John Edwards

Pastor John Edwards, (78) was lifted into the loving arms of Jesus Christ from his earthly home Wednesday, September 27, 2017 surrounded by his loving family. Pastor Edwards was a nive of Kansas City, Missouri. He gradued from Central High School, and received his Bachelor’s degree from Kansas Ste Teachers College (Emporia Ste University) and his Master in Educion in 1964 from Avila College. He taught in the Kansas City Missouri School District for many years. Pastor Edwards obtained a Doctore in Faith-Based Counseling and a Doctore in Pastoral Theology from Faith Bible College, Independence, Missouri. He went on to serve as an Instructor Faith Bible College for several years. John played semi-pro football for the Kansas City Blue Devils until an injury ended his career. He loved bowling and played on several leagues. In 1957 he enlisted in the Army where he served in the 8th Infantry Division in Gonsenheim, Germany as a Parachutist and received an Expert Badge w/Rifle Bar, and Marksman Badge w/Carbine Bar. Pastor Edwards accepted Christ an early age and continued faithfully in service throughout his life. He was a member of Metropolitan Spiritual Church of Christ under Bishop James Tindell for many years and participed as a member of the choir singing under Master Michael Charles. In 1990 he became a member of Second Missionary Baptist Church of Grandview, Missouri, where he served in various ministries. He accepted his call to ministry in 2002, studying under Pastor Donald Ford, I. The year 2004 brought about new changes for Pastor Edwards, as he founded Full Faith Christian Center. Full Faith underwent a transition in 2006 as they merged with New Haven Baptist Church of Raytown, where he served as Senior Pastor. Pastor Edwards’ desire has always been to help those in the community, so he moved the Church to the inner city and the name was reverted back to Full Faith Christian Center. Under his leadership, Full Faith is affilied with the Blue River Baptist Associion of Kansas City. Full Faith is also an active member of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist District Associion, Inc., where he serves as First Vice-Moderor. He also serves as Assistant Camp Administror for the Missouri Progressive Missionary Baptist Ste Convention. He imparted spiritual knowledge into several sons and daughters in the ministry. One of Pastor Edward’s many passions was working with youth. He served as Board Member for Kansas City Freedom School Initiive. He opened the doors of New Haven to the Freedom School Initiive for many summers. The program provided summer educion enrichment for least 100 youth per summer. Pastor Edwards strongly believed in educing our youth so the doors of New Haven was open for afterschool tutoring for Raytown District students. As part of serving the community he opened the doors of New Haven for the Harvesters Food Pantry. This program served over a hundred needy families each month. In addition, New Haven provided Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for families in need. He lent his expertise in sports to coaching community baseball teams. He coached AAU Junior Summer Track Second Missionary. In 1992 he formed the KC Metro Summer Track Club which provided 60 youth (ages 6 – 18) with the opportunity to compete the district, regional, and nional levels for a period of 11 years. The honor of “Coach of the Year” was bestowed upon him for two consecutive years. The KC Metro Track Club held the Nional record in various events for several consecutive years. As a result of the team’s outstanding performance, four Nional champions emerged and 15 youth obtained college scholarships. From 1994 to 2003 he served as Board Member for Missouri Valley AAU Associion, he also served as Registrar for AAU Associion Members for Kansas City. As owner and operor of All Purpose Construction, Pastor Edwards’s desire to help those who were in need of a second chance lead him to participe in the Section 3 Construction Program. Under his leadership in this program, many young men were afforded opportunity to learn new skills th enabled them to have continuous employment. He was recognized by the Kansas City Globe for his work with this program. All Purpose Construction was one of the few minority owned companies th was successful in this program. Singing was Pastor Edwards’s number one passion. He loved to sing. He could be seen on Sunday morning giving praise to God with his voice and his tambourine. Pastor Edwards was known for his ability to uplift the hearts through praise. He met and married Stella Second Missionary Baptist Church in May, 1993. They celebred 24 years of marriage prior to answering Heaven’s roll call. He was preceded in deh by his fher Chester E. Sr., his mother Rosa, his Sister Lillian Gibbs, his younger brother Chester “Skipper” Brown, Jr., and his son, Anthony Green and a grandchild. He is survived by his wife Stella, his children Keith Williams, Terri Duncan, Shawn Edwards (Valerie), Kima Letcher, Nicole Edwards and Amber Hamilton (Fred). His sisters Rosina Graves (Joe), Deborah (Karen), Diann Brown (James), Donna Brown-Thompkins and Evelyn Foster (Jerome). He has 12 grandchildren and seven gre grandchildren. He has a host of nieces and nephews whom he held a very special place in his heart. He spent much time giving love and leadership. He enjoyed being around them and made a point of trying to give guidance to each. Pastor Edwards is well known in the community by business associes as well as many friends. We will all miss his shenanigans and lively spirit.