“He lived to reveal the Father’s heart”: James Jordan, founder of Fatherheart Ministries, gone home to be with the Lord

James Jordan, founder of Fatherheart Ministries, returned home to the Lord last night (March 25, 2026). Fatherheart Ministries is an international Christian organisation based in Taupo, New Zealand, that that seeks to see people healed, liberated, and changed by the “tangible, transformative love of God as a Father”. Founded by James and his wife Denise […] The post “He lived to reveal the Father’s heart”: James Jordan, founder of Fatherheart Ministries, gone home to be with the Lord appeared first on Salt&Light.

Religion Mar 26, 2026 0 12 Add to Reading List

“He lived to reveal the Father’s heart”: James Jordan, founder of Fatherheart Ministries, gone home to be with the Lord

James Jordan, founder of Fatherheart Ministries, returned home to the Lord last night (March 25, 2026).

Fatherheart Ministries is an international Christian organisation based in Taupo, New Zealand, that that seeks to see people healed, liberated, and changed by the “tangible, transformative love of God as a Father”.

Founded by James and his wife Denise in 1997, the ministry went from being a local movement to a global community of over 60 nations. Fatherheart Ministries is recognised for moving Christians away from “religious performance” towards a state of rest in God and of sonship.

At the core of James and Denise’s ministry lies the belief that every Christian can have the same intimate relationship with God that Jesus experienced.

Revelation of the Father’s love

James started out as a professional hunter in the back country of New Zealand. He and Denise began their spiritual journey during the charismatic revival in the 1970s.

Fatherheart Ministries was set up with James’s goal to move the church from “restless activism” to “contented fruitfulness”.

In 1977, James met Jack Winter during a church service in New Zealand. Jack Winter, the founder of Daystar Ministries, was the guest speaker. During Jack’s sessions, James experienced what he described as an “unmistakable witness in his spirit.” He was convicted that he was meant to be a “Joshua” to Jack’s “Moses”, someone who would help carry and eventually expand the elder man’s revelation of the Father’s love.

By 1978, James and Denise sold everything they had and moved their family of five to the US to join Jack and his wife Dorothy in their ministry in Indiana.

It was his time with Jack that taught James the core values that formed Fatherheart Ministries two decades later. One was Jack’s childlike simplicity and his refusal to engage in striving. Before he spoke to a big crowd, Jack would ask James to pray for him. This humility and dependence on God as Father later became the DNA of Fatherheart Ministries.

The Jordans had to move back to New Zealand after a few years because of visa issues. Back home, they began pastoring churches and working in Christian rehabilitation.

However, the Jordans encountered burnout to such an extent that in the late 1980s, they stepped away from the church to work in the secular world — James in insurance and Denise in real estate – so that they could recover emotionally and spiritually. James would later call this a period of “necessary unlearning”.

In 1994, they visited the Toronto Blessing, an experience that renewed the fire of their faith, a refreshing that they brought back to their local church in Auckland.

In 1997, it was Jack Winter who encouraged James to step out into his global calling. In a radical act of faith, James and Denise sold their home and possessions – for the second time – bought around-the-world air tickets and traveled for four and a half years.

“The great revelation that Jesus brought to mankind is that the God of the Jews is, in fact, our Papa.”

This was the birth of Fatherheart Ministries, set up with James’s goal to move the church from “restless activism” to “contented fruitfulness”.

“The great revelation that Jesus brought to mankind is that the God of the Jews… is in fact our Papa,” he later said.

In the last 29 years, Fatherheart Ministries has expanded into a global network. The ministry’s flagship programmes “A Schools” (Experiencing Father’s Love) and “B Schools” (Walking in Sonship), as well as the residential 10-week Inheriting the Nations School (INS) held yearly in Great Barrier Island in New Zealand, have guided thousands of believers to experience a true relationship with Father God, away from religious performance.

In 2022, during the 25th Anniversary International Conference in Singapore, James and Denise officially handed the leadership of the ministry to 16 Pillars, a group of global leaders. This move ensured that the ministry was not built on a personality, but on the revelation itself.

James Jordan passed away last night (8pm, March 25, 2026) at the age of 76 after a long illness. He leaves behind his wife Denise and their children Christopher, Matthew, Amanda, as well as a global family that stretches from Norway to Singapore.

