Johnny Square is the Chaplain for Colorado State University Athletics and a respected pastor in Fort Collins. A standout running back from Houston, Texas, Johnny turned down offers from powerhouse football programs to attend CSU—a decision inspired by his mother’s belief in the city’s potential. After a short stint with the Minnesota Vikings, he redirected his life toward ministry, eventually becoming a community leader, youth pastor, and founder of Iasis, a church movement focused on city impact. Today, Johnny continues to serve the Fort Collins community through spiritual leadership, mentorship, and campus ministry.
Faith-based leadership can play a transformative role in cities, especially when leaders focus on collaboration over competition. Fort Collins is becoming a model for unity across churches, racial reconciliation, and integrating faith into civic and educational spaces. How can one leader help unify a city through service, prayer, and radical empathy?
According to Johnny Square, who serves as chaplain for Colorado State University and leads the Iasis church movement, the answer lies in building deep relationships and committing to long-term community investment. From mentoring student athletes to rallying pastors city-wide, Johnny shows that meaningful change starts with humility, prayer, and consistent action. His own life—spanning football stardom, spiritual encounters, and local service—reflects the power of showing up for others even when no one's watching.
In this week’s episode of The Love FoCo Show, Jeff Faust welcomes Johnny Square for a conversation about faith, sacrifice, cultural identity, and community leadership. Johnny reflects on his journey from Houston to Fort Collins, his pivotal moment of faith on the CSU football field, and how he continues to impact the city through prayer, mentorship, and unity.
LOVE FOCO SHOW EPISODE 4 TRANSCRIPT
Intro: This is the Love Foco Show.
Johnny Square: I was probably a pretty good athlete, some people are. And we had a lot of recruits that came down there, recruiting athletes out of Texas, them. And they were coming from places like down the road, you know, CU, and they were coming from University of Houston, they were coming from Michigan State, Arizona State. I mean, had about eight or nine different college office. And so a few of them had came to my house, talked to my parents.
And so when they came down to make a decision, I asked my mom. I said, look here. All these schools are after your son. Which one do you think I need to go to? And my mom said Colorado State.
I said, mom look, you don't know nothing about football because Colorado State at that time in 1971 and '2 was the worst football team in the country. And I was one of the top, you know, five athletes out of Texas in 1971 with the likes of an Earl Campbell, Joe Washington, and all those people. And I said, mom, Colorado State. She said, well, here's why I think you need to go to Colorado State because I think someday, now this is in 1971 before I got here in '72, she says, "Someday, I believe that's gonna be a great place to live."
Intro: Welcome to the Love Foco Show. Our podcast highlights the incredible people who make Fort Collins the place we're proud to call home. Each week, your host, Jeff Faust, sits down with local leaders, community champions, and change makers to share their stories, what they love about our city, and how they're helping it thrive. So whether you're out on the trail, at a brewery, or walking through Old Town, thanks for tuning in. At Love Foco, we believe in loving our city one life at a time.
Now let's dive in.
Jeff Faust: Hey, everyone. Jeff Faust here, your host for the Love Foco podcast. Every episode, we sit down with business owners, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, influencers, and other amazing humans for making a difference in and around Fort Collins. Whether they're selling, serving, building, or brewing, we hope these conversations will inspire you to get involved, to share your own story, and to make a difference by loving our city one life at a time. Today, we're sitting down with my good friend Johnny Square, a pastor in town, chaplain for the CSU Rams, Star running back for those same brands, an incredible leader, and just a guy who makes you feel like you have what it takes no matter what you're standing in front of.
Johnny's history and upbringing, family life, experience, and deep convictions make him the kind of leader that we needed in our city, and I'm so thankful that he sat down for this interview. Take a listen. I hope you enjoy spending time with Johnny Square. And like all football players, we did this interview outside of his gym. And so bear with us as we work with the audio and all the different noises you might hear in the background.
We're gonna do our best job to clean that up for you, but you're gonna wanna listen to this interview with Johnny Square. Well, Johnny, thank you so much for being here with me. I appreciate you joining the podcast. Grateful you're making the time. I've been looking forward to this interview all week long, being able to sit down with you.
We've grown our friendship over the last number of years just as we're working in the city, spending time in the city. And so, again, thankful that you're doing this. You know, this podcast is dedicated to highlighting people who are loving our city one life at a time. And as I've watched you the last number of years, I've seen that over and over and over again. We're gonna we're gonna talk a lot about what you're doing in the city, how you're loving our city, how you're loving our people, and how people can, you know, get involved in that as well.
But I'd love to start where I start with every interview on this podcast. What is your origin story when it comes to Fort Collins? Did you grow up here? Did you move here? What was that like?
And just kinda fill us in on some of those gaps.
Johnny Square: Yeah. I mean, you first of all, Jeff, it's an honor to talk to you about that because, you know, you're one of the guys of many that I hang out with over the years that are loving our city and and the things that you do. So it's it's an honor to talk about those things, you know, because we share a kindredness and that we love Fort Collins. But see, my origin comes in a story where I talk about moving from Chocolate City to Vanilla City. It is it is a it is a fun story.
Similar because I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. That's Chocolate City down in H Town, we call it.
Jeff Faust: H Town.
Johnny Square: And it's so hot down there, man. Let me tell you something. You have to take a shower just to dry off, man. Well, what happened was I was in a situation where I was probably a pretty good athlete, some people bought, and we had a lot of recruits that came down there. It was recruiting athletes out of Texas.
