-tries - Parent Church. We praise God for divinely orchestrat-ing the seamless transition from me to my son. Mrs. Cherryand I sincerely thank each of you for your share in helping toensure this smooth, seamless transition. Words cannot ad-equately express our joy on Big Sunday, June 4, 2006, as wehad the awesome privilege of having our members, From theHeart churches, Macedonian Ministries, family, friends, andsupporters from around the world under one roof at theVerizon Center in Washington, DC. What an awesome,breathtaking sight to see all of you as we came together inoneness to celebrate our new beginning.
Mrs. Cherry and I are eternally grateful to God for Hisfaithfulness to us during the past 25 years of ministry as Heused us to preach the Gospel, build an infrastructure and re-form the Church. As we move forward in our new assign-ment, we are excited about what God is doing and shall con-tinue to do through From the Heart Church Ministries, Inc. -Worldwide. God is aligning other like-minded Pastors with thisministry to co-labor with us in the Gospel as we carry out theplan of the ministry worldwide, which is to seek and save thelost, to destroy the works of the devil, and to leave a deposit inthe earth for the next generation. To that end, on July 11-14,2006, we held our first Co-Laborers in the Gospel Conferencein Des Moines, Iowa. The Conference was attended by Pas-tors and ministers from our From the Heart churches, theMacedonian Ministries churches, Go Tell It Ministries – World-
wide churches, and other like-minded Pastors and evangelists.This conference provided a wonderful opportunity for us tocome together in an oneness to be perfected in the Word ofGod. We also had an opportunity during September and Octo-ber to bring some of our Eastern and Western European Pas-tors to the Parent Church for perfecting to prepare them to beFrom the Heart churches.
The Office of the Episcopal Pastor has been organized andthe first Episcopal Council meeting was held in October prior toour bi-annual From the Heart Pastors meeting. As part of thatmeeting, we had Pastors from Russia, Moldova, Belarus, andItaly who are in training to become From the Heart Pastors.What an awesome God we serve! We are busier than ever asI continue to “drag Mrs. Cherry all over the world, from pillarto post.” We have a new level of energy, zeal, and grace tocarry the Gospel around the world so that God’s Church will bereformed. We solicit your continued prayers as we carry outour new assignment.
In November, we received the From the Church Ministriesof Las Vegas into full fellowship with From the Heart ChurchMinistries, Inc. – Worldwide. We had a wonderful three-daycelebration and induction service in Las Vegas, which was wellattended, including several members of the Parent Church.Las Vegas proudly advertises itself as “sin city;” however, onour first visit there many months ago, I proclaimed that Las Ve-gas is the “city of Grace” (Romans 5:20-21 – “Moreoverthe law entered, that the offense might abound. But wheresin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sinhath reigned unto death, even so might grace reignthrough righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ ourLord.”) God’s grace is greater than abounding sin!
As we transition our focus to the global Church, it is verycomforting to know that the members of this local church (theParent Church) are continuing to be fed the uncompromisedWord of God to strengthen them to be bold witnesses so theworld would know that our God is God! It is a blessing forMrs. Cherry and me to now enjoy the fruit of our labor as ourson, Pastor John A. Cherry, “the II,” and Reverend LaWandaCherry continue the furtherance of the vision, the plan, and themotivation of the local church with the “same God for a newtime!” We thank God that our son and daughter, by marriage,have done an outstanding work of preparing the hearts andminds of the congregation to move forward from what was towhat is, while encouraging us to allow God to do a new thingby building on the foundation already laid. Mrs. Cherry and Iare enjoying being members of the finest church in America.
The theme for 2007 is Declaring Our Oneness throughOur Character, Conduct, and Commitment to the Faith.We look forward to how God will allow us to express thistheme through our oneness so that other like-minded co-labor-ers will be able to teach oneness .
FROM THE HEART OFTHE EPISCOPALPASTORBy Episcopal Pastor John A. Cherry
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Jesus Is Lord! 3○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
FROM THE HEART OFTHE PASTORBy Pastor John A. Cherry, II
Happy New Year! Greet-ings in the precious name ofJesus Christ, our Lord!
Mrs. Cherry and I are ex-cited about what God hasdone in the past year. Istand in awe of His faithful-ness toward us since beingappointed the Pastor-electof the Parent Church at theNew Year’s Eve celebra-tion in December 2005. Ipraise God for the privilege
of serving you, our members, throughout last year and look for-ward to what God will do as we move forward to carry out the2007 theme, “Declaring Our Oneness through Our Char-acter, Conduct, and Commitment to the Faith.”
