North Point lays off 21 with temporary campus closures

North Point Church announced it has laid off 21 employees as it prepares to temporarily close two of its three campuses due to financial issues.

North Point's campuses at 2951 E. Sunshine St. and 1362 Bryan Drive in Nixa are closing, but the organization will continue to hold the leases in hopes of reopening the churches "when they are financially feasible for North Point Church as a whole," according to a statement on the organization's website.

The organization will continue to hold services at its 3401 W. Norton Road campus.

North Point had been without a lead pastor since earlier this summer, when Tommy Sparger resigned after confessing to an affair.

Heather Worthy, campus coordinator for the North Point church in Nixa, declined to comment, referring questions to the statement.

"The budget for 2012 was built in late fall on the positive financial results of 2011; the consistent financial support of years past began to quickly change. By early spring of this year, the church was running a significant monthly deficit," the statement said. Specifics of North Point's financials were not presented in the statement, but according to a report from KY3, the church will end the year $600,000 in the red if the current level of giving maintains.

In an attempt to help the church recover financially, the North Point Board of Trustees on July 31 added Paul Ebisch, president and CEO of Assemblies of God Credit Union. Ebisch could not be reached for comment by deadline.

Amid news of the campus closures, North Point announced it had hired Jeremy Johnson as its new lead pastor. Johnson, who worked on the leadership team of EastLake Church in Washington during the last three years, succeeds Sparger.