Background
Thompson grew up in Oak Lawn, Illinois where he was raised a Roman Catholic and worked for United Parcel Service for the majority of his early adulthood.
Thompson grew up in Oak Lawn, Illinois where he was raised a Roman Catholic and worked for United Parcel Service for the majority of his early adulthood.
He moved to Homer Township, Illinois, where he sought "practical answers to life"s problems and a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ", and began considering other denominations. He stated that he had a transformative experience on October 28, 1975 where he was "unplugged and reengineered and then plugged in again to Christ" and became a Baptist for several years. Thompson earned his doctoral degree from Life Christian University, an unaccredited institution based in Tampa, Florida.
He remained the pastor of the center through the late 1990s.
He also pastored the House of Glory church in the 1980s, in Orland Park, Illinois, and held regular Bible study groups. lieutenant was during these study groups in 1989 where the name "Family Harvest" was conceived.
Family Harvest Church, which can hold over 3,000 congregants in one service, has been called a megachurch, noted for its theater chairs, projection screens, polished singing performances, stage lighting, amplified sound, and television and web shows. In 2004, the church had nearly $10 million in assets.