In retrospect, Mrs. Cherry and I have truly been blessed tohave a smooth, seamless transition that took place last year.There are not enough words to express my gratitude for the“Excellence in Ministry” that was evident throughout the entire25th Anniversary celebration as we “honored the man and cel-ebrated the vision” and hosted thousands of friends and familywho came to celebrate with us. I believe we truly met theheart’s desire of our Episcopal Pastor and Mrs. Cherry as wecelebrated their 25 years of faithful and dedicated service topreaching the Gospel!
Mrs. Cherry and I have both been tremendously blessed by thelevel of excitement, joy and love that we have experiencedfrom the beginning of 2006 to the close of the year. There is agreat fellowship and love that is being felt throughout the entirechurch and we thank God for the BEST CHURCH IN ALLTHE WORLD!
As we progress forward in the assignment that God has giventhis local church, as your Pastor, I want to remind us to stayfocused and committed to that which we have already heardand seen over the past year by reflecting on what has beentaught.
In January 2006, we kicked off the year with “It’s Time for aNew Thing.” In this series, we learned that the “new thing” isthe will of God for our lives. God desires to do a new thing inus personally, in our ministry, and in the local church. God de-sires that we change our mindset in order to change our state.
In our teaching, “It’s Time to Change the Times,” we learnedthat we must change the times because the world is influencingthe Church; however, God called the Church to influence theworld. We learned that we have a hope in perilous times andthat in our faith is our hope.
As we moved further in the year, God had to let us know thatHe is “The Same God for a New Time.” We learned to un-derstand God’s unchanging nature by knowing that He is thesame God of the Bible. God’s will for man has not changed;we are to conform to His image and to His likeness, realizingthat we are a spirit and His Spirit dwells on the inside of us.We also came to realize that we needed to have the same lifethat Jesus promised us so we learned some things from the se-ries, “How to Live.” In that teaching series, our goal was sim-ply to have “life.” We wanted to be connected to the Sourceof life, be alive on the inside and to know how to live regardlessof our external environment.
Before we could move on into the life that Jesus promised,we had to clean up some things in our life. The teaching on“Restoring the Breaches” helped us identify those things thatwould keep us from walking in the fullness of God. We had torebuild, repair and replace those things in our life that wouldcause repeated failure. Then we were able to move forwardwith a mind to work.As we approached the end of the year, we were taught how tomake Jesus clear and visible to a dying world through theteaching “Lift Up a Standard.” We were taught that ourstandard is Jesus; He is the banner that we want to lift up.
Finally, we were taught in “Establishing the Plan for MyLife” how to make sure that God is the one who provides, di-rects and establishes the plans for our lives. Godly plans willallow us to conform to the image of Jesus Christ, live the lifethat Jesus has promised us, restore and repair those brokenplaces in our lives, and cause us to lift up a standard.
As we move forward in the will of God, it is my prayer that wecontinue to maintain our focus and keep a steady course sothat we can be an example of righteousness in the earth. Ilook forward to working with each of you as we continue tobuild upon the foundation that has been laid!
Needphoto
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4 From the Heart • January 2007 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
As we whispered adias, pakah,arrivederrci, good-bye to 2005, we de-lighted in the development of our goodcharacter. We were perfected and wewere prepared; prepared for the nextmighty move of God, prepared for ANew Thing.
Our theme for 2006 was Allow GodTo Do A New Thing and our founda-tional scripture was taken from Isaiah43:18-21. God exceeded our expecta-tions for 2006. Pastor Cherrytransitioned full-time into his position asEpiscopal Pastor, having oversight overall of the From the Heart churchesaround the globe. Reverend JohnCherry, II was installed as Pastor of theFrom the Heart parent church and hiswife, Sister LaWanda Cherry was or-dained as Reverend LaWanda Cherry.
During 2006 our harvest saw an in-crease of 70%. A total of 700 newmembers joined the FTH parentchurch. Our ministerial team introduced1,303 new converts to the Gospel ofJesus the Christ, performed 25 bap-tisms, 43 infant dedications, andthere were 20 pre-marital class
graduates married at From the Heartand ___ Home-going celebrations heldat the church for FTHCM.
As the scrolls of our membershipchanged, it was evident that we had to
change as well when our Pastor told usIt’s Time for A New Thing in the firstSunday teaching series of the year. Hetaught us how to change during the se-ries It’s Time to Change the Times andwe learned that in order to change thetimes, we must be identified with Christ.
