Rev. JL Armstrong is an Associate Minister at First African Methodist Episcopal Church (F.A.M.E.), the oldest African American church in Los Angeles. Rev. Armstrong began his ministry under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, Senior Minister in 1990 and continues under the leadership of Rev. J. Edgar Boyd.
Rev. Armstrong became a student minister at F.A.M.E. in February 1990. In April of that year, he was appointed chairperson of Dr. Murray’s Rites of Passage Man Child Program which targeted young African American males ages 9 through 18.
In 1992, Rev. Armstrong was ordained an Itinerant Deacon, ordained an Itinerant Elder in 1994, and shortly thereafter was appointed Minister of Stewardship responsible for increasing church giving. He served as ministerial liaison for the “Walk of F.A.M.E.” $500,000 fundraiser benefiting the Cecil L. Murray Education Center in 1997, co-chaired the “F.A.M.E. Family Day” fundraiser for several years and was appointed Minister of Emergency Preparedness in 2008, and chaired a $300,000 church fundraiser in 2014.
‘In addition to Rev. Armstrong’s ministerial duties, he had a distinguished twenty-five year career with Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. (Toyota), until it relocated from Torrance, California to Plano, Texas in 2018. Rev. Armstrong had numerous senior management responsibilities as National Manager Corporate Affairs with the responsibility for a multi-million dollar in-house video production center, the Toyota USA Automobile Museum, and oversight responsibility for national environmental education and STEM education community outreach programs for Toyota Community Relations. He also served as a community ambassador for Toyota and external affairs advisor to executive management. In addition, he was appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2005 to the Board of Directors for the National Environmental Education Foundation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and became its Vice Chairman in 2006.
Prior to Toyota, Rev. Armstrong worked as Director of Business Affairs at Universal Television, MCA, Inc. negotiating deals for the services of writers, directors, and producers in connection with television development and production.
Rev. Armstrong earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Indiana University. He is past Vice Chair, External Affairs of the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council Board of Directors, and served on the Senior Corporate Executive Advisory Board of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. and is on the advisory board of the Team Heal Foundation in Los Angeles, California.
