Pastor Jentezen Franklin now Senior Pastor in California
 

News from Free Chapel and Pastor Jentezen Franklin in Gainesville, GA.

Pastor Franklin announced that he was assuming the pastorate of a church (Jamboree Worship Center Church of God) in Irvine, California and was going to pastor both churches. He said several staff members from FREE CHAPEL - Gainesville will move to California and take care of the church and do the Sunday morning services. JF will preach at in Gainesville at 9 & 11 AM and leave on his jet at 3:00 PM and have Sunday night Service at 6:00 PM at the new FREE CHAPLE OC (Orange County) and possibly Tuesday nights and back to Gainesville for Wednesday night service.

He said he is not in anyway going to move to CA - but he feels this is his destiny and he will fulfil it!

He said - All the bills are paid here and this is NO CHALLENGE at all for us so - I need a challenge. He said - I am CRAZY and I need a Challenge and this is it. He will be on TBN this Tuesday night and make the national announcement then.

He is also adding 2000 new seats to the 3700 seat sanctuary and new offices and a 500 seat Youth auditorium at a cost of $30 million.

The people gladly recieved his word.

I have heard so much about him but never seen him. I understand he has a TV program and I would assume it is on TBN. Can you tell me when it airs? It is just him speaking or do they show music also? What is their music like?

on TBN - 9 AM Sunday morning and 9 PM Monday nights - EST

He has ties to Brownsville AOG, doesn't he?

He is Church of God...I don't think he's tied to Brownsville at all.

Free Chapel
 

JF was raised COG and his father was COG - His whole family was COG and he was the TOP COG evangelist when he took this small Congregational Holiness Church in Gainesville, GA after the death of their pastor. He surrendered his COG licence and is credentiled with the CH. Free Chapel is an over 50 year old CH Congregaton - it is NOT COG and is NOT independent.

The Church - Free Chapel Worship Center is IN a small pentecostal denomination - The Congregational Holiness Church. FCWC was founded as a CH church and will always be a CH church. http://www.chchurch.com/

This is from the Free Chapel web site:

This is a brief history of Free Chapel Worship Center.

our history

1953 J.C. (Jake) Norris began a new work in the Lord. In early July he and 10 - 15 other believers rented space in a skating rink on Atlanta Highway in Gainesville, Georgia. The church remained at this location for approximately two years.

1955 With a membership of approximately 35, a decision was made to build a church building. With mostly volunteers, comprised of members and non-members, a building was erected on Keith Circle in Gainesville. The church remained at this location for approximately 15 years.

During this period, there were several pastors: Louis Bragg, Walter Smith, Ben Tapp, and Blanche Lancaster, who served in the interim until Roy Wellborn was chosen as pastor.

1970 On Mother's Day, the first service was held in a new facility built on Brown's Bridge Road in Gainesville. The church grew to a membership of approximately 250 and remained in this location for approximately 20 years.

1989 Jentezen Franklin was selected senior pastor to succeed Pastor Wellborn.

1992 The church moved to McEver Road in Gainesville. Here the congregation has grown from 300 to over 5,000.

1996 Property was purchased across McEver Road for expansion.

1999 154 acres was purchased on McEver road for expansion.

2002 Ground Breaking Ceremony at the new property.

2004 (September) - Moved in to new worship facility debt free - 3700 seats.

I recently saw him teaching on TBN and he was using a tape measure and talking about putting limits on God. I started laughing b/c he must have bought some BOTT DVDs and saw Jeff Arnold's message from several years ago! BTW I like JF---he seems to be the real deal. If you close your eyes and listen to him speak he sounds just like AM.

I personally am not excited about his preaching... That is just my personal thought.

He is a lot of hype...

I've never heard him.

That JA mesage was good. I have it at home.

BTW... pastoring TWO churches on two different sides of the country?

C'mon....

You thinkin' it's a bad idea, Ronzo?

I like listening to him. Just my personal thought. ;)

I have heard of spreading oneself thin but this is really thin!

Not to mention the expense of Jet fuel, pilots, etc to fly back and forth from the West coast 52 weeks per year.

I have heard a lot of good things about this guy but when I hear stories like this it makes me think someone is too caught up in thinking they are the only one God can use,etc.

I have decided it is almost impossible for these really successful ministries to avoid problems with ego.

Surely out of 300 million people in America there is a good pastor who can devote 100% of his time to that church in California and not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in jet fuel.

Yep

Don't see how you can focus on the needs of each church.

Seriously, post of the hour on this one.

Is this guy married? What does his wife think of him spending that much time away from her?

Have you ever heard Michael Rowan preach?

Very good thoughts, CC!!

Never heard OF him. So no. Who is he and where does he preach?

I do not know the man and have heard very little about him so I have no personal opinion. But this idea is a recipie for disaster in his home and honestly his church. At the end neither church has a pastor. My thoughts.

I agree. It can be done successfully if it's only temporary. But a pator cannot give 100% to two houses. Eventually a choice has to be made because it's like having a wife and a girlfriend at the same time. They both get jealous and a choice has to be made.

But the house sho would be clean.......muhahahahaha! JUST KIDDING TO MY LURKING WIFE!!!!!!!