Pastor Cherry taught us that weserve a God who is unchanging duringthe series The Same God for A NewTime. We learned that we must applyGod’s Word to our lives during this timeand in the series How to Live, welearned how to find life, how to live inour present state, how to live accordingto our faith, how to live in peace, how tolive through adversity, how to live a ful-filled life and how to maintain our newlife in Christ.
With a greater understanding ofwhat God has called us to do, our Pastorhas also prepared us for the task athand; however, prior to executing ourmission we had to first Restore theBreaches. During this teaching series,Pastor Cherry taught us that breachesare those things that keep us from walk-ing in the fullness of God and are areasof repeated failure in our lives.
In 2006, our Pastor challenged us toLift Up a Standard - a banner that canbe seen from afar off; a unit of unchang-ing measurement. We learned that Jesusis our standard and that we must nolonger acknowledge the world’s stan-dard.
In 2006, we hosted five churchevents. The Marriage Enrichment Semi-nar was held in March; a weeklong 25th
Anniversary celebration was held May29 – June 4 and there was an estimated20,000 attendance in total for the week;the 2006 Youth Institute was held atJames Madison University inHarrisonburg, Virginia in July; the 2006Women’s Retreat was held at SandyCove Retreat and Conference Center inNovember; and the 2006 Men’s Retreatwas held at Blue Mountain Christian Re-treat Center in December.
Together as members of theFTHCM congregation, as ministry work-ers, husbands, wives, parents and chil-dren, we established a new standard forour church, our homes and ours lives.We thank God for this new thing .
2006 YEAR IN REVIEWBy Sister Monica Griffin
Pastor John A. Cherry, II addresses new members at the first New Members Orientation of 2006
Pastor John A. Cherry, II admonishes congregationto “Allow God To Do A New Thing.”
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Jesus Is Lord! 5○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
WEEKLONG CELEBRATION,“HONORING THE MAN,CELEBRATING THE VISIONBy Sis. Patricia Brown
The year 2006 marked 25 years of Ex-cellence of Ministry® for Episcopal Pas-tor and Mrs. John A Cherry, as well asthe 7th anniversary of From the HeartChurch Ministries. During the first weekof June, From the Heart rendered excel-lence to the man hand-picked by God forthis local church by “Honoring the Manand Celebrating the Vision.”
A weeklong spiritual feast of activi-ties reflecting the life, the love, and theheart of the ministry brought thousandsof well-wishers from around the worldto give honor to whom honor was due.From Monday, May 29 to Sunday, June4, From the Heart showed forth the loveof Jesus in thought, word, and deed bygratefully acknowledging the wonderfulthings God has done through and for theministry over the years. And for sevendays, From the Heart Church Minis-tries® lifted up the name of Jesus withjoyful anticipation as each celebratoryactivity of the anniversary week cap-tured the true essence of the ministryand reflected upon its impact far andnear.
As one long-time From the Heartmember who attended most of the ac-tivities summed up the week, “It wasawesome and amazing! I felt privilegedto be a part of what God was doing. [I]
felt that I was special for God allowingme to be a part of it.”
The anniversary week activities in-cluded:
1. Monday, May 29, 2006 MemorialDay Cook-out – Going back to its rootsas a family ministry, From the Heartkicked off the anniversary week with acookout at Fort Washington Park in FortWashington, Maryland. A fitting tribute toits familiar roots, the day featured activi-ties geared for the entire family. Fromflag football to basketball to tug of warand horseshoes; and from arts and craftsto board games for the young and theyoung-at-heart; fun, fellowship and fam-ily carried the day. As one memberstated, “It was done in From the Heartstyle – organized and [in] a family atmo-sphere.”
2. Tuesday, May 30, 2006 SpecialReflections Bible Study – In this“voices from the past” musical ministrytribute, former From the Heart psalmists,now pastoring churches, returned to giveunto a ministry that had given so much tothem. Pastors Willie Duval, Scot Mooreand Jamila Wood-Jones each ministeredin song and briefly exhorted the Cherrysfor their obedience to God and the result-ing impact on their lives and countlessothers. Bro. Duane Casey, our very fistChoir Director, ministered in song aswell. Gift presentations to Episcopal Pas-tor and Mrs. Cherry from volunteer min-istries and the Christian School roundedout the evening. As a show of apprecia-tion to the congregation, Episcopal Pas-tor and Mrs. Cherry hosted a receptionfor all that attended following the ser-vice.
3. Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Me-morial Service – “I wondered whathappened to that person,” says PiaJohnson-Sutton, upon seeing images onthe screen of From the Heart memberswho had passed on. “I thought peoplehad moved around [or were] attending8:00 service — in the military — then tosee that they had passed on … had mecrying through the entire service.”Sutton attended the memorial service formembers who were no longer with us,but present in their heavenly homes.More than 300 names of deceased mem-bers were read by ministers of thechurch during the poignant service repre-senting every member of the church thathave gone home to be with the Lord.With each name read, a bell sounded andfor most a photo was also displayed.
4. Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Fromthe Heart International CelebrationInternational night featured From theHeart Churches from around the globe –some bearing cultural gifts and othersmaking presentations. Whether it was agift or an expression, it was obvious andclearly understood that Episcopal Pastorand Mrs. Cherry were a tremendousblessing to the Body of Christ worldwide,and had made an enormous impact onthese churches and their prospectiveministries through the Reformation mes-sages. Each grade of the From theHeart Christian School (from K3 up tothe high school seniors) was assigned torepresent a country or region wherethere is presently a From the Heartchurch. The children did a wonderful jobof displaying the culture and ministry ofEthiopia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Italyand South Africa through praise, songand dance.
5. Thursday, June 1, 2006 From theHeart (U.S.) Celebration – “Teachingis repeating until learning takes place.”In a humorous and unique way, From theHeart Pastors took an opportunity toshare with those that attended the Thurs-day evening service how Episcopal Pas-tor Cherry gives them instruction andcorrection by putting to music some fa-miliar “tidbits” often spoken to them by
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6 From the Heart • January 2007 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
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Jesus Is Lord! 7○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
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8 From the Heart • January 2007 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
From the Heart Church Ministries®(FTHCM) of Richmond, Virginia cameinto existence as a result of the Refor-mation teachings by our Episcopal Pas-tor, Dr John A. Cherry. In Richmond,Christians began to leave their formerchurches because of a desire to hear theuncompromised Word of God and a Fo-cus Group was formed. As a result, Dr.John A. Cherry established From theHeart Church Ministries® (FTHCM) ofRichmond on May 28, 2000, and was itsfirst pastor. On February 11, 2001, Pas-tor John Cherry, II was installed as pas-tor of From the Heart of Richmond andunder his pastorate, 10 service ministrieswere established and the membershipgrew to 455 members. Due to thechurch growth and its need for a full timepastor, on June 1, 2003, Dr. Cherry ap-pointed Pastor James Z. Ransom as thenew pastor. Under the leadership ofPastor Ransom, the membership has in-creased by approximately 200 membersand seven additional ministries have beenestablished.
When asked about the vision of theRichmond church Pastor Ransom stated,“We have an established vision that Godgave our Episcopal Pastor 25 years ago.Our vision is our foundation.” When
God gave theEpiscopal Pastorthe vision, PastorRansom furtherstates, “I was 19years old at thattime, in college atIowa State Uni-versity, and notthinking aboutGod. Little did Iknow that the vi-sion included meand my family.”
Pastor Ransom talked about the fact thathe had been following the television min-istry of Episcopal Pastor Cherry for 15years and had taken our Episcopal Pas-tor into his heart as a mentor although hehad never met him. Pastor Ransom wasmoved by the fact that our EpiscopalPastor did not leave the original instruc-tions of God but remained consistent for25 years. “Our vision is simply the origi-nal instructions from God given to Epis-copal Pastor Cherry: (1) to love God, (2)to hate sin (in Richmond we say that we“Hate sin in our own lives first”), and (3)love to give.”
Pastor Ransom stated that the Rich-mond church does not have an emphasissuch as ministering to the male seed, thefamily or outreach. Their desire is thatFTHCM of Richmond would be achurch filled with “free” members“bound” to Christ. “Jesus has ransomedus,” Pastor Ransom says, “We havebeen bought with the price of the pre-cious blood of Jesus. Therefore we canbe free from sin, free from addiction,free from the bondage and trickery ofdeceitful men, free to love, free to hatesin, and free to give. Our heart is simplyto embrace the fullness of truth that is inJesus so that no matter what state weare in we can be free because of our
faith in Him.”Pastor Ransom was born in
Lakeworth, Florida, and in 1978 hemoved to Ames, Iowa after beingawarded a football scholarship by IowaState University. Pastor Ransom admitsthat, while he was in college, he did notgive any attention to God or the things ofGod. In Iowa he met a freshman namedTresa Jenkins who was not afraid to wit-ness to him about Jesus Christ. As a re-sult of pursuing her, he started attendingchurch, heard the Gospel, and gave hislife to Jesus. They got married in 1985.“I began going to church for the wrongreasons, but I got the right thing – theGospel.” From that point on, he began tofaithfully serve in the church and has notstopped since.
