About

About

Our Story
Our Pastors
Our Beliefs

Why We Exist:

Our mission here is simple: building lives, families, and
futures by connecting people to Jesus Christ.

The Mission

The mission of The Family Church is the same mission Jesus gave his followers: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The Vision

The vision of The Family Church is create a community of authentic believers and to witness a city transformed by the life-changing reality of the gospel as people come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

“Two-and-a-Half Acres of Faith”

In 1973, Pastors Sterling and Jean Miller, with their two babies, sixty dollars in their pockets, and a burning desire for God in their hearts, came to Lafayette to build a church with a ministry for every member of the family. The first service recorded only 13 people in attendance. Not long afterwards, in 1974, we celebrated the opening of Lafayette Christian Academy, which started as a one-room facility.
 
Now, more than 45 years and a new century later, Pastors Jay and Tessy Miller have continued the journey with an ever-increasing congregation to its present membership of approximately 1,200 people! The school has grown from a one-room facility to a campus of over 700 students from K-4 through 12th grades. In July of 1999, we opened the doors to our new church facility, which seats several hundred people, across the street from the original sanctuary. What started out as approximately 2.5 acres of land and a two-room building has now grown to over 100 acres of land with new facilities, a gymnasium, a youth hall, and several other buildings… and we definitely aren’t done yet!

About Our Pastors

Pastor Jay Miller is the son of Sterling and Jean Miller, the founding pastors of Word of Faith Family Church.

Pastors Jay and Tessy Miller are the Lead Pastors of The Family Church based in Lafayette, LA since 2002. They were entrusted with The Family Church by founding pastors Sterling and Jean Miller after 29 years of operation. Their personal philosophy and driving passion is that the strength of a church is in the power of a God-ordained vision that exemplifies God’s love by reaching out to others. God has a plan, a purpose, and a destiny for each of our lives. Jesus came to give us life, and at that, life much more abundantly.

They prayerfully encourage members of The Family Church, through the powerful Word of God, to know their purpose, fulfill their destiny, and bring glory to God.  They have been married since 1994. They have five sons and three daughter-in-laws —Sterling, Hannah, Regan, Wendy, Jansen, Kaitlyn, Micah, and Britt.

What We Believe

HOLY BIBLE

The Bible is the inspired and only infallible Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible, and inerrant (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26).

TRINITY

There is one true God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and co-eternal (1 John 5:7; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 3:7-11).

JESUS CHRIST

Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. On earth, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and performed miracles. He died on a cross for mankind, and thus, He atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory (John 1:1,14, 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:5, 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5-6).

VIRGIN BIRTH

Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father—through the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity)—in the virgin Mary's womb; therefore, He is the Son of God (Matthew 1:18, 25; Luke 1:27-35; Isaiah 7:14).

REDEMPTION

Man was created good and upright, but by voluntary transgression, he fell; his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21).

REGENERATION

For anyone to know God, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential (John 6:44, 65; Matthew 19:28; Titus 3:5).

SALVATION

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ: His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22).

REPENTANCE

Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Thus, through repentance, we receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation (Acts 2:21, 3:19; 1 John 1:9).

SANCTIFICATION

Sanctification is the ongoing process of yielding to God’s Word and His Spirit in order to complete the development of Christ's character in us. It is through the present ministry, the sanctifying power, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and through the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a holy and Godly life (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3; Romans 8:29, 12:1-2; Hebrews 2:11).

JESUS' BLOOD

The blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross of Calvary was sinless and is 100% sufficient to cleanse mankind of all sin. Jesus allowed Himself to be punished for both our sinfulness and our sins, enabling all those who believe to be free from the penalty of sin, which is death (1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5, 5:9; Colossians 1:20; Romans 3:10-12, 23, 5:9; John 1:29).

JESUS CHRIST IN THOSE WHO BELIEVE

Christians are people who have invited the Lord Jesus Christ to come and live inside them by His Holy Spirit. They relinquish the authority of their lives over to Him, thus making Jesus the Lord of their life as well as their Savior. They put their trust in what Jesus accomplished for them when He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead (John 1:12, 14:17, 23, 15:4; Romans 8:11; Revelation 3:20).

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Given at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father, sent by Jesus after His ascension, to empower the Church to preach the Gospel throughout the whole earth (Joel 2:28-29; Matthew 3:11; Mark 16:17; Acts 1:5, 2:1-4, 17, 38-39, 8:14-17, 10:38, 44-47, 11:15-17, 19:1-6).

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is manifested through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the Church, demonstrate the validity of the Resurrection, and confirm the power of the Gospel. The Bible’s lists of these gifts are not necessarily exhaustive, and the gifts may occur in various combinations. All believers are commanded to earnestly desire the manifestation of the gifts in their lives. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Scriptures and should never be used in violation of Biblical parameters (Hebrews 2:4; Romans 1:11, 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:16; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6-7; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 14:1-40; 1 Peter 4:10).

WATER BAPTISM

Following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38, 8:12, 36-38, 10:47-48).