Ralph and Lisa entered the ministry with CRU in 1992 after graduating from the University of North Carolina. They had the privilege of beginning Student Venture, the high school ministry of CRU, in Jacksonville, Florida. At the same time their family grew to four with the birth of Elizabeth and Matthew.
Ralph fell in love with the local church while in Jacksonville and felt called to pursue theological training. So, Ralph and Lisa left Jacksonville and headed to Atlanta, Georgia in 1999 to work with the youth ministry of Perimeter Church. Andrew was born shortly after they arrived in Atlanta, and within two years Ralph took a job as an assistant pastor with Alan Foster to help plant East Lanier Community Church in Buford, Georgia.
While at East Lanier, Ralph graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary in 2006 as Lisa invested full-time in the kids. Shortly after graduating, Ralph got the bug for church planting and left East Lanier to plant GracePointe Church in Forsyth County, Georgia.
That was twelve wonderful years ago. Ralph, Lisa and the kids have seen a new church born and we have also been privileged to launch a successful day camp called Camp Kerusso, which serves the community for eight weeks in the summer.
The Johnston family has been in the business of starting and building ministries for 27 years, and it is time to launch into one more adventure. Ralph and Lisa feel called to hand off GracePointe and Camp Kerusso to others, and move out and start a new church (and possibly another camp) in Sanford, North Carolina.
(FROM LEFT: ANDREW, RALPH, LIZ, LISA, MATTHEW, AND LIZA)
Reverend John Kinyon
Assistant Pastor of Church Planting and Outreach
(910) 528-7349
John has planted and pastored 3 very different PCA churches over the course of 29 years. The first was a multi-ethnic scratch plant right out of seminary on the sunny island of O’ahu, Hawai’i. In the second, he joined an existing core group in planting a mono-cultural suburban church plant in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of Eastern Pennsylvania called “Cornerstone PCA” in Center Valley. The third plant was a southern congregation with a large military presence in the Pinehurst area of North Carolina.
All three churches have participated in the planting of additional churches as well. John has served as the MNA coordinator for several presbyteries, assisted in the formation of a new presbytery, assesses church planting prospects on a regular basis, coaches young planters, and in the future, hopes to co-pastor with interested church planters in rural North Carolina.
John is also an adjunct faculty member at several seminaries, mostly abroad in countries hostile to the gospel. He has been married to Claire, an artist and art teacher, for almost 36 years and together they are blessed with five sons, all of whom love the Lord, and are involved in various artistic and educational endeavors themselves. Living in the Pinehurst area, John loves playing golf and enjoys the slower pace of life in the South.