In 1988, their first child was bornand Pastor Ransom was called to preachthe Gospel and in 1990, Pastor Ransomwas asked to return to the college minis-try he had been a part of to pastor. Thefollowing year Sister Ransom answeredthe call of God to preach the Gospel.“Although we both had full-time secularoccupations, I must say that it was a joyto travel the 90 miles three or more timesa week with our two little girls (at thetime) to care for the church.”
After five years of successful minis-try, Pastor Ransom was asked to leavehis secular occupation to become the As-sistant Pastor of Cornerstone FamilyChurch where the pastor is ReverendDan Berry. Cornerstone Family Churchis a Macedonian Church located in DesMoines, Iowa. After serving at Corner-stone for eight years, Pastor Ransomwas asked to become a part of From theHeart Church Ministries.
The Ransoms have four children:Traya – age 19, Trakaya – age 17, Trin-ity – age 11 years, and son, Samuel –age 5. As an added blessing, PastorRansom’s mother-in-law, Tiny Jenkins,has been together with them for 19years. “Without her gracious love, sup-port and sacrifice, it would not have beenpossible for my wife and me to work inthe ministry in the manner that wehave.”
If you would like to worship withFTHCM of Richmond, they are located
FROM THE HEART CHURCHHIGHLIGHT
By Sis. Thomasine Mitchell
From the Heart Church Ministries ofRichmond
(continues on page 9)
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Jesus Is Lord! 9○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
“The effectual fervent prayer of arighteous man availeth much.” (James5:16b) It is exciting to see the manifes-tation of our prayers answered. Com-municating to Jesus through prayer isrewarding and an honor. What ablessing to communicate to our Heav-enly Father in prayer!
The Intercessory Prayer Ministry atFrom the Heart Church Ministries® wasestablished in 1982 with a charge of re-sponsibility to pray and intercede for theneeds and requests of the Church as di-rected by the Office of the Pastor. SisterCheryl Vincent is the ministry’s currentMinistry Head.
The Prayer Ministry includes the In-tercessory Prayer Council and the 24Hour Prayer Vigil and members of thisministry are committed and dedicatedmembers of the church who have beencalled to pray and intercede on behalf ofothers. The Intercessory Prayer Councilprovides leadership and direction to themembers of the 24 Hour Prayer Vigiland membership to the Prayer Council isby the appointment of the Pastor only.
Council members are responsible topray and intercede for the Pastor, Epis-copal Pastor, ministers, congregation,From the Heart staff, volunteer minis-tries, leaders, From the Heart andMacedonia churches and pastors, andmembers of the Body of Christ. In addi-tion, Council members fast, pray, and in-tercede every day each week. Mem-bers of the 24 Hour Prayer Vigil fast 24hours and pray 1 hour on one day amonth.
The purpose of the IntercessoryPrayer Ministry is taken directly fromJeremiah 1:9-10. “Then the Lord putforth His hand, and touched my mouth.And the Lord said unto me, Behold, Ihave put my words in thy mouth. See, Ihave this day set thee over the nationsand over the kingdoms, to root out, and
to pull down, and to destroy, and to throwdown, to build, and to plant.”
The Lord has given the IntercessoryPrayer Ministry seven aspects of theirpurpose:
1. To stand in the gap for the localchurch, world-wide From the HeartChurch Ministries, From the Heartand Macedonian pastors andchurches, and the entire Body ofChrist.
2. To root out everything that is con-trary to the express will ofGod.
3. To pull down every imagination andhigh thing that exalts itselfagainst the knowledge of God.
4. To destroy every tongue that shallrise up in judgment againstthe saints of God.
5. To throw down every hobby and badhabit that has the people of Godbound.
6. To build a wall of protection aroundour families, our church,and our community.
7. To plant seeds of prayer for salva-tion, deliverance, healing, andpersonal needs.
The objective of the IntercessoryPrayer Ministry is to lay out a systematicplan of development based on the Wordof God which will:1. Develop prayer warriors as interces-
sors.2. Provide around-the-clock prayer.3. Develop an awareness of prayer
among the members of the church.4. Provide an atmosphere whereby
members may see (get a spiritualperception) and work to achieveGod’s plan for their lives.
