How it all started...
In 1982 a church-planter named Steve Cannon and a few faithful families began Good News Free Will Baptist Church in a small rented building. The church grew quickly until within a short period of time the small building was filled to capacity. Within eight years of its start, Good News Free Will Baptist Church purchased land, built a sanctuary, and was looking forward to continuing its ministry under a new pastor.
In September of 1990, Pastor Glen Johnson and his young family arrived in Chesterfield, VA with great anticipation of what God was going to accomplish. The preacher preached the word, the people sacrificed in faith, the church facilities were enlarged, and the ministry flourished. Hallways and lobbies became temporary classrooms filled with folding chairs, while the auditorium struggled to keep up with the service attendance. Several more building projects were completed in an effort to contain the increase in ministry that God was giving.
Expanding the vision...
In 2004, having done everything possible to make room for our growing congregation, our church decided that once again, by His Spirit, our container had become too small. In 2006, beside making the decision to hire more fulltime staff, our church also began its most ambitious building project to date. In a huge step of faith, we broke ground on a building to house our dramatically larger sanctuary, many new classrooms, two nurseries, and our church staff offices.
As we continue to share the gospel with our community, God has given our church the vision to begin Good News Christian Academy while continuing to host over 30 other outreach ministries. By His Spirit, in just 28 months, Good News Christian Academy has had the privilege of ministering to almost 100 children from 67 different families. Once again, our container had to be enlarged as we quickly reached capacity in our preschool building. In 2009, a large playground was constructed to accommodate our increased children’s ministries. Continuing under the leadership of Pastor Johnson, God has continued to increase the influence of the Gospel and the power of His Word through the ministry of Good News Free Will Baptist Church.
Where we are headed...
Good News Church is an autonomous (self-governed) church. There is no hierarchy, or outside authority, that controls or directs the affairs of the church. The church is governed by its members under the authority of the Word of God. The pastor and deacons provide leadership, but every member has an equal vote on the decisions made within the church. The church is voluntarily united with the National Association of Free Will Baptists which is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. There are approximately 2,500 churches in this denomination. Our passion is "To Know Christ and to Make Him Known." And our motto is "Carrying the Gospel in Every Direction." We invite you to join with us in a surrendered, serving, sharing, satisfying life of glorifying Jesus Christ.
