MAY 2012

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I'm Jim Johnson, pastor of Good Shepherd Church, and a resident of Camarillo for the past six years. My bride Linda and I are raising our kids here and love the city. We feel called by God to serve and work with the people in our city who are looking for spiritual help and a loving community.

We live in a community south of the 101 with the bucolic name -- I say it with a smile -- Village at the Park. It's not really a village, and the park is truly a park -- a sports park -- but somehow, in this part of Camarillo, in this decade, anyway, you hardly feel like a villager, or like you live in a small town.

But this much is true. There is the feel of a close-knit community, and it does "take a village to raise a child," and that's what we're trying to do here, too. We're helping create a spiritual community, along with leaders of 25 other churches here, that brings people together.

Good Shepherd Church is one of many great churches in the city, and we're glad to be a part of it. Currently we have about 300 people involved, about 220 attending on Sundays, and about 30 small groups thriving. 

As for my background, I graduated from the University of Minnesota, the Free Lutheran Seminary, and a small Bible school in Minnesota. I love to work with new believers, and our church has a daily radio Bible teaching program that airs on KDAR, 98.3 FM, at 12:30 p.m. and 10:30 each night.

I'm a ordinary man and an ordinary pastor, but I'm glad to get the privilege to serve the Lord. I was born again while a high school student and have been following the Lord every since. Now at age 49, I have so much more to learn. I have a great wife (Linda), nine children (age 23 down to 7), and solid team of supporters around me. After serving as dean of the Free Lutheran Bible School in Minneapolis for 10 years, we sensed God calling us back into church planting five years ago. I began this call in Camarillo in 2006 and am now beginning my 20th year in full-time ministry. 

Since I started working full-time for the Lord in 1990 in Lake Stevens, Washington, I've prayed that I could be a part of a new harvest of believers, in a community that needs another new church. Previous to this call, I served in established churches that wanted to grow, and in a Bible school in seminary, training young adults for ministry. I see God bringing that vision to pass. We're just one of several outstanding churches in Camarillo. But we're glad to be a part of the team. I'm glad to pray with believing pastors from several other churches in town, and I'm honored to call myself a partner with them -- actually I'm glad to have God call me to be a partner with other exceptional pastors in Camarillo.

I've been in full-time ministry for 20 years, but this is my first chance at working with a new church plant.

Linda and I moved to Camarillo with our nine children five years ago after serving 10 years as dean and teacher at a college-level Bible school in the Midwest. The ministry, called Association Free Lutheran Bible School, draws students to a 20-acre campus in Minneapolis, most of whom are 18-21 years old, and mostly from small towns and country churches in the Midwest. We loved that ministry, but felt God's leading to help a then-struggling church of 40 grow into a healthy, missional, family-focused ministry, and the Lord Jesus is taking us there.

If you're looking for a church, or just want to learn more about our ministry, please come and visit -- or take part in one of our summer outreach ministries. We run an outreach to middle schoolers called "Crave Camp" in mid-June. We set aside two weeks of children's ministry at the Camarillo Ranch House in mid-July. The first week of VBS features a fun, learning-filled, creative study called "Answers in Genesis." That day camp runs from 9 to 11 a.m. A Christian college ministry team called "Barnabas South" leads the classes, and children from ages 4 to 14 love it! The next week, Monday through Friday, during the same time slot, we run a camp called "The VBS Sports, Arts and Science Camp" at the Camarillo Ranch House, too.

Come and see!

As you may have heard, we're a church that sticks to the basics of Jesus. Coming out of a Biblical, Evangelical, and family-friendly church umbrella, we focus on the Bible and care about people. We spend our time on community outreach, daily Bible reading, prayer huddles and learning to witness. As a family that teaches the classical Lutheran emphasis of grassroots growth and Biblical inerrancy, we keep it simple. We promote the two evangelical foundations. We teach that 1) The Bible is true (2 Tim. 3:16), and 2) Everyone needs a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be saved (John 1:12). We're looking to plant other neighborhood-based congregations in our community that gathers like-minded Christians in loving circles of friendship in the Lord. We are affiliated with the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC), a family of 280 churches in North America.

Our church teaches the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and hopes to plant similar Free Lutheran, neighborhood-focused churches in Southern Califiornia and, specifically, in Ventura County. As a ministry focus for the year, we're going back to the basics, too.  "Come and Follow" is our theme for the year. With a plan to go back to the first book of the New Testament and study the claims, background, history, person and personality of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the book of Matthew.

In December we host "Christmas at the Barn." With Christmas carols, straw bales, live animals, and great music, we invited friends to worship on Christmas Eve with us in a Camarillo Barn. Praise God for the 300 friends we expect for those sweet gatherings. With live animals, carriage rides, Christmas lights and great music, we worship the Lord together in a place that reminds us that Jesus was born in a stable. One of our major purposes is to introduce people to Jesus Christ. Among many followers of Jesus in the communities of Camarillo and Ventura, friends and neighbors of Good Shepherd are exploring purpose. We want to know Christ and we want to know the truth. "Knowing Christ and making Him known," is the primary purpose of one of our sister churches. It's our purpose, too. Services are available at 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m. Come as you are!

So thanks for caring enough to come to this page, to find out what the Lord is doing.

I'm guessing you came here to get to know me a little. Perhaps you want to get a sense of my emphasis, my family, my heart for God. Some of you are new acquaintances. Maybe you were one of the 300 people who came to our "Christmas at the Barn" service on Pancho Road. Some of you are new friends or old family contacts, some are neighbors at Village at the Park or Woodside Green. Some are contacts from football and baseball and soccer teams. Some of you maybe heard of our service at a Camarillo coffee shop, Palermo, the best spot in Camarillo for church meetings, or received a post card from a friend, or received a gift bag with a Jesus Film DVD. Whatever the case, we're glad you're here.

Please feel free to call or write if you have further questions.

Keep seeking the Lord!

Pastor Jim Johnson