The goal of the IntercessoryPrayer Ministry is to produce a cadreof intercessors whose lives are forti-fied and effectual in the earth throughprayer. The Intercessory PrayerMotto is “Rejoicing in hope; patient intribulation; continuing instant in prayer.”which is taken from Romans 12:12
The Intercessory Prayer Ministrymeets four times a year in the monthsthat have a 5th Friday where the entireministry comes together for words ofencouragement and membership interac-tion .
VOLUNTEER MINISTRYHIGHLIGHTIntercessory Prayer MinistryBy Sis. La Shawn M. Turner
at 2401 Byron Street in Richmond, VA.Sunday Worship service begins at 10:30a.m. Tuesday Prayer and Exhortation isheld at noon. Bible Study is held onWednesdays at 7:00 p.m. Other activi-ties at the church include Church SchoolMinistry, the None Like Us Ministry forelementary aged children, the Light ofZion Youth Ministry for middle and highschool aged children and the Eagle’sNest Ministry is the nursery and toddlerage ministry offered during Sunday wor-ship services. There is also a Men’s Fel-lowship and Women of Wisdom Ministryat FTH of Richmond. The teachings atFTH of Richmond are designed to makesure that each individual, whether theyare male or female; young or old; a childor adult; single, divorced, married, orwidowed, understands how to applyGod’s Word to their lives .
From the HeartChurch Highlight(continued from page 8)
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10 From the Heart • January 2007 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Wendy Dupree used to stutter. Thenin sixth grade, her teacher, Dr. AmentaCrouch, at Full Gospel Christian School(now From the Heart Christian School)required students to participate in theschool-wide oratorical contest.
The shy and apprehensive sixth-grader realized that despite her speechimpediment, she would have to overcome
insecurities about speaking in public andprepare for an event that God would useto change the course of her life. “I wasdetermined to get through the entirespeech – it was the first time in my life Idid not stutter while speaking for so long.My speech was three minutes and I wonthe competition,” Sis. Dupree said, asshe recalled fondly her days as a studentat the Christian School.
Sis. Dupree attended the Christianschool from grades 1-12 and after gradu-ating in 1997 she attended PensacolaChristian College in Pensacola, Florida.She graduated from college in 2001 andreceived a Bachelor of Science degreein Communications.
Now she supervises a team ofbroadcast editors at From the HeartChurch Ministries® parent church andSis. Dupree is the voice you hear on theweekly television broadcast.Sis. Dupree said she joined the churchstaff because the church is like her ex-
ONE TO WATCHBy Sis. Emerson Zora Hamsa
tended family. “I grew up here. I am apart of something bigger than what Isee.”
In addition to her full-time ministrywork, Sis. Dupree is a member of “TheFrom the Heart Gospel Heirs,” an acappella singing group at From theHeart. Sis. Dupree and her husband,Jeremiah, are also youth workers. Theyouth ministry is a volunteer ministry thatis designed to help Christian youth livebetter lives as they face the challengesthat a secular society presents.
Sis. Dupree says she feels like Fromthe Heart is where she is supposed to beat this time in her life, and she is gratefulfor the example of Pastor and Mrs. JohnA. Cherry, II.“My desire is that people stay true to be-ing a Christian. It is not always aboutwhat you have to say; it is about howyou live—let your life speak for itself,”she said .
nearly 100 From the Heart andMacedonian pastors and clergy pro-cessed in behind 23 banner carriers rep-resenting every FTH church in exist-ence. Everyone was in step with the200-member FTH mass choir, musicians,and orchestra who led the processionalin song with God of Our Fathers.
Episcopal Pastor John A. Cherry,who started this grand processional some25 years before in the aisles of a littlestorefront church, was the last to enter.He was immediately preceded by hiswife, Rev. Diana P, Cherry, Pastor JohnA. Cherry, II and his wife, ReverendLaWanda M. Cherry, who on that daywas ordained an Elder in the church.
The ServiceBig Sunday was the climatic end to a
week-long celebration of Episcopal Pas-tor John A. Cherry and the church’s 25-year anniversary. It marked the day that
Episcopal Pastor Cherry, the church’sFounding Father, would officially moveinto his worldwide episcopal ministry, andhis son John A. Cherry, II would becomethe new pastor of the From the HeartChurch Ministries Parent church. “Thisis a milestone in my life,” Episcopal Pas-tor said, assuring the congregation thathe is not retiring, but simply moving intothe office of the episcopacy.
