John Faircloth

The Rev. John Grissom Faircloth was born August 7th, 1946 in Miami, Florida, the middle child to Mrs. Virginia Faircloth (nee Grissom) of Dexter, Missouri, and her beloved husband Mr. Thomas Earl Faircloth of Dublin, Georgia. When John spoke of his childhood he recalled the Cuban influences of the Miami culture, the influence of Spring Training on his love for baseball, and the influence the church and church camp had on his faith development. John attended Johnson Bible College and Milligan College where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree. April 7, 1968, John was ordained into Christian ministry by the First Christian Church of Miami. During his time at Milligan College John met the love of his life when she visited the Student Union where he was working. John married Deborah Jane Miller on August 8, 1970, and the two shared 54 years of love, challenge, growth, care, and tenderness. When John graduated the two moved to Akron, Ohio where John served as associate youth minister and Debbie finished her degree. John then attended Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky where he studied under the renowned Rev. Dr. Wayne Oats, the godfather of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Upon learning of the connection between the Cain Ridge Revival and some of the founders of the Pleasant Hill Shaker Community John became a lifelong student, collector, and supporter of the Shaker Movement. From there John served as the pastor of Salem Fork Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). During that time John and Debbie welcomed their first daughter Elizabeth Jane. Following that ministry, John engaged in four units of Clinical Pastoral Education in Houston, Texas, while also serving a local congregation. In 1978 John was called to be the founding pastor of Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Marietta, Georgia. With the vision to build the church through empowering youth, children, and their families, John led this new church to offer a summer day camp for kids on the property that would later be where the church building was built. This foundation led to a future church that is now Open and Affirming and doing incredible ministry to serve God in its time and place. While in Georgia John was engaged in several ministries of the Christian Church in Georgia including developing and counseling the Regional Youth Council, and participated in the Southern Academy where he made great friends. In 1981 John and Debbie welcomed another daughter Margaret Carrie. In 1987 John was called to serve as senior minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Madisonville, Kentucky. In Madisonville, John grew a 5-kid youth group of middle schoolers into a 50+ kid-a-week youth group of kids from kindergarten to twelfth grade. He was an organizer of an anti-racism community worship service scheduled simultaneously and in contrast to the KKK march on the town square in Madisonville. In 1994 John was called to serve as the associate regional minister for youth and outdoor ministry in Kansas. There he developed regional youth events that changed the ministry of the region to develop faith formation, community enrichment, and social justice in young people including the cherished Mission Week. He also connected the Kansas region to the UN Seminar which gives youth in the church an opportunity to understand how and why we support the separation of Church and State and also how and why our faith drives our political involvement. In 2000 John was called to serve University Place Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Champaign, Illinois. In September 2001 John hosted a powerful worship service to bring together the community in the wake of the attacks on our country, with an eye toward building unity and community. In 2007 John and Debbie moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky where Debbie served as Regional Director of the Girl Scouts of Kentucky. John did some pulpit supply and eventually moved his focus to his hobbies of collecting, quilting, cooking, research, and loving his family. If becoming a father was a great joy to John, becoming a grandfather was joy in a whole new realm. John continued to love God and develop his faith and when he had the chance he would engage others in deep conversations about faith that always seemed to draw in the Spirit’s tangible presence. John is survived by his loving wife and partner Deborah Jane Faircloth (nee Miller); his daughters and son-in-law Rev. Elizabeth Jane Faircloth DeWeese, and Margaret Carrie Faircloth-Gresham, and Chet Gresham; his grandchildren Abbie DeWeese, Jesse DeWeese, Luci Gresham, and Kansas Gresham. He is preceded in death by his parents Thomas Earl and Virginia Faircloth (nee Grissom), his brother Thomas Wallace Faircloth, his sister Sara Sue Faircloth, and his son-in-law Rev. Donald Robert Vernon DeWeese.

Services will be held at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1106 State St., Bowling Green, KY 42101, Saturday, August 31, 2024 Visitation 10:00 am, Service at 11:00 am, all are welcome. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts be given to the Pension Fund of the Christian Church 13th check offering:

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