Letter from our Pastor
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you from God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, His Son and our Lord!
Sister Cherry and I are excited to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of From the Heart Church Ministries®. We want to thank God for His faithfulness to us as a local church and a worldwide ministry. We have had many experiences with God over our four-decade long history, yet we know the Will of God is in front of us. As we take this time to look back and reflect, I hope that you remember who we are and what we have been taught. We are called From the Heart because of the Word of God that has been sown in our hearts. We have obeyed God from the heart. We love God from the heart. We have done the Will of God from the heart and we give from the heart.
Since 1981, the taught Word of God has been foundational to the success of this ministry. We know that it is God and His goodness that has allowed this church to flourish and be a source of strength, truth and righteousness. Through Excellence of Ministry® in Our Character, Conduct and Commitment to the Faith, God has established our church on a firm foundation. We have been prepared, made ready, for God’s next move and now we have an emphasis to build on the vision that God gave our Founder, the late Dr. John A. Cherry (1940 – 2019).
Over the past year, we have all experienced a worldwide health pandemic. We have modified how we have church but not changing who we are. Our steadfast commitment to God and the church has kept us through this difficult time. God is unchanging and His Will for His church has not changed. We continue to have uninterrupted weekly Worship Services because we know the importance of coming together, albeit online, as a body of believers. As a church body we love God, we love one another…and we love our church! We are truly appreciative to God for leading us by His Spirit to our church and for what He has accomplished in us, individually and collectively as a ministry.
Finally, I would like to thank every member of the church for your share. If you have contributed to the work of the ministry in any way over the last 40 years know that your share was important, sufficient and necessary. I am also appreciative to all those saints who have gone home to be with the Lord, but whose impact in the ministry was invaluable. I am forever grateful for my father (our founder) for living a productive life, raising the productivity of those around him and leaving a deposit for many generations.
I hope you thoroughly enjoy our Anniversary activities and services, reflecting on God’s goodness and grace in your life and in our ministry. From the Heart, to God Be the Glory for the Things that He Has Done!
Bishop John A. Cherry, II – Pastor
Congratulatory Letters and Messages
Full Gospel Church began March 19, 1981 with a call from God to the late Dr. John A. Cherry (1940 – 2019) and his wife Reverend Diana Cherry to establish a local church in the Marlow Heights area of Maryland. The church later submitted to a denominational covering. The church and teaching ministry were established with a mission to build strong families by leading people to the Lord, one soul at a time, through a church that taught the people to love God, hate sin, and love to give.
The first church services were held in a “storefront” located in Suitland, Maryland on June 7, 1981. Twenty-four members joined the church during the first Sunday service. By the end of May 1982, the church had received 81 members. Uninterrupted growth caused the membership to triple to 243 by the end of May 1983.
In September of 1983, within a two-year span, the “little church with the red curtains” was relocated to the corner of St. Barnabas and Wheeler Roads in Temple Hills, Maryland. This location was lovingly referred to as the “housefront.” Overcrowding there led to three services each Sunday. In June of 1985, the church purchased and moved into a Prince George’s County School building located at 4207 Norcross Street in Temple Hills, Maryland. At the end of 1985, we had 1,500 members. In the “school front” services were held in the school’s auditorium while classrooms were used for the Christian School and as office space for the growing staff.
The church outgrew the school auditorium and a gymnatorium was constructed adjacent to the school building. Beginning in February 1989, the “gym front” housed two Sunday services while the original sanctuary served as an overflow room and auxiliary sanctuary. By the end of 1989 we had over 6,000 members. Full Gospel continued to grow at a rapid rate. The membership climbed to over 22,000 in the “gym front” location. As a result, an expansion site referred to as the “South Location” was opened on December 7, 1997.
On December 31, 2005, Pastor Cherry announced that his son, Bishop John A. Cherry, II, would be installed as the new pastor of the local church. Bishop Cherry, II was officially installed as the Pastor of From the Heart on Sunday, June 4, 2006 at the 25th Anniversary Worship Service, which was held at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. After 25 years of faithful service, Episcopal Pastor John A. Cherry devoted his full attention to oversight over the From the Heart churches worldwide.
On Resurrection Sunday, April 12, 2009, we moved into our current church location at 4949 Allentown Road in Suitland, Maryland in an effort to keep pace with the spiritual, administrative, and financial growth of our ministry and to house our growing congregation under one roof. On August 12, 2010 we experienced a partial roof collapse in our current location but our church was Encouraged to Continue as we were housed in a temporary structure. On Sunday, February 5, 2012 we moved back into our renovated sanctuary and began having one Sunday Worship Service at 9:30 a.m.
Our church continued to grow and expand and under the instruction of our Episcopal Pastor John A. Cherry, a new expansion location was started in Washington, DC on March 28, 2012. In September of that same year, that location began having Sunday Worship Services and in March of 2014 that growing congregation began renovations to move into a larger facility. In April of 2014 Bishop Cherry, II announced the acquisition of our newest church building at 5055 Allentown Road and we are currently worshipping at our newly expanded campus in Suitland, Maryland.
At the 2014 General Church Meeting of From the Heart Church Ministries Worldwide™ Sunday Worship Service on July 20, 2014, Bishop John A. Cherry, II was consecrated as Bishop and given oversight over several From the Heart churches in the United States. On December 31, 2016, the Episcopal Pastor announced his retirement and after nineteen years of dedicated service Episcopal Pastor John A. Cherry retired on Sunday, July 15, 2018. At that time, Bishop John A. Cherry, II was consecrated as the second Episcopal Pastor of From the Heart Church Ministries Worldwide™ at the closing Service of the 2018 General Church Meeting.
With each move the “little church with the red curtains” has increased its membership, while at the same time increasing its sphere of influence to a lost and dying world. From the Heart is a warm and friendly church where members experience the love of God through Spirit-filled worship services, special programs and enrichment services, and of course, godly fellowship one with another. Currently, From the Heart has over 24,000 members and more than 50 service ministries that allow members to use their God-given gifts and talents in the service of the Lord. Additionally, From the Heart employs a full-time staff of ministers, administrative personnel, and teachers in the From the Heart Christian School.
The Word being taught uncompromisingly and in an unadulterated manner is the catalyst for the continuous growth of the church. The growth is evidence that Christ Jesus is faithful when He says, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). From the Heart is a church of spiritual, administrative, and financial excellence where Jesus Christ is Lord!
FROM THE HEART FACTS