In his sermon entitled “God Has Pre-pared a New Thing for Us,” EpiscopalPastor Cherry reminded the massivecongregation that in the Church failure isa permitted response, and that theChurch should never give up on God, forHe has “ordained before-hand whoeverand He has prepared whatever is neededfor us to do a new thing.” He describedhis 25th anniversary of ministry not as anend, but as a new beginning, one inwhich God will reward the church’s obe-dience with the necessary provisions andprotection, as well as with His presence.
Episcopal Pastor’s remarks werereflective and directive. Using Mosesand Joshua as a biblical example of howGod transitions from one thing to another,he admonished the congregation to bestrong and very courageous during thetransition, declaring that “as God was
with Moses, and God was with Joshua,and God was with John Cherry, so willGod be with John Cherry, II and thiscongregation.”
Sixty-three souls accepted JesusChrist as Savior on “Big Sunday” andevery person in attendance at this HighWorship Service was served Holy Com-munion.
The Ordination and Installation“As my father has taught me how
to live, I’m committed to teach all whowill listen how to have life and have itmore abundantly.” - Pastor John A.Cherry, II
Pastor John A. Cherry, II and Rev-erend LaWanda Cherry were installed asa ministry team. First, Reverend Cherrywas ordained an Elder in the church;then, with their three children (Abriona –age 9, Aleah – age 6 and John, III – age4) standing with them, Pastor Cherry, IIaccepted the appointment as the newpastor of From the Heart Church Minis-tries. “Today is a humbling experience.Overwhelmingly humbling. It’s humblingbecause of the love, and the trust, andthe confidence that you have placed inme since the announcement. It’s hum-bling because of who I am following …
25th Anniversary“Big Sunday” Servce(continued from page 1)
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Jesus Is Lord! 11○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
their spiritual father. Although humorous,it was apparent that the From the Heartpastors understood our EpiscopalPastor’s wisdom. As one member whoattended this service put it, “They knewit was truth and did it.” During this ser-vice, From the Heart Church Ministriesof Atlanta, Back to Basics, Belpre, Char-lotte, Chicago, Harrisburg, Houston andPhiladelphia were each represented byits members that ministered in song,dance or interpretive movement.
6. Friday, June 2, 2006 Gala Ban-quet – “It was wonderful to be able tocelebrate,” says a longtime member. [I]really get excited when From the Heartcan get together and dress up. [It was]good to see people that you don’t nor-mally see–who may go to a differentservice. It felt very much like family,even though it was a lot of people.”
An anniversary celebration as momen-tous as 25 years would not be completewithout a From the Heart Gala Banquet– in every sense of the word. That
Weeklong Celebration,“Honoring the Man,Celebrating the Vision(continued from page 5)
It’s humbling because of the foundationthat has already been laid …,” PastorCherry, II said in response to the installa-tion. Overflowing with emotion, hethanked and acknowledged his wife, hischildren, his parents and family mem-bers, and his eldest aunt, Sister JosephineHill, the matriarch of the Cherry family.
To the church, Pastor Cherry, IIshared what the membership should ex-pect in light of the leadership change. Hevowed to always preach the uncompro-mising Word of God, to ensure that thechurch builds on the foundation that hasalready been laid, and to teach thepeople how to live, meaning to have theabundant life that Jesus promised to hisfollowers “beyond the mechanical opera-tion of the human body.”
The CelebrationBig Sunday was the first time in nearlyten years that the entire FTH congrega-tion was able to attend church togetherin the same place at the same time. “Itwas a blessing,” said Sister EarlineRobinson, dittoing the sentiments ofmost. “Especially when Sister LaWandaCherry was ordained,” she continued.“The whole service was beautiful. It wasthe top – the cat’s meow – you can’tcelebrate any more than we did.”
Sister Carol Lipscomb agreed. “Youcould feel what they felt – the joy andhappiness that God was able to usethem,” Sister Lipscomb said as she de-scribed the time in the installation servicewhen all of the FTH pastors gatheredaround the altar to lay hands on Pastorand Mrs. Cherry, II.
After the Worship Service, all of thecongregation and guests were invited todinner and fellowship at the From theHeart North Location in Temple Hills,Maryland.