And, you know, they were coming from all over the country, and they they were coming from places like down the road, you know, CU, and and they were coming from University of Houston. They were coming from Michigan State, Arizona State. I mean, had about eight or nine different college offers.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: And so a few of them had came to my house, talked to my parents. A couple of them had come to the p office at the school I was at, Jackie's And so when it came down to make a decision, you know, I asked my mom. I said, look here. All these schools are after your son. Which one do you think I need to go to?
And my mom said, Colorado State. I said, my mom, look. You don't know nothing about football because Colorado State at that time in 1971 and '2 was the worst football team in the country.
Jeff Faust: Oh, really?
Johnny Square: And I was one of the top, you know, five athletes out of Texas in 1971 with the likes of an arrow Campbell, Joe Washington, and all those people.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Johnny Square: And I said, mom, Colorado State. She said, well, here's why I think you need to go to Colorado State because I think someday now this is in 1971 before I got here in '72.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: She says someday, I believe that's gonna be a great place to live. No kidding. That's why I came to Colorado State. It's okay. There was there was nothing here.
I didn't even know Colorado I didn't even know Fort Collins existed.
Jeff Faust: From Houston to Fort Collins, mom, your mother's mom. There
Johnny Square: is no relationship there. Yeah. There's nothing there.
Jeff Faust: Right. Right.
Johnny Square: That would bring me to this vanilla city. Simply because, man, it was shut down at about eight or nine well, let's say, they shut down at about 11:30 because when I came here, 11:30PM, when I came here, there was nothing South Of McDonald's.
Jeff Faust: Oh, really?
Johnny Square: Nothing. Yeah. There was I don't think there was anything West Of Caft Hill at that point. They hadn't even made the roads, man. So I'm going, wow, man.
Because see where Colorado State had had had his first they put Moby up, right there on Shield Street in in Campus West was something they called the Bull Farm. That's what they hand bulls.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Yeah. That's like the real vet and ag part of CSU.
Johnny Square: Look here. They have rodeos there. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going, I don't know what my mama was thinking, but, know, I trusted her.
Yep. She's a strong Christian woman, and she was pathetic enough to see that here we are Yeah. Some fifty years later Wow. In a beautiful city. So that's my mom.
So I had the four goal, the Oklahomas, you know, the Michigan states, and all those people because I trusted that my mom knew what she was talking about. Yeah. So that's what got me here. And it took me a while because, you know, when you're driving up over Horseshoot and you see the water on the other side of the dam, I wasn't used to that. The water I saw was on the Gulf Coast, and you had to go to the coast to see that.
But I didn't know there was a big old seven mile dam over there. But there was just so much about the hills and mountains and stuff. It took me a while to get used to it. I'll tell you what. Once I got used to it, just the the city, I just don't think I can live in a big city anymore.
And this is a small town, people friendly. So I got here because my mom saw in the future Yep. That this would be a great place to live. And I've been here ever since 1972. It's amazing.
And I haven't gone anywhere, and I've I've come to know. I love a lot of people. A lot of people love me. I love them. I just think it's a great place.
I still believe it's
Jeff Faust: a Well, it's an interesting kind of journey and I I'd love to dig into it a little bit because mom knows best. Yeah. We got we got to listen to our moms, you know, and and they point us in the right direction. But Yeah. You know, I also imagine I hear some sacrifice in your story.
I hear some of it overtly Yeah. And I hear some of it probably behind the scenes that not everybody's aware of. But overtly, I hear some sacrifice of you you know, if you're a top recruit coming out
Johnny Square: of a
Jeff Faust: football state in Texas, you're being recruited to some big name schools. Right. There's a little bit of a sacrifice to say, hey. I'm not gonna go to the Oklahomas. I'm not gonna go to the Arizona.
I'm not gonna go to the Texas schools that are on national television every weekend. I'm gonna go to CSU, which at that current time was struggling. So there's a sacrifice there.
Johnny Square: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: There's a sacrifice to leave your family, especially if you're deeply connected.
Johnny Square: Right. Right.
Jeff Faust: And your words not mine, but you said what'd you say about Houston to Fort Collins that you left
Johnny Square: Yeah. I left Chocolate City.
Jeff Faust: Chocolate City?
Johnny Square: To Con
Jeff Faust: To come to Vanilla
Johnny Square: City. Vanilla City.
Jeff Faust: Okay. Okay.
Johnny Square: Be be
Jeff Faust: okay. Just let me clarify because that those are your words. No. I'm not sure. I can say that, but you can say that.
Johnny Square: No. No. Chakra City, what I'm saying is that culture wise, I mean, languages had to change. You had to get used to a culture. You had to get used to a quiet town.
You you had to realize that some of the things that you would say in your language would be different than some of the things people would say.
Jeff Faust: That's a major cultural thing.
Johnny Square: It's a big big cultural dustbin because you had certain gimmick words. So if I would say, hey, man. I was balling. Here, that means cry. Yeah.
Bawling in another language has some sexual overtone to it. And you would say that and people would go, what? Or, you know, man, that was bad. Now bad in the southern language meant good. You know?
And I would say, man, that was bad here. Somebody said, oh, man, I thought that was rather good. So so you had to learn a language because I had to move once again from seven one three to nine seven o. And I had to learn that culture. Now that didn't mean that that culture in me left.
