Gino Jennings
Pastor and Overseer of the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ., Inc.
ChurchFirst Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.
Personal details
Born (1963-02-10) February 10, 1963 (age 61)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DenominationOneness Pentecostalism
SpouseDarlene Gayman Jennings
Children3 daughters, 4 sons

Gino Jennings (born February 10, 1963) is an African American religious leader, known for establishing the fundamentalist and Holiness-Pentecostal denomination—the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.—in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[1] embracing Oneness Pentecostalism.

Biography

Born on February 10, 1963, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gino Jennings began his ministry initially as a Bible reader for his uncle in church before becoming a child preacher at the age of 13.[2] During his adolescence, Jennings claimed that God appeared to him after a period of prayer and fasting,[3] leading to the eventual establishment of the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. after receiving divine revelation.[4]

Starting the church in his parents' basement in 1984,[1] the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. grew through teaching doctrines of inner and outward holiness, Jesus' name-only baptism, and baptism with the Holy Spirit alongside required evidence of glossolalia—teachings common among Oneness Pentecostals and others descending from the Holiness movement. By 2016, Jennings and his First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. acquired its headquarters in Philadelphia, with numerous churches spread throughout the United States and elsewhere globally.

Through leading this newly founded Christian denomination, Gino Jennings has become subject to international controversy. Many people of other Christian denominations and churches have criticized Jennings and the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ movement for some of their stricter beliefs and views, such as their near-total rejection of women as clergy based on 1st Timothy 2:12 alongside a traditionally conservative dress code with headcoverings, long skirts, or long dresses, and rejecting makeup and jewelry[5][6]—teachings which many Christians and others have accused them of being "religiously misogynistic";[7][8][9] rebutting, Jennings defended his statements by saying not to listen to how he sounds, but to what he says in defense of his interpretations on biblical modesty.[9]

Presenting a staunch advocacy for nontrinitarianism,[10] Jennings has also been known for rejecting and advocating forgoing the usage of the term "Christianity", for he believes that "Christianity" is not a term found in the Bible, unlike the term “Christian”. Instead the word Jennings believes more accurately describes his congregation's faith should be the term "Holiness," or the "religion of Holiness",[11] although among early Christians, the faith despite the term "Christianity" was simply known as "the Way".[12][13] He has even attracted additional criticism for advocating a very fundamentalist Christian exclusivism via divine revelation for his denomination.[4]