In addition to the many parishioners,pastors and ministers from around theworld, several local, state, and nationalgovernment leaders including UnitedStates Congressman Benjamin Cardin,Representatives from Maryland Gover-nor Robert Ehrlich’s office, Senator Tho-mas Mike Miller, Prince George’sCounty Executive Jack Johnson andMontgomery County Executive DouglasDuncan, among others, attended the ser-vice, many giving proclamations in honorand support of the ministry. The entire service is available on DVDat the From the Heart Bookstore .
means a celebration like none other forGod’s royal heritage. In fine regalia andamong family and friends of the ministry,the From the Heart Gala Banquet washeld at the Washington Hilton in Wash-ington, D.C. Bro. Morris Chapman andSis. Cece Winans were guest musicalartists for this festive occasion. TheWomen of God: Lifegivers Ministry gavea tribute to Mrs. Diana Cherry and col-lective gift presentations from the Parentchurch and the From the Heart pastorswere given at the Gala Banquet to Epis-copal Pastor and Mrs. Cherry in honorof their 25th Anniversary in ministry.
7. Saturday, June 3, 2006 DVDDocumentary Premiere –“This is MyStory” – This special documentary pre-sentation recounts the ministry of ourEpiscopal Pastor and the history of ourlocal church, beginning long before Epis-copal Pastor Cherry received and an-swered his call to the ministry. Throughthe voices of family, friends and churchmembers during the early years, thestory of how From the Heart came to be
is told in this 2 hours, 5 minute video pre-sentation, which was completed frombeginning to end by members of Fromthe Heart. “This is My Story” coversthe legacy that started it all, the sacri-fices made along the way, the establish-ment of a standard for preaching the un-compromising, unadulterated Word ofGod, and a heartfelt desire to seek andsave the lost which has all culminatedinto a collection of believers around thatworld that loves God, hates sin and lovesto give.
The weeklong celebration ended onSunday, June 4, 2006 with a High Wor-ship Service that was held at the VerizonCenter in downtown Washington, DC.From the Heart, a world-wide ministry,has made a difference right here athome. A sentiment that is sure to be heldby many, Sis. Pia Johnson-Sutton com-mented on the overall celebration, “Godis allowing us to be a part of a world-wide church, which is From the Heart. Iam a part of this. I need to step it up. It’snot about Martin Luther King or RosaParks. It’s about how much [we] canchange the world. It’s about how littlewe’re dealing with things and how bigGod is. Just to see what God is doing andto be a part of it, that’s awesome.”
Weekly Television Broadcast
KAZQ-32 Sunday 6:00 a.m.Albuquerque, New Mexico
WUSA-9 Sunday 6:30 a.m.Washington, D.C.
WCOV-20 Sunday 6:30 a.m.Montgomery, Alabama
NBTV-9 Sunday 8:00 a.m.Georgetown, Guyana
CNLTV Sunday 8:00 p.m.Russian Network, Almaty, Kazakhstan
WLPC-TV Sunday 3:30 p.m.Detroit, MI Friday 10:00 p.m.
BET Cable NetworkTuesday 8:00 a.m. EST
Publications Team
Ben Blair, PhotographerPatricia Brown, Writer/EditorJohn Drew, PhotographerJoyce Drumming, PhotographerJessica Dunegan, PhotographerMichelle Glosson, PhotographerMonica V. Griffin, Writer/EditorEmerson Zora Hamsa, Writer/EditorKevin A. Johnson, Photographer,Graphic DesignerLeonardo Johnson, PhotographerSummer McLin, Writer/EditorThomasine Mitchell, Writer/EditorPat Randall, Graphics CoordinatorLaShawn M. Turner, Writer/Editor
God’s Plan of Salvation
Acknowledge: God be merciful to me asinner. (Luke 18:13)
Repent: Repent ye therefore, and bethou converted, that your sinsmay be blotted out.(Acts 3:19)
Confess: If thou shalt confess with thymouth the Lord Jesus, andshalt believe in thine heartthat God raised him from thedead, thou shalt be saved.(Romans 10:9)
Believe: For God so loved the world,that he gave his onlybegotten Son, that whosoeverbelieveth in him should notperish, but have everlastinglife. (John 3:16)
Will you make your decision now to be savedand say this simple prayer?
Lord Jesus, I believe you came to earth, lived anddied for my sins, and was resurrected from thedead. Please forgive my sins. I invite you intomy life as my personal Lord and Savior. Thankyou for saving me. Amen.
Preaching the Gospel, Building an Infrastructure, Reforming the Church!
FROM THE HEART CHURCH MINISTRIES, INC®
4700 Auth PlaceSuitland, Maryland 20746(301) 899-9411
Non-ProfitU.S. Postage
PAIDSo. Md. Div.Permit #1209®
If you would like to be a contributing writer for theFTH newsletter, please complete the RegistrationForm in the weekly Sunday Bulletin.