It just mean I had to make adjustment because I wanted to do two things. I wanted to be able to connect. I wanted to be able to communicate, and I wanted to be able to what? To collaborate. Watch this.
I also wanted to be able to care. Yeah. Because I felt like, you know what? This might be a good place where I could actually raise a family. You know?
It wasn't like I couldn't raise a family in Houston, but it was just a quiet town. You had in this town, you had college people, and then you had retired people. There there was a gap. So HP moves in, Waterpik moves in, there's another big film company moved in, and next thing you know, kids were staying Yeah. And raising families here.
Yep. So so so the sacrifice also came because I knew my mom said that she says, look. When when y'all get to those other schools, son, it's not like you can't play for those teams. They didn't they didn't come after you because they didn't think you could play for them. You could play for them.
She said, but you can go to that school, and you can make a difference. Yeah. And and so I wound up being one of the first, for you let them in the C issues along with other guys like Mark, Brown, and, you know, Willie Miller, all these names, man. We put CSU on the map. We we gave her her first winning season
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Johnny Square: In one of my four years there. And now she's she she's everybody knows who she is. Yeah. You know? So so so that was some sacrifices.
And and and I I wanted to get a degree. I wanted to get a degree from a major college. And she is she at that time and still is one of the top colleges, you know, in that business, engineering. What is it? The the the the degree where my son got his degree in construction management.
I mean, CSU is one of the tops in the country in that. And so I was one of the first to get out of one of the last of 10 kids, seven boys and three girls. Oh. And and to be able to go out and make a difference. So I've I fell in love before a call.
Yep. I really did. Yeah. And so I got here because of a statement that my mom said that became pretty prophetic. And so I'm here.
Jeff Faust: Well, it has become a wonderful place to live. It's become a wonderful place to raise a family. Family. She was right about all that.
Johnny Square: She's right about all that. That is 1971, she said.
Jeff Faust: And you are a staple in this community. I mean, people know you. They love you. When you speak, I feel like people listen, and you weren't here and then just take from the community. You you came.
Right. The community invested in you, and you are investing back in this community in an incredible way.
Johnny Square: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Faust: But you said you so you came from Houston. You stayed here. Now what was after college? Because you played football career. What position did you play, by the way?
Johnny Square: I was a I was a running back.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Johnny Square: Yeah. I was a running back. Yep. And and once once I, came to the end of my college football career, I had an opportunity to go play for the Minnesota Vikings. And it was in that setting that I actually encountered, the Lord that that caused me to think about what my future would look like because, is this a place where I really wanted to be.
I really wanted to play professional football. Yeah. Make a lot of money, but make the money to help people. I don't think I wanted to get rich just to have money, but I wanna do that to be able to serve. But it was actually an encounter, okay, on the football field here at CSU that led to an encounter that I had in training camp in Mankato, Minnesota, with the Minnesota Vikings.
As a matter of fact, Mankato was the same distance from Minneapolis as Fort Collins was from Denver. Right. And so Mankato was kinda like, you know, Fort Collins in many ways. But there, I had to make a big decision that if I was gonna follow him, I was gonna follow a dream just to be a professional football player, make a lot of money and do things. And God met me there because of an experience that I had on the CSU Football Field right here with a guy by the name of Mark Driscoll, who was a quarterback, changed my life.
I'll tell you story at some point.
Jeff Faust: Well, it sounds like one sounds like that story is probably worth revisiting, and it sounds like this guy, Mark Driscoll, someone that maybe we should sit down with and do anything without that. I think
Johnny Square: you should. I think you should because it was a football game at Hughes Stadium. My life was actually going downhill. I was doing things that I was ashamed of and wasn't happy about. And I walked away from my love of Christ and just got into all the college scene and stuff like that.
And my life was really going downhill, and I knew something was missing. Okay? So it had got to the point that, you know, I was just doing things I should that my mom had known that. She did she just smacked me pretty bad as a guy. But but here's a guy that I saw struggle a little bit when he first came in.
He was from Lahonto, California. And but he was an excellent quarterback. And Jack Graham was one of our quarterbacks as well. He's a man that does a lot. He and Ginger do so much for the city of Fort Collins.
You know? And Jack had had a bad game in the first half, and so what I I fumbled the ball Jack through a couple of intersessions. So it was a tough game. So Mark Driscoll comes in the game in the second half, and he throws five touchdowns. Woah.
Now the fifth touchdown is unique because we're driving. It's against BYU, one of the top teams in the country. And matter of fact, that year, we became the number one passing team in the country at CAFU. But I can remember this vividly. We were driving down to to title score because they had us down at halftime 26 to twit to six.
I get a kickoff. I take it, like, fifty, sixty yards. I I almost break it. Then Mark comes in. Boom.
Boom. Boom. I mean, he's still four touchdown. It was crazy. But the last one was unique.
Unique in the sense that we were driving. We got down to the five yard line, and we just didn't make it. So that's, like, maybe four or five seconds left on the clock. Okay? So we're coming off the field.
Yeah. I remember the quarterback from BYU's name. The name was Gary Shadi. He gets up under the center, and he fumbles the ball. Oh, you know mean?
Jeff Faust: I'm gonna go back.
Johnny Square: We can sit down, they say, get back out there. Get back out there.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Yeah.
