b'PROFILEA Very Special Community Leadertopreachhisstutterwasnolongeranissue.InFaith Every day because he wanted people to have By Michelle Love themanyyearsthatPastorRichardsonhasbeenatooltohelpthemgrowstrongerinGodsothat Pastoring he has grown to love it, it has come with itsthey would believe that he is always with them, and own challenges, but he stated that they are far out- that especially in times of difficulty he is there to J ohnW.RichardsonistheleadPastoratbothweighed by the rewards. Pastor Richardson sharedwalkwiththemthroughthosesituations.Pastor Greater St. John Baptist Church in Denver, andthat one of the ways in which he deals with chal- Richardson wanted to share his own faith journey Word of Faith Christian Center in Pueblo, Colorado.lenges is that he immediately retreats to go to God into encourage others and ensured that the book was HeistheModeratorfortheColoradoSouthernprayer and does not allow his emotions to guide himwritten without using complex metaphors or other DistrictBaptistAssociationandtheDeanofthein navigating situations and his decision making. language that would make it effortless to follow and Western State Baptist Association of Colorado andAt times some of the challenges he faced were beingallow people to easily apply the concepts to their own Wyoming.He is the founder and co-owner of theunsureofhimselfandevenlives.twochildcarefacilities,LifeCenterAcademyinintimated by how others mightPastorRichardsondescribes Pueblo where he resides as well as the co-owner ofperceive him.But in additionhimself as first a believer, then Center Beauty College also located in Pueblo.In theto reminding himself that Godafriendandmotivator.When absenceofboastingabouthismanyaccomplish- positionedhimandthatheisasking others about him many ments because he is far to humble, there were manyuniqueinwhoGoddesignedhave stated that he is all those others who have been inspired by his greatness thathimtobe,PastorRichardsonthingsandusedwordslike were more than willing to do it for him. hassomeofthegreatestincompassionate,faith-walk-TheeighthofninechildrenPastorRichardsonministry to mentor and encour- er,caring,andfamilymanto learned at an early age to have faith and trust Godage him.He commented thatdescribehim.Severalofhis in all things, even when they were hard.Howeveramong many others some of hispatrons stated that they follow even having grown up in a faith-based family, wheregreatestinfluenceshavebeenunderhisleadershipbecause his father was also a Pastor, Pastor Richardson didandarehisfatherJohnW.he is a servant leader and one not receive the calling himself until the age of 18,RichardsonSr.,BishopPaulofthemostgenuinepeople and even beyond that did not accept the call untilMorton,DavidCooper,histhat they know.One of Pastor much later when he was in his early thirties.Duringbrother-in-lawApostleTerryRichardsons mottos that is a that period in his life Pastor Richardson experiencedGullage,andBishopTommyfavorite of mine is God never certain challenges that he believed he was faced withTriplett.Whenandifheisdoesanythingwithoutapur-because God was prompting him that it was timestruggling, he after seeking Godpose,andheneverdoesany-to accept and pursue his assignment.One of therelies on the wisdom of some ofthingunnecessary.Ithas hesitations he had with previously accepting Godshis mentors to continue press- helpedmyselfandmanythat call was that Pastor Richardson had for most of hising forward. Pastor John Richardson Ihaveshareditwithtoput life struggled with an inability to speak without stut- Oneofhisgreatestlovesissituations into perspective and tering. servingpeopleandhelpingnavigatethemwithoutpanic WhenhefinallyacknowledgedthatGodwasnobuildstrongerfamilies.ThatPassionledtohimknowing that God never brings us to anything that longer going to wait on him, he began to move inpursuing a career in childcare and writing his firsthe wont walk us through and that will later bring the direction that God was taking him jokingly stat- bookLivinginFaithEveryday.Childrenhavehim glory because of our success.ingthathewasgoingtoembarrassbothhimselfalways gravitated to Pastor Richardson and his wifePastorRichardsonisanamazingmusicianand and God.However, he found that when he beganof more than 30 years, Co-Pastor Lady Dana.Whenplaying the bass guitar is one of his favorite pas-he started Pastoring God provided him a vision thattimesinadditiontotravelingandspendingtime would allow him to pour into the lives of children,with his family.His family is one of the things of letting them know that they are loved and showingwhichheismostproud,andhelovesbeingthe them that they can achieve anything.It took tenbesthusband,father,andgrandfatherhecanbe. years to come to pass, but Pastor Richardson andPastorRichardsonhashadmanyopportunitiesto He began to move in thehiswifeCo-PastorLadyDanaunderstoodthatitdo things that could have brought him equal or even takes a village to raise a child and they wanted to begreater success than what he is doing now.But the direction that God wasa part of that village to assist with guiding childrenmany people whos lives he has been instrumental in to success. changing are grateful that he answered Gods call to taking him jokingly statingSome of the challenges that Pastor Richardson hasbecome a leader in ministry, and childcare where he faced both as a Pastor and an employer is steppingtruly exemplifies the love of God and helps others to that he was going tooutside of his own human expectations and allowinggrow in that and step into their calling so that they God to move people.He shared that many times astoo can learn to live victoriously in all that he has embarrass both himself andhuman beings we pour into people and have expec- for them.tations about what we want to see often regardingPastor Richardson travels to Denver every Sunday God.However, he foundthingstheydonotwanttobeorarentreadytowhere he can be found at Greater St. John Baptist become.What we dont always realize is that God isChurch located at 1312 Uinta Street delivering the that when he began toworking on the inside and the changes will be visualword of God.The book can be found on web-based to others in only Gods time.He has learned to moveplatforms such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. preach his stutter was nohimself out of the way and let God speak and directThose interested in purchasing a copy can also reach others into their growth. out to him personally via his Facebook page or that of Greater St. John Baptist Church, where they can longer an issue. EvenpriortohisbecomingaPastor,Pastoralso submit prayer requests and seek spiritual coun-Richardson has always been a man of faith, and hesel if they are struggling.For those with no online wanted to share that with others and provide themaccess they can reach him at 303-399-4163.steps to growing in their faith.He wrote Living in 14 OCTOBER 2022 BOCNEWS.com'