James River Church

James River Church (JRC; formerly James River Assembly) is a Pentecostal multi-site megachurch based in Ozark, Missouri. John Lindell is the lead pastor alongside wife Debbie.

James River Church
James River Church
37°04′33″N 93°13′38″W
Location	Ozark, Missouri
Country	United States
Denomination	Pentecostal
Weekly attendance	11,554
Website	jamesriver.church
History
Founded	1991
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)	John and Debbie Lindell

History

James River Church was founded by four couples, Rodger and Caressa Gadd, Gary and Debbie Simms, Tim and Carol Carpenter, and David and Gwenda Plummer. John Lindell was hired to serve as pastor of the congregation in September 1991.^[1][2] In 1993, the average attendance was 800.

In August 1992, the church built its first home off of US Highway 65 and Evans road.

James River moved into the South campus in March 2000 with 4,000 in weekly attendance with 198,000 square foot facility. The sanctuary holds 3,400 seats. In June 2003, a West Wing and gymnasium was added to the South Campus.

The second campus, James River Church - West Campus, was launched in September 2009.

In November 2013, the church officially changed its name from James River Assembly to James River Church.

On April 8, 2019, the Church bought a building for its Joplin campus.^[3]

According to a church census released in 2024, it claimed a weekly attendance of 11,554 people.^[4]

In April 2025, it left the Assemblies of God USA, without giving any reasons.^[5]

Community and international outreach

From 1997 to 2010, one of JRC's local events was the annual Fourth of July patriotic program, the I Love America! Celebration. In 2009, attendance for the 13th annual event, which was free to the public, reached approximately 120,000 people. Attendance in 2010 fell to 100,000.^[6]

James River Church established James River Charities in 2008. James River Charities in a wholly owned single member entity of James River Church, and operates or manages several different areas, including James River Retreat Center, The River Fitness Center, James River Youth, Cherish Kids and James River College.

Controversies

On October 28, 2018, John Lindell stated during a sermon that yoga is a "form of Eastern mysticism that Christians should absolutely avoid".^[7][8]

Between December 5–6, 2020, James River Church hosted several large indoor gatherings to celebrate Christmas.^[9][10] Due to the recent surge of COVID-19 infections, the Christian County Health Department issued a notice that attendees should monitor their symptoms for 14 days after the event, and to contact a medical professional if any symptoms arise.^[11][12]

In March 2023, John Lindell publicized the story of his congregation's alleged restoration of a woman's amputated toes, saying that people watched them miraculously regrow during an hour of the church service under the power of faith. The church and the woman have refused to provide any evidence or respond to journalistic inquiry, and a website, showmethetoes.com, was spawned in offer to host any such evidence or eyewitness account.^[13][14][15]

Feud with Mark Driscoll

James River Church organizes annual "Stronger Men's Conferences". At the 2024 event, one of the opening acts was Alex Magala, a former go-go dancer (where men and women dance erotically in little clothes for monetary tips in the form of bills suspended from their clothes by patrons) who says he is an Orthodox Christian, born into Christianity by birth ceremony, and who performed a sword swallowing act while climbing a pole. He has said the purpose of the act was to "inspire audiences to reach new heights of what’s possible in their lives". Later, planned speaker Mark Driscoll denounced this act, saying on stage that the "Jezebel spirit opened our event" and compared it to an ancient pagan ritual. John Lindell told Driscoll he was out of line and "You're done" and Driscoll gathered his things and left the stage.^[16]

Driscoll has previously used the term Jezebel spirit many times, including during a 2023 sermon series in which he applied the phrase to the Biden-Harris administration and claimed that passive men and domineering women were ruining society.^[17]

Although Lindell and Driscoll met later and supposedly reconciled, Driscoll continued attacking Magala and James River Church's leadership on social media. Driscoll also allegedly contacted Lindell's son and urged him to oust his father and brother and seize control of the church. Lindell described Driscoll's behavior as "demonic", a term Driscoll had also used to describe Magala. He also said that Driscoll's comments had led to a flood of death threats directed against Magala, James River Church, and the headquarters of the Assembly of God. Lindell said that Christians should have nothing to do with Driscoll unless he repents.^[16]