Johnny Square: So we rushed back out there. It's three seconds left on the clock. Okay. We're in the huddle. It's national TV, big game, stands full of people, says you hadn't got that kind of coverage in God knows how long.
Mark Drisko steps in the huddle, makes one statement. He says, look. The only reason why we have an opportunity to win this game is because of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you something. I didn't hear anything after that.
I didn't hear anything after that because I knew at that moment, if God wanted to chase me out on the football field, I couldn't run from him anymore.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: And here is
Jeff Faust: You mean there wasn't a play called Jesus Christ touchdown? That that wasn't in the playbook?
Johnny Square: Well, what happened was just
Jeff Faust: in his heart.
Johnny Square: Yeah. He called he called the play. It was maximum protection. I was running back, so I was here to block it. I can remember getting knocked down at his feet, and I could just see him throw the football.
And he hit Willie Miller over in end zone by himself. Wow. And we tied a game. That's awesome. And I never forgot that changed my life.
Yep. Because I said, look. I can't run from you because the only solace I had was on the football field.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: And now you're out here with cleats on, man.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Yeah.
Johnny Square: So you love me so much, and you would chase me. And then by the time I got to the pros, that moment then, my heart was so tender, and I can remember being second on the depth chart to a… Audemont Richard and things like that. And he asked me a question one day. He said, is this what you really want?
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: You know? And he wasn't telling me he wasn't didn't want me to play play football. He says I'm not here. And I said, yeah. Because I was doing pretty good.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: I said, Lord
Jeff Faust: Well, I mean, I I imagine. I mean, I I I didn't grow up in Houston, but I grew up in Small Town, Iowa, close to him and a lot of Minnesota Viking fans where I grew up. I imagine that the same dreams a lot of boys have in Houston or the same dreams a lot of boys from small town Iowa have, it's to make it pro.
Johnny Square: It's to
Jeff Faust: be an athlete. It's significant in that kind of way.
Johnny Square: Yes. Yes.
Jeff Faust: And in that moment, you have like, I mean, that's a real moment
Johnny Square: for me. Oh, it's real moment. A real moment.
Jeff Faust: I Because you got a lot of dreams that you probably thought about for many years.
Johnny Square: Yes. Yes. And I love I love performing because I felt like I had the talent to be in that gladiator type scene. It was to me, it was not only just a performer, it's also communicating a a gift that you had. And it's strange that God would bring me back to Fort Collins.
Yeah. I was getting ready to finish up a CP I mean, an accounting degree at CSU, then he then he changed that. And I got into human development and family studies. And the next thing you know, he gets me right back in the game as a chaplain Yeah. To see his youth football and basketball.
Jeff Faust: So that's amazing to me because, I mean, there's probably some details in there. Don't need to go in all of it. But let me just try make sure I'm tracking with you. So you go from Houston, which is probably a very multiethnic, very diverse city. You're getting to experience
Johnny Square: Right.
Jeff Faust: Kind of some of your cultural norms. Right. You lay that down a little bit to come to Fort Collins. Yes. Where Yeah.
You know, there's not as many black Americans in Fort Collins as their No.
Johnny Square: No. There wasn't a whole lot of brothers.
Jeff Faust: So you're like
Johnny Square: I got in and go, man, what a brothers. Yeah. Yeah. Well, go ahead.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. So you're like learning this whole new but you've got these skills and these talents that are gonna take you to the next level. You leave Fort Collins for a little bit something, not only on the football field, but my guess is people, community, culture, this city was planted and imprinted on your heart in a way Yeah. That you came back. Now it's interesting to me that you had a moment with the Lord on the field when you played at CSU.
Johnny Square: Right.
Jeff Faust: And now you're back as a chaplain
Johnny Square: Right.
Jeff Faust: Helping tons of other student athletes answer big questions.
Johnny Square: Yes. Yes. And what happened was is that the church that I grew up in, first Christian church here, I became a youth pastor because I knew at some point the the the business that I was working for was was filled in lab. Early Thomas, who was a mentor of mine, has gone home to be with the Lord two years ago. And he played for the Buffalo Bills.
He's also a cornerback here at CSU, did a great job, and also played for the New York Jets, and he would mentor me. And what happened is I started working for him as an accountant. And then we started realizing, wait a minute. You know, is is this really what God is calling you to do? Yeah.
Because my wife would even tell me, you know, when you go to, you know, when you go to work and sit in the accounting office, man, it just seemed like there's this Vic Vein down, you know, your forehead. But when you go to the youth group with these kids, man, you're a whole new different guy.
Jeff Faust: Listen, Johnny, I can just tell you, I've met accountants, and God blessing, the world needs them. I need an account in my life because my brain doesn't think that way. Yeah. But at like, I think about knowing you over the last six, seven years, I would have never guessed Never. CPA.
John swear CPA.
Johnny Square: That's where I was headed. That's exactly
Jeff Faust: It's what you're it's so amazing, isn't Now we're both people of faith, and we know that that God can intervene in our life and redirect our path in a moment's notice. But that seems that seems like a good that seems like a good thing to listen to.
Johnny Square: Yeah. Yeah. And You know, look a bit bit because what what happened was and that Early would tell me that, my wife would tell me that, and I'd already start having as a youth youth assistant over at this church. When I got with those kids, man, it was like, wow. It was just fun.