Not nice to your lurking wife.....:thwak

I did a Google Video search for Jentezen Franklin and only 2 videos come up. That is amazing. And both of those videos are advertisements of something he was going to speak at.

So I went to his website where they have 24/7 streaming video. But I can't see it unless I sign up for a Faith Pass.

This guy is starting to remind me of Clint Brown. He seems to have pretty tight controls on his product. If he is on TBN regularly etc and is so good one would think that SOMEBODY would have posted a video of one of his services.

How can you say this!

About the only thing they have in common is breathing through their nose and mouth!!

Jentezen Franklin
 

I can assure you that Jentezen Franklin is the real deal. He pastors Free Chapel Worship Center in Gainesville, Georgia and has well over 8,000 come through the doors every Sunday.

He is also married and has 5 children. He has a jet that will get him from Gainesville to Orange County, CA - he says in 3 hours. So he will leave at 3 PM EST and get there at 3 PM and preach at 6 PM on Sunday nights in CA.
The church he is taking in California seats over 1000 and is appraised at $50 M and owes 5.5 M and has less that 200 people there.

He has the same style as Anthony Mangun and is a great man. The Tenney's were just there - preaching on Pentecost Sunday and many Hundreds were filled with the Holy Ghost. Free Chapel LOVES Bishop & Sister Tenney.

JF has books, tapes, videos, CDs, DVD's and I have no clue why you cannot find them. He is the most popular speaker on TBN at this time and is in demand around the world and speaks almost every night of the week to crowds of thousands.

Clint Brown is a great man of God isn't he? He's talented and that's all it takes for some here to claim he is anointed. Casting down doctrine for dollars also makes him cutting edge.

:groan

He beats Jakes and Parsley?

I can find them... I can find them all day long.

I just can't find them without a credit card number or other such payment method.

I'm not saying that I have made a conclusion about him. I am just saying that it appears that he has a good grip on his product and it doesn't get out there on the open internet.

Jentezen Franklin
 

Like I said - Jentezen is the most popular speaker on TBN at this time. His program is rated the number one program on TBN.

He has a new book being released tomorrow and it will make him millions. His staff is very protective of him and yes - he does keep the products close to him as not to lose revenue. He is a very smart businessman!
His wife (looks like a fashion model) is also a building contractor and builds million dollar homes around the lake in Gainesville. They are very secure financially and live very well.

He is also a giver. They have their own missionaries and missions programs and give millions every year to missions. I have seen him give checks of $50,000 to missionaries. He is a blessed man and will make tremendous sacrifices to pastor both churches. We love him and appreciate him very much.

Thank you!! :thumbsup

:evilglee

I agree.

AtlantaBishop,

I am not saying that JF is not the real deal. What I am saying is that there is a pattern over the last 20 years or so in America involving these mega ministries.

Extremely devoted and talented people experience mega success and it is hard to keep in context.

Pretty soon the ministry is treated as a Corporation and justifications are made for anything that is desired to happen.

I remember when Jim Bakker and other major TV ministers justified their enormous salaries and perks by hiring corporate consultants to rubber stamp it by saying it was comparable to what a CEO would be compensated in the Corporate world if he ran a company bringing in the same tens or hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

I am not one of those folks who thinks a pastor should not have a decent living but I am just saying that this level of success and adoration that goes with it is corruptive within itself and very few men or women can handle it.

If I remember correctly most private jets run about $4000 per hour to operate and probably more now with fuel so expensive.

If it is three hours there and three hours back that is six hours per round trip or $24,000 per week. If JF takes two weeks off per year for vacation then 50 times he will be spending $24,000 just to pastor two churches on two opposite ends of the country. If my TN math is correct that is $1.2 million dollars that could have been spent much better in my humble opinon.

How about a million dollars to mentor young preachers so there will be plenty in the future and one won't have to spend a million dollars a year flying back and forth across the country to pastor two churches!

The math is simple he is going to make millions from out there in California. So the measly 1.2 million to go back and forth is chump change.

You got that right, ABishop. He is very similar to AM. Infact, if anyone is interested you can go on the StreamingFaith site or JentesenFranklin.org and see some messages that he have take the titles from AM and TFT.

One Sunday afternoon I was watching JF on TBN or one of the other channels and he told that how he sits on the board for Tommy Tenney's ministry. At one of the board meetings Tommy took him to the POA and JF met Sis. Vesta and Tommy asked JF if he minded if VM prayed for him. JF said he did not mind and VM prayed and JF said he has never felt such a power on a women of God. That she is such a praying women and she was plain awesome. He said the HG hit him so hard that he had a hardtime regaining composure. This was all in the parking lot after VM time during the 24 hr prayer chain.

He's a good preacher and the faith pass on Streaming Faith is free. It doesn't cost to go there.

I just bought Jentezen Franklin's book "Right People, Right Place, Right Plan." Haven't read it yet, but I was pleasantly surprised to see TF Tenney mentioned in the front of the book. In small paragraph for acknowledgements or thanks, JF mentions Tommy Tenney, TF Tenney and Steve Munsey as being great mentors for him. (not exact statement, but to that effect. I'll post the exact quote later.)