In 2018, Jennings agreed to meet Jamaican entertainer Mr. Vegas for a debate.[14] During the debate, Jennings had Vegas escorted out of the building by security after an altercation that ensued between Vegas, the church's audio and visual team, and the other associate ministers on the pulpit.[15] This later led to the debate going viral throughout Jamaica, and two other ministers that agreed to debate him canceled. In 2019, Jennings was banned from Australia.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "First Church of our Lord Jesus Christ: Growing and serving the community". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  2. ^ "History". First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. - Truth of God. Retrieved 2022-08-05. The family continued sincerely in what truth they knew for many years. The church where they worshipped was headed by Pastor Jennings' great uncle. Bishop Ernest Jennings was the second in-charge and Pastor Jennings, despite his tender age was third in-charge. He was also the Bible reader for his leader and would often accompany him in his travels. He began preaching at the age of thirteen with a message that could not be more fitting than from Hebrews chapter 11 v 6: "...But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is..."
  3. ^ "History". First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. - Truth of God. Retrieved 2022-08-05. He stood there before me ... I saw his hands...something just comes over me when I talk about it...," Pastor Jennings has often testified..."...He showed me my work...," he would say,..."...my calling was made known to me : Jeremiah 1 verse 5...'...Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.' ,... He placed his hands in my face and made it hard as flint...""It was then that the knowledge of and light of the scriptures began to be made known to him. His preaching began to call for True Holiness, his inspired messages began to hold the attention of the congregation; souls began receiving the Holy Ghost and the people were encouraged to walk with the Lord. The biblical wisdom given to him was noticed by others who began asking him questions. All this greatly displeased his pastor (Bishop Haywood Hinton), who silenced him for an entire year. Yet the vision remained before him, in his heat and fixed firmly in his mind.
  4. ^ a b "History". First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. - Truth of God. Retrieved 2022-08-05. The beginning of the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. (the incorporated organization) began with Pastor Gino N. Jennings and the divine vision given him of his ministry. The fourth of five sons born to Bishop Ernest and Mother Jennings, Pastor Jennings has been involved with the worship of God since he was a child.
  5. ^ "Women Preachers". First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. - Truth of God. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  6. ^ "Philadelphia Pastor Calls Women With 'Lips All Red' And 'Fake Hair' Nothing 'But An Organ Playing Hoe'". News One. 2018-02-21. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  7. ^ "Pastor under fire for calling women hoes - Female church leaders say clergyman's comments were degrading". jamaica-star.com. Retrieved 2018-09-15. In the late December broadcast, currently making the rounds on social media, Jennings, who is the head of the First Church of Our Lord Jesus, said: "You so called Christian looking hoes, jumping in some church, flopping your ankle chains around. On the choir, breasts hanging out, lips all red, nails painted red, purple, blue, green, long like bird claws, all this fake hair, breasts implant, toe nails painted with little fake diamonds in it, your toes ain't richer. You're nothing but a prostitute." He continued: You're nothing but a singing hoe, a shouting hoe, an organ playing hoe, a choir director hoe. Preacher, if what I just said describes your wife, you are married to a hoe! A man that's a real man don't want his wife out in the street looking like a prostitute and you're a holy woman, or claim you are a Christian. Christian with skin tight pants showing the very shape of your birth canal."
  8. ^ "Pastor threatens to sue Gino Jennings". jamaica-star.com. Retrieved 2018-09-15. Both Dunbar and Mr Vegas were responding to Jennings after a video of him classifying women who chose to be fashionably dressed in church as 'whores' went viral. But, according to Robinson, he does not think it is extremely out of line to use their images and names in the advertisement as they were not using it to make a profit.
  9. ^ a b Tony Harvin (2018-03-09), Pastor Gino Jennings - Interview with Fox 29 / 100.3 WRNB K Foxx & Quincy (updated with video), retrieved 2018-09-15
  10. ^ "Sad but true; Israel Folau's church really does not like the Trinity - Eternity News". www.eternitynews.com.au. 2019-10-31. Retrieved 2022-07-14. Jennings also discussed how the devil has blinded people, and he directly addressed Aussies: "I think about all the brothers and sisters that came to America from Australia just to be baptised. Came all the way from Australia. I think of brother Chris sitting there, next to brother Williams, I first met him [when] he came all the way to Houston, Texas, and in fact I thought he lived in Houston." "I talked to him and he asked me about the Trinity. I went and opened it up in the Bible. He said 'I see there is one God.' After this, Chris went down into water in the name of Jesus Christ … I thought he came from Houston and he said 'man, I came all the way from Australia.' … This message is worth going from one continent to another.
  11. ^ "Literature". First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. - Truth of God. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  12. ^ "Followers Of The Way". RELEVANT. 2002-06-19. Retrieved 2022-07-14. In the times of the early church, believers were referred to as "followers of the way." Paul testifies in Acts 22 that he persecuted "this way which they call a sect." Much has been made in Christianity about being a part of the way to the truth, or the true way to salvation, heaven or paradise.
  13. ^ "The Way: Two Millennia of Christian Community". Plough. Retrieved 2022-07-14. The history of committed Christian community is a story of roads. The first followers of Jesus called themselves "the Way," a name that echoes Jewish halakha, the "way of life" enshrined in the Torah, as well as the disciples' belief that Jesus was "the way" to God the Father.
  14. ^ "A Sting we a go - Mr Vegas ready for showdown with Gino Jennings". jamaica-star.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16. Entertainer Mr Vegas says he will be showing up to have a discussion with Pastor Gino Jennings when the controversial clergyman comes to Jamaica this month end.
  15. ^ "Mr Vegas ejected from religious gathering during debate with pastor Gino Jennings". jamaica-gleaner.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16. However, yesterday, no sooner than Vegas being called up to the platform where Jennings had already been waiting, the much-hyped debate descended into a shouting match as the former dancehall artiste turned Christian found himself no match for Jennings and his supporters who effectively muted him. As Vegas attempted to build an argument, Jennings shouted, "Debate Pastor Jennings like a man, debate Pastor Jennings or sit down, debate Pastor Jennings or get out". "Call your chapter and your verse," Jennings repeated as he dared Vegas to find support in the scriptures that women should wear make-up. But, having not been able to find a verse in the Bible, Vegas provoked Jennings to play the tape of his infamous sermon which had sparked criticisms. It was at that point the pastor requested that security officers to "usher out" Vegas. "I'm already here," Vegas retorted. "Call the police if you've gotta move me."
  16. ^ "Radical US pastor who inspired Folau banned from Australia". The Daily Telegraph. The American preacher with millions of followers who helped inspired Israel Folau's Truth Of Jesus Christ Church has been denied a visa.
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