Okay? And what happened was and this is how this got connected because I started working with this youth group, and out of that youth group were some players who were playing football for Rocky Mountain High, Puta High, and all those other, you know, school.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: And we would say, hey. Well, how would you guys like to get together in the morning before game and just go to one of the restaurants and just, man, let's pray together. So these these football players from Puta, these football players from Rocky Mount High, these football players from Fort Collins, we would get together on game day and just pray together and have breakfast. That was it. It's it's happened.
Couple
Jeff Faust: of
Johnny Square: those kids got recruited to Fort Collins. I mean, got recruited to Colorado State.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: And they said this, pastor, could you come do at Colorado State what you did with us in the high school? I said no problem. So I go over to the dorms and meet with them, and all of a sudden, one of the head coaches, Leon Fuller, called Wendell and said, hey. Could you come and do that with the whole football team? Wow.
I said, sure.
Jeff Faust: Wait. So you were you the first chaplain? Like, was there a a program before you?
Johnny Square: No. It wasn't about I wasn't like the first chaplain. They had, like, FCA athletic national, but I was the first chaplain
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: That they brought on. Yeah. Because guess what?
Jeff Faust: Student requests on
Johnny Square: on Leon Fuller's football team was Sonny Lubick.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Johnny Square: And Sonny Lubick was the offensive
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Well, now you're dropping names in some CS CSU history too. You know?
Johnny Square: And and Sonny Lubic went off and went to Miami and and was the defense coordinator, and then he got the job as CSU head football coach. When he got to town, he called me and said, Johnny, can you come do what you did when I was at CSU? And I've been doing what I've been doing now for almost thirty years because of Sonny Luther.
Jeff Faust: That's amazing.
Johnny Square: That's how we got there.
Jeff Faust: Man, thank you so much for sharing that. That is sweet.
Johnny Square: Oh, man.
Jeff Faust: It's And all these things, you know, smart we often forget we we're looking I think a lot of this human tendency. We're looking for the next big thing, the next big Right. But the next. But it's a it's really a sum of a whole bunch of small moments along the way.
Johnny Square: That's not
Jeff Faust: just being faithful, loving these high school kids Yeah. Showing up to youth Yeah. Building relationships, opening the bible together, praying this one thing leads to another to the Easter. Now this momentum grows in our life. Next thing you know, you're gonna influence hundreds if not thousands of young people on campus.
Johnny Square: It's it's humbling because the, you know, the bible tells us don't don't despise small things, but it also says new beginnings are not just for the young. Yeah. And so that's for everybody. God can take these moments that we redeem a a minus, put that peg in there and make it a cross and it becomes positive. So that's what that that's what happened to me.
But but see what what that did, that led me into the city. Yep. The chaplain. And and so when I left First Chrysler Church that I had worked there for thirteen years and had a chance to start a new movement called Iasis, which basically means restoration healing. I said, you know what?
I wanna be a church that impacts the city. Yep. I want our people who are sitting there, not just to come to church on Sunday morning, but what are you doing on Monday all the way through Saturday? Right. So I felt like that there is a government out there that need to know that God loves them.
Okay? I felt like there's a business section out there that needs to know that God put them here for a purpose. Education system that he put here for a purpose, as well as medium entertainment and then other face based entities. And so what I was doing was looking at the human body. Human body tells me I got bones.
I got muscles. I got a nervous system. I got all these things. Amen. I said, you know, is it possible that God made the human body and the city the same way?
Okay. So I started looking at that and go, wow. Okay. God, are you saying that cities are put together by you just like you structured the human body? And so when I started looking at why government was here, government was here to help govern, businesses was here to, you know, to to help generate certain things.
And so now I said, what I'd like to do is see if there's a bunch of other pastors in the city that love the city like I do. And if we can start getting together praying for the city, what would that look like? Yeah. So there was four guys, you know, Rick Olmsted, who you know very well and and he has their predecessor and Derrick Arthur, you know, a guy named John Dubbler, myself, and Ed Davis got together. We just said, what would be like if we just got together and just start praying for each other and praying for the city?
And we've been doing that now for twenty five, thirty years, and that's where the Fort Collins Church network comes.
Jeff Faust: And I I you know, one of the things I've loved about this city, I've been here for about eight years now. And if you're listening to this, you've probably picked up on it by now, but Johnny and I are both pastors in town as well as, you know, Johnny, chaplain, I do the love focal thing as well. But we're both called to to pastor churches local churches as well. Yeah. Know, one of the things that helped me fall in love with this city early on was this Fort Collins Church Network, something that you were part of at its origin, four pastors praying together.
Now once a month, we've got dozens of Dozens
Johnny Square: of pastors.
Jeff Faust: Getting together, praying, eating, connecting with each other, loving one another, and loving this city.
Johnny Square: Yes.
Jeff Faust: And it was so unique to me because I I came from Kansas City. I I grew up in Iowa, moved from Kansas City, and I don't have a lot of memories of getting together with other churches and just praying for the city, for the welfare of the city. And one of my favorite verses when I think about loving our city well is from Jeremiah 29 verse seven.
Johnny Square: Okay.
Jeff Faust: And twenty nine eleven is the most famous Famous. Verse in Jeremiah twenty nine seven says, work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you. Pray to the Lord for you. Its welfare will determine your welfare.
Johnny Square: And Yeah.
Jeff Faust: When I realized there's a pastors getting together, praying for this city in a space Yeah. Which can sometimes be competitive, not collaborative.
Johnny Square: Right.
