Two of the most common assumptions about Church's Texas Chicken are wrong. It is not named for a church, and it was never owned by the Ku Klux Klan. The first is a misreading of a surname.[1] The second is a false rumor that spread so widely in the 1980s that a folklorist tracked it for close to a decade and published her findings in a peer reviewed journal.[2] What the company actually is turns out to be harder to characterize politically than either myth: a privately held franchisor, controlled by a San Diego private equity firm, with no federal filings of its own to examine and a political footprint that runs through industry associations rather than under its own name.[3]
- Its chief legal officer once chaired the board of a restaurant industry lobbying group.
- Founded in 1952 across the street from the Alamo, named for its founder.
- Outside the United States the chain has long operated under the name Texas Chicken.
- A 2023 employee culture survey named diversity, inclusion and belonging among its measured strengths.
- Private equity has controlled the brand since 2009, leaving no public filings to examine.
Quick Take
Church's is private, so there are no securities filings, no proxy statement and no executive compensation disclosure. No corporate political action committee tied to the company and no federal lobbying registration under its own name were located in this research. Ownership has changed hands repeatedly, most recently in 2021, and in July 2026 the company took on growth equity from a private credit manager without a reported change in control.[4] The company says plenty about its own values and nothing about elections or legislation. Its most concrete political activity runs through the industry rather than the ballot box: continuous International Franchise Association membership since 1988, and a chief legal officer who chaired the board of a chain restaurant lobbying group in 2018 and was decorated by it for pushing political involvement inside the franchise system. The rest of its notoriety comes from things outside its own conduct: a name people misread, and a decade long rumor that a folklorist documented and disproved.
The Federal Paper Trail Is Nearly Blank
This is the section where a public company would leave a trail, and Church's does not.
No OpenSecrets organization profile and no corporate political action committee tied to the company were identified, and no federal lobbying registration under the Lobbying Disclosure Act was found. A negative is only as good as the names searched, so those names are worth stating: Church's Chicken, Church's Texas Chicken, Cajun Operating Company, the Atlanta entity that issues the brand's franchise disclosure document, and Cajun Global LLC, the Delaware entity that issued $225 million of senior secured notes in the brand's 2021 whole business securitization.[5]
An absence in the federal lobbying database does not by itself rule out indirect representation. Lobbying disclosures are filed by the registrant, so a company represented in Washington through an industry trade association does not appear under its own name in those filings. Church's publishes no political contributions policy and no government affairs page, so there is no company disclosure to check the federal record against. The association record, however, is not blank.
The franchise structure matters here, and it cuts both ways. Most Church's restaurants in the United States are owned and operated by franchisees, who are separate businesses; the company's own franchising site states that a franchise can be offered only through a Franchise Disclosure Document registered in the buyer's state.[6] Franchisees may give politically in their own right. Any such contributions belong to the franchisee and not to the franchisor, and the two should never be added into a single company figure.
Where the Trail Picks Up, in the Trade Associations
The International Franchise Association lists Church's Texas Chicken as a member since 1988.[19] The IFA advocates on federal policy affecting franchising and operates a political action committee.
The more specific finding involves an executive. In February 2018 the National Council of Chain Restaurants, a lobbying body for multi unit restaurants that operates as a division of the National Retail Federation, named Craig Prusher, then executive vice president and chief legal officer of Church's, chairman of its board of directors.[20] He had previously served as vice chair of that board, which is made up of senior executives from chain restaurant companies. The year before, NCCR gave Prusher its 2017 Grassroots Award, which the organization said recognized his work encouraging franchisees and corporate executives to become more politically involved.[20] He had joined Church's in 2012 as senior vice president and general counsel, coming from Burger King, where his responsibilities included government and industry relations.[21] Prusher said at the time of the appointment that he had been involved with NCCR for 15 years, which would place the start of that involvement well before he arrived at Church's.[20][21]
NCCR said its advocacy in the years before the appointment had focused on commodity costs, credit and debit card transaction fees, immigration reform, tax reform, and labor and management policy.[20] Those are the association's stated priorities, not positions Church's has taken, and the company has not published any position of its own on them. What the record establishes is participation: a company officer holding the top volunteer post at a restaurant industry lobbying organization, and an award from that organization for driving political engagement inside the franchise system.
