Dear Family,

Bishop C. Phillip Johnson of Washington D.C. was among the first to stand firm with ACLC when the Clouds of Witnesses were published. He played a major role in Gaza and Israel and is now demonstrating that a man of faith will be blessed in this new age. Also Bishop Johnson was the first to teach the Divine Principle in his ministry with the new PowerPoint presentations directly to his church. With this inspiration he founded a new ministry in his "hometown" of Martinsville, Va. He has installed Pastor Paula Walton ( a relative) as the Co- pastor. He will be Bishop over the new ministry as well as the others under his leadership. Here is Rev. McCarthy's report of the dedication service.

Thanks.

MWJ

A new and powerful providence of God and True Parents has now been opened in Martinsville, Va, the hometown of Bishop C. Phillip Johnson. Recently, Bishop Johnson was blessed by God when a certain individual suddenly was led to donate to him a beautiful church facility in Martinsville. He felt that it was God’ s blessing so that he could further the cause of True Parents in his hometown.

Bishop Johnson preaching morning service He felt that he wanted this second house of the New Prospect Family Praise and Worship Center to be a different type of Christian church. His vision was to start a church that would really reach out to people of all races and faiths. Most of all he wanted to start a Christian Church that could be centered on the teachings of the Divine Principle and achieve the standard as a Christian church that is fully united and proclaiming the fulfillment of the Second Coming of Christ.

In keeping with that, Bishop Johnson planned for the kickoff on January 17 and 18 of the New Prospect Family Praise and Worship Center of Martinsville, Va. In support of the opening, several members of Washington Family Church together with members of New Prospect Family Praise and Worship Center of Washington made the 5 hour trip to Martinsville to help prepare.

It was an inspired and hopeful opening and new beginning for the new church. Co-Pastor, Paula Walton, a close relative of Bishop Johnson, will take the reins as the local pastor and lead the new church toward steady growth. The house was full for the opening service and everyone was moved by the spirit, the truth and the singing. Everyone in Martinsville could feel that a very special movement of God had come to their small country town in south Virginia.

One highlight was the fine singing from several gospel groups including one called "Reformation" led by Bishop Johnson’s own daughter, Monica. The main highlight, of course, was the fine preaching and teaching of Bishop Johnson.

At his 10:00 am service, he gave a stirring explanation of why this new church would not be displaying the cross. In fact the new logo of the New Prospect Family Praise and Worship Center centers on a crown. No one struggled at all with the explanation of the need to replace the cross with the crown. The morning service reached a crescendo and fevered pitch as Bishop Johnson concluded with an impassioned plea for any new guests to come forward and give their lives to Christ. Six new people answered his call and the service culminated in the joyful welcoming of new members.

Everyone could feel, this church was a winner.

After the morning service, a huge lunch was served in the downstairs event hall. Chicken, both fried and broiled, potato salad, field corn and string beans , biscuits, pies and cakes graced the long serving table. What a feast! And, also, what a great challenge for Bishop to overcome in the 2:00 pm service.

We know all about that after lunch lecture and that sometimes it can get pretty ugly with all that food being digested in the stomach, sometimes it doesn’t leave enough energy to keep the eyelids open.

But Bishop Johnson is a veteran not only of the Vietnam War but also of the war against a potentially sleepy congregation. He took charge like the Marine that he is and made sure everybody knew that the Holy Spirit was coming down.

At the 2:00 pm service Bishop lectured the Divine Principle on the mission of Jesus. The powerpoint slide presentation was projected on the church screen and Bishop Johnson moved through each slide with the ease of a master. The new congregation knew that they were hearing a truth that they had never heard anywhere else before. One young man was astounded by the content and openly testified that he had received a revelation about John the Baptist’s failure many years before but that this was the first time in any church that he heard his revelation confirmed.

Bishop Johnson promised that this first lecture was only a taste of the rich content to come over the next weeks, months and years. We are all excited to see the expected rapid growth of this Divine Principle based Christian church.

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