Jeff Faust: I saw a new thing here in Fort Collins and I
Johnny Square: was Right.
Jeff Faust: It just really helped me love the city and love the men of God that I was surrounded by doing work and Right.
Johnny Square: And and you know what what what what motivated me for that was there was something about the city when I looked at the things that Paul did in the book of Acts to penetrate all five of those areas, government, business, education, all of that. I was also looking at my one of my favorite scriptures in the in the book of Proverbs, and you heard me share this before at the network, is that it says when things go well with the righteous okay. I didn't say when things go over to church, and we got righteous people in all of those areas. Yep. He says when things go well with the righteous, watch this, the city is blessed.
Okay? Now watch this. It also says, by the blessings of the upright, the city is exalted. And I I believe Fort Collins, especially in what pastors do it, can and is a model for a lot of cities. Yeah.
Because the the whole competition thing was broken. So when somebody came in to that group, whether you had a thousand people in your church or 10, it didn't matter. Right. See, because we were back to back, face to face, shoulder to shoulder
Jeff Faust: Yep. Standing right next to each other side by side. Well, that proximity in that relationship goes a long ways.
Johnny Square: It goes a long way. It goes a long way. And when somebody knew would come to town, we we want them to know we prayed them here. Okay? But here's the the two major things that I think made, it used to be called the pastor's prayer, but now it's called the Fort Collins Church Network.
Two things is relationships. That's the first one. It's just relationships. And then, man, just loving on each other and loving on our city. That was what was attractive to me that that that, you know, the the they cared.
They cared about the sin. They cared about each other. And and so we were able to let that space be a space where we could really, really let go. I saw guys weep. I saw guys cry.
I saw guys, you know, come in and get stroked, and and God would stand by another guy. And it was just so attractive and said that I can come here, and I'm not seen as the pastor of, you know, vineyard or or Timeline. I'm seen as a brother. Yeah. And and that that dude knows what I'm going through.
I know what he's going through. That was the connection.
Jeff Faust: Oh, makes it easy.
Johnny Square: And, brother, look at it. It it is it is attractive.
Jeff Faust: Well, and many of us have lonely jobs. I I think Yeah. You know, so many of us can get isolated. Yeah. Pastors are not immune to that.
Yeah. We talk about community all the time, and ironically, we still feel very lonely. And so it's been a a life's end for sure, and and I I've loved that about our city. I I wanna I wanna circle back around to something we talked a little bit about earlier about just some of the racial divide and some of the differences in the communities because, you know, this church network and these relationships that we've built, it's also been an opportunity for us to process some hard things. And I don't know if you remember this or not, Johnny, but you know this whole pandemic thing happened a few years back changed everyone's life and it changed.
Johnny Square: It's lot. It's And it
Jeff Faust: wasn't just that. There was societal unrest. Yeah. There was political unrest. There was racial tension.
Yeah. And there was a lot of different things. And and you've been given a lot of favor in our city as a black pastor and leader, but just someone who can navigate tense conversations in a really kind and compassionate way to still bring truth.
Johnny Square: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. But invite people to the table.
Johnny Square: Right.
Jeff Faust: And I remember one of the things that you said, I'd love for you to just share a little bit about this. You said, you know, this is around the time of some racial tension and tragedy in our nation. Right. And you say, you know, the I'm gonna probably butcher this quote, so correct me where I'm wrong. But I I I think I remember you saying something like, the minority knows that the the majority in in our particular case, you know, black Americans in Fort Collins know that white Americans will be will stand for justice Right.
When things are hard and there's tragedy. Right. But we wonder if you'll still be there in times of peace or times of rest. And that really stuck with me because I wanna be the kind of guy that continues to fight for justice when it's not on the news.
Johnny Square: Yeah. And what and and what we what we've learned in because we we I had the opportunity of of being a part of putting together a panel where some people who felt that that they were and knew that they were receiving injustice to come and talk to the pastors. And one of the things that I I think all of us learn and always knew that when you go to the public platform, whether that's a George, Florida, or no matter who the Rodney King, you you become you aware that something's up, something's wrong. And people can collaborate on that. You see it on the news and all that.
But when that news piece don't get that kind of coverage anymore, you ask yourself to question, do they still care? Care. Do they still care? And the and and and the minorities know that that that if if this gets national news, everybody's gonna all of a sudden bring out, you know, all the care packages and all of that.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Johnny Square: But what's happening away from that? And I think to me, boots on the ground is recognizing how to love your neighbor. That I don't need the national coverage, in order to say I love you or not love you. It's the boots on the ground next door neighbor thing. Because everybody has some, you know, maybe black American, in their circle.
They may have an Asian in their circle. And and I just think for me, it's learning how to love the people in front of me. Yep. Whatever is going on. So if all of a sudden, we get on the news that this is happening to our Jewish friends.
Well, I got Jews in my circle. I wanna love them regardless Yeah. Of what's happening on the national circle. I've got Asians, that I run into, and maybe there's some Asian Americans out there that all of a sudden get on the national stage. As soon as that thing goes down and nobody talk about them anymore, are they still really, you know, receiving love for my neighbor?
So to me, it's never been about skin. It's been about sin because everybody needs to know that their love no matter what. Not love if, not love maybe, not love because of, but love period. Now that love doesn't allow me to continue to do what I do if I'm not being effective to my my neighbor, but the love is saying I love you even though I disagree with
Jeff Faust: you. Yep.