A man of Love

Dass Superamaniam and his wife Rani are Leaders and School Facilitators of Fatherheart Ministries. They were with the Jordans in New Zealand at the time of James’ passing.

Dass told Salt& Light: “He (James) became increasingly peaceful closer to the time and then passed without a struggle. He was much loved and with be much missed. But we take comfort in knowing that his last days were exactly what he wanted – ending his time in his own home and bed surrounded by those he loved.

Dass with James Jordan. Photo courtesy of Dass Superamaniam.

The Superamaniam family with James. Photo courtesy of Dass Superamaniam.

“James Jordan was a loving husband and family man, and an amazing friend. He was truly a prophetic voice to the Body of Christ.

“James had a clear revelation and experience of the Father’s love, and he walked as a son to his Heavenly Father. James lived to reveal the Father’s heart. Through his life and words, many came to know God not just in doctrine, but in deep, personal love. He was an anointed preacher and minister. We will miss him dearly. It was an honour for us to know and walk with him since 2006. Our lives have never been the same since we came into the Fatherheart Revelation. We are eternally grateful to James and Denise Jordan for bringing this revelation of the Father’s love to us.”

Michelle Chun of Salt&Light‘s Malaysia desk attended the A School in Penang, and INS in 2013, remembered how James carried the love of Christ.

Michelle (circled in blue) with the cohort of INS 2013. Photo courtesy of Michelle Chun.

“I still remember James looking into my eyes one morning at Orama and saying with pure gentleness and kindness, “You are a good person.” He said the words, but somehow I knew it was Jesus who was speaking to me, reminding me that He knows me intimately and loves me unfailingly. James walked so closely with the Lord and displayed such oneness with Him. To this day, his life inspires my Christian walk. James is the closest I’ve seen to the personhood of Jesus displayed.”

Adriana Lim Escaño, founder of Singapore fashion and lifestyle retailer and distributor ABRY told Salt&Light: “I felt I could ask James about anything. When I attended B school in Taupo, I got to speak to him about so many things. I asked him, “If there was only one thing you would advise me on how to live, what would that be?’ He said ‘Make love your great aim.’ He always said love was everything. If we love our neighbours or colleagues, many problems wouldn’t exist. If we see through the lens of love, judgement would fall away and compassion would rise.

“I also asked James how he viewed money, how he thought God viewed money. I remember him telling me money is a transactional tool, we can’t bring it to heaven. It’s something that’s traded here for us to live. He talked about sowing and reaping, generosity.

“I asked him what do we do in a culture where I have been told, ‘Don’t be too successful and outshine your husband so that he won’t look bad.’ He looked at me and said, ‘That is culture.’ He said if I was anointed and hid behind a rock, even the rock would make money. I remember feeling so free to be myself and coming back to Singapore and embracing my gifts and where God has placed me, without apologies or stepping back feeling bad.

Adriana with James Jordan in Taupo. Photo courtesy of Adriana Lim Escaño.

“I met James again at the end of 2024. I shared with him how my 14-year-old said that the world is hopeless and that Jesus should come back soon so the hopeless world would end. I mentioned I was full of hope, that there was good in this world and we can spread hope and encouragement that good exists. James looked at me and said ‘Adriana, your son is right. The world is hopeless. It is only not hopeless with Jesus.’ He encouraged me to help my son find Jesus first, then he will find the Father. James further commented it’s good that my son has seen the hopelessness of the world, because it will lead him to the hope of God.

“These heart-to-heart conversations I will always treasure. God used James to reveal Himself as Father to us. This understanding that Yahweh is a loving Father changes the way we see every single thing in our lives.

“James is deeply missed. I am sure he is in a happy place and I am glad we will see each other again.”

David Ang and James Jordan. Photo courtesy of David Ang.

David Ang, the coordinator for Fatherheart Ministries in Singapore, told Salt&Light: “James may be known publicly as the founder of Fatherheart Ministry, but to me and my wife Amy he was simply a dear brother and friend. Though he walked like a mentor and father, he gently reminded us that we are all sons and daughters of the same Father. He pointed us beyond doctrine to life, where Christ Himself is found. Time with him felt natural and life-giving, like sharing coffee with a close friend. He was deeply cherished, and though we miss him, his life – and even his passing – beautifully revealed the truth: Christ in us, the hope of glory.”