What the Company Says About Itself
Church's takes no public position on legislation, candidates or elections. What it says about its own values is consistent, and it goes back at least two decades.
In 2003, when the chain was a division of the publicly traded AFC Enterprises, its president said that demonstrating support for diversity was a high priority for Church's, in an announcement that two executives had joined the boards of a Hispanic chamber of commerce and a multicultural foodservice group.[7] In 2021 the company described itself as one that values and promotes diversity in both its corporate and restaurant locations, congratulating a deputy general counsel who had won a franchising diversity award from the American Bar Association's Forum on Franchising.[8] After its first employee culture survey, conducted in December 2022, the company reported that diversity, inclusion and belonging ranked among its measured strengths, alongside employee engagement, fairness and ethics, and safety.[9] Its corporate LinkedIn page still lists inclusive among the six words it uses to describe itself.[10]
Those are statements by the company about the company. They are evidence of what Church's said, not of what its restaurants are like, and no later statement narrowing or retracting that language was located.
Its charitable tie ins point elsewhere. A national promotion launched in November 2024, built around the returning original recipe, directed a portion of proceeds to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.[11]
The Menu, and the Recipe That Came Back
Church's sells Southern style fried chicken in original and spicy, along with tender strips, chicken sandwiches, and sides that include fried okra, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, jalapenos and hand made honey butter biscuits.[10] In October 2024 it returned the 1952 original recipe to every United States restaurant, reformulated with what the company called richer, savory spices.[12] Restaurant formats run from drive thru focused units to delivery enabled kitchens and dine in locations, with many sites also built for catering volume.[13]
A San Antonio Surname, and Four Sets of Owners
Church's was founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1952 by George W. Church Sr., across the street from the Alamo, and the chain carries his surname.[1] There is no religious affiliation in its founding, ownership or operations. Outside the United States it has long traded as Texas Chicken. It took the Church's Texas Chicken name in Canada in 2019 and now carries it domestically as well.[1] Corporate headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia.
The chain was a division of the publicly traded AFC Enterprises in the early 2000s.[7] FFL Partners owned it from 2009.[3] High Bluff Capital Partners, a San Diego private investment firm founded by Anand Gowda that specializes in control oriented equity investments in consumer facing companies, agreed in August 2021 to acquire it from FFL, supported by alternative investment funds managed by FS Investments, now operating as Future Standard.[3][14] High Bluff holds Church's through REGO Restaurant Group, the restaurant platform it established in 2018 with Quiznos and Taco Del Mar.[3] The purchase was financed in part by a bridge facility, later repaid through the securitization noted above, which was the brand's third.[5]
In July 2026 the company announced a growth equity investment from Golub Capital, a private credit manager with more than $90 billion of capital under management. Financial terms were not disclosed. The company said the capital would fund an expanded remodeling program, faster rollout of company operated restaurants, and franchisee support. High Bluff stated that it remained as committed to the brand as when it bought it, and Golub described the transaction as another milestone in an existing relationship with the company rather than a new one.[4]
Leadership has turned over several times under private equity ownership. Joe Christina served as chief executive for six years through 2022. Joe Guith followed. In February 2025 the board promoted chief operating officer Roland Gonzalez to chief executive.[1][15]
For a reader trying to trace political behavior, the ownership structure is the constraint. High Bluff Capital Partners and Future Standard own the company, a private credit manager now holds a growth equity position in it, and none of them publishes political spending disclosures for a portfolio company of this size.
The Rumor That Followed the Brand for a Decade
In the early 1980s a rumor spread through parts of the country alleging that Church's Fried Chicken was owned by the Ku Klux Klan and that its recipe