Johnny Square: I I I love you even though we we were trying to tolerate certain things. So for me, I was raised to never ever let skin be an issue. And my my mom said, don't care who it is, son. You know, no matter what you're doing, you have no right to be unkind. Okay?
And so we never got really wrapped up in the black and white thing growing up because my mom and dad taught us how to love people, period. Now he said, look at it. Now that's the people that ain't gonna like you because of your skin. They're not gonna like you because all this, But you have no right to be unkind to those people. So when I got in in this situation during COVID, and then we had a chance to look at some of this injustice, I've never taken it as becoming a victim Yeah.
Ever. Because the Bible tells me I'm victorious, and I never wanted to complain. I never felt like I had to have the government or somebody else do something for me. We just weren't raised that way.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. It's really interesting. I'm gonna say, I hear you say that. I just reflect back to you and then just kinda fill in the gaps where I'm missing it. It sounds like your parents did a really good job of maybe recognizing some societal patterns because they they had said, hey.
Someone might not like you because Right. And they're this is out there. They weren't ignoring the fact that it's out there.
Johnny Square: Right. Now they would
Jeff Faust: put, like, a key emphasis on your personal responsibility to love well.
Johnny Square: Yeah. And they would they would they would say things like to me, son, you know you know, you you know, you don't want to be color blind. But at the same time, you don't want your color to blind you. Okay? So if somebody does something in the city, the whole city ain't paintbrush because of what one person does.
Right. Okay? So somebody might be prejudice, somebody might be stereotyped, somebody might be racist to me. But that don't mean all of four columns is racist. Right.
You see? So so my mom taught me about that because people are people and will and she says, look here, everybody has the same needs, man.
Jeff Faust: People are people. People are People
Johnny Square: people. And you're go somewhere where where they go, you know, down south, they let you know. And and one of the things I learned about Fort Collins that was a little bit different than than than in some of the Southern states, You know, you know, down there, I mean, that that some people just flat out, tell you to your face. Yeah. Sometimes things here
Jeff Faust: work with their races.
Johnny Square: Yeah. They're very, very, very, very covert. Yeah. So so what I'm saying is and then in some places, you know, you know, you they they won't come out and say it, but they'll treat you a certain way. So I just think three things that I've learned.
All of us are prejudiced in some way. Everybody's prejudges a person for whatever reason. I mean, I'm prejudiced the way my wife squeezed the toothpaste at the wrong end. You know? And then that stereotype typical people to where you think that they will stereotype you because they think everybody's like that.
You know, you can see a black man dressed up in a suit and a white man dressed up in the same suit. Some people would see the white man as an investor, as somebody who's making money at Wall Street, but this dude dressed up like that as a black man is a pimp. That's stereotype. Because every time you look at TV, that's how they display them. But see, racism is different.
So we all have prejudice. We all have stereotype. But see, racism is different. Racism says that my ethnic stock is better than yours. And that's where I think we get off.
If somebody's born a certain way. And for what I look, when I when people cut me, my blood's green. You know, my blood's red. So I I just think I take that to the marketplace. Yeah.
And I want to see a government in our city that's there to help people become great. Not a government that try to controls everything, but say, I'm here for your betterment to make you better, to make you great. We're here not to compete, but we're here to help complete the business sector where where everybody has an opportunity to, you know, commerce. Everybody has an opportunity to to to to have enough money to do the things that they need to do. And then the educational system is one that is influenced by a moral compass.
You know? You're just not throwing information out there. Right. But you have a God that you, you know, have to deal with and what kind of information you throw out there. How do you handle that information?
And then and then how we communicate with each other throughout, you know, our life. You know, what's happening, the news, not necessarily reporters, not necessarily becoming the news, but communicating the news. You know? But but but then the church. The church has been the heart.
The the church has been that place where when you look at the church, man, you know what? There's value. There's something about that entity that's good for us sitting. Yep. They are gonna continue to put that moral compass out in front of us and say, look, you can make that decision, but does that have more relevance to it?
Does it have thing that's gonna make us better and things in that nature? So so I I've I've run into some great people here in the city of Fort Collins. I love them. You know, we work together, and I I work with people in government. My my whole desire is to see all of those five entities come together and make Fort Collins a great place to live.
That's my
Jeff Faust: I feel like if there's someone that could do it, you could bridge that gap. It seems like you've been, you've got a lot of favor in a lot of those areas. Hey, got one, one final question for you because I know you're at the university college football landscape has probably changed a lot since the days you played Name, image, likeness.
Johnny Square: My goodness… Born at the wrong time.
Jeff Faust: You you didn't even know what you were missing out on.
Johnny Square: Born at the wrong time, babe. I want you to know that.
Jeff Faust: That would be a really interesting conversation. I would love to have that another day, but I bet you have a pretty good insight to the struggles, the challenges that college students are going through today. And I'd love for you to just talk a little bit about how you're in that space, loving kids well, help because this city that we've all come to love, Fort Collins Yeah. It's an amazing place, and we are not who we are without the university. Amen.
Which which also means we're not who we are without all the college students. And so what are you noticing that are some, like, consistent patterns of struggle, challenge, impact, ways that you're able to minister to some of those young adults and and ways that maybe we could continue to love our city by loving the university?
Johnny Square: Well well, first of all, coming coming to college, you know, one of my degrees was in human development and family studies in that as a young person, you have dreams. By the time you get to high school, you start thinking about how you're gonna fulfill those dreams. When you get to college, you wanna lay the foundation for living those dreams. And all that's in the mix. So I get all of a sudden away from my parents.
I I'm I'm I because I grew up with their ideology. Now I have an opportunity to shape my own. Now that's in that pool too. So I'm now collaborating with people all over the world.
And what's being shaped now is my thinking, and my thinking now begins to drive my behavior. That's a big old pool of that. But here's the bigger question. Now I got to wrestle what's in my heart. And on the university campus, that's challenged all the time.
So my heart's developing. You know, what do I really believe? I'm I'm I'm hanging around with people from all this all parts of life that's trying to shape my culture, and therefore my thinking now is being challenged by what's coming at me from the professors in the university world. So that's a struggle there, but here's the beauty of it. That's where you get a time to understand this one statement.
The word university is made up of two words, unity and diversity. And when you put those two words together, how can we be unified and still be diverse at the same time? So that's where the melting pot comes in in that life. So they call that, in the human development board at the tail end of what you would call the adolescent years moving into the young adult years. So all that's maturated on that campus.
Okay? Now, if I took one area and blew it up, and this is the area of the student athlete who's now, the pendulum has swung into their favor over the years. They swung into the favor of university, the favor of coaches. They can leave anytime they want, and they making millions and billions of dollars. Now these kids are making tons and tons of money.
Now I think the biggest challenge for them are their minds develop enough to be able to handle that kind of money, that kind…
Jeff Faust: It's lot of money. Lot of money. I knew what I was like when I was 18 I don't think it would have been good for me.
Johnny Square: Hey, brother. Look. I'd had a lot of chocolate chip cookies. Know that. And so and so my whole point is that there's so much that they're going through, and they and that's when they make decisions. See, that's a statistic that says, probably the last time you will see each other in that environment would be in rest homes. Because when you come together
Jeff Faust: Everyone's in the same life phase, looking for the same things, asking the same questions.
Johnny Square: Yes. And then you disperse
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Johnny Square: Once you finish. Yeah. Yeah. But that college life is more challenging now than I've ever seen because there's they're they they have a voice. Okay.
They have money now, and you just see all kind of things going on. So what my heart is is to step in that world and let them know that God is not a God of confusion, but that he's a God of peace. Yep. And he can bring that peace in the middle of the chaos.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Johnny Square: So when I'm on that campus, I'm letting people know God cares. But I'm also letting them know that it's an intellectual cop out not to think about him Because you get all this stuff coming at you. But if you don't somehow think about who he is and what he's doing and what's going on, you're missing a part of your life that can be the glue Yep. To what's happening. So so, brother, I tell you, we could come back to that some
Jeff Faust: more time. I feel like we could have hours of conversation, Johnny. I I know everyone listening to this is I mean, enjoy you can preach to me anytime. I feel like I could just sit yeah. On No.
I mean, so again, so grateful for your time.
Johnny Square: Oh, man.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. And and I just wanna say, you know, we can I think we can stay engaged in a lot of these things that we we kept talking about?
Johnny Square: Yes.
Jeff Faust: I would love for more people to buy tickets, see you on the sideline, in life. Whenever we're smooth here, bought season tickets to CSU.
Johnny Square: see We're getting ready we're getting ready to go to Washington tomorrow morning out there at Seattle, and hopefully, we can make a statement. But I'll tell you something that's happening is that most people don't watch the seven hundred club. It's a Christian station on the, you know, on cable. But what they've been broadcasting that's been happening on the college campuses across across the country is that there's been a revival that's happened. Well, that's happening at Shia Shia.
Yeah. And there's a lot of men on that football team that are coming to know Christ. As a matter of fact, got two or three guys that came to me yesterday and said, man, I need to get baptized. I'm getting ready to do a bible study with coaches in one hour and then two hours from now, we're gonna have a team bible study. And then on Friday night when we land in Washington, we'll have a chapel service for a lot of people to come.
So there's something spiritual happening on that football team. And that's to me is also affecting the city because we we got a president that allows that to happen. I I love Amy and what she does, and we got a we got a we got a great a d, John Weber, and these these these people have visions about CSU being great. And so when you're around people that all wanna see the same thing Yeah. A a better city.
Jeff Faust: Well and we're great I'm grateful for you, John. I'm grateful you're in this it is special to share the city with you. And, I I'm thankful for the way that you, you know, you haven't just consumed, but you've been really an owner and you've given back and you've given back and you've given back. And, yeah.
Johnny Square: And let me thank you, Jeff, because I like so much of what you have been doing with Vineyard, because it was Rick Olmsted who came and said, Johnny, we may be able to build our own churches apart from each other, but we can't win this city without each other. You've kept that going, and your touch is on that church. Obviously, God is using you. But what you're doing right now, brother, that's what's humbling. Yeah.
Because I think more pastors should do that. So keep on that.
Jeff Faust: I appreciate that.
Johnny Square: Keep being a marketplace guy, man.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. I appreciate that. It it really is a lovely city. It's easy. Yeah.
It's easy to do when you look around and you think, man, I feel so blessed to be Thank you. Be in this space. Well, brother Johnny, you so much, We
Johnny Square: You got it.
Jeff Faust: I know you got real life and real responsibilities. Thank you for your time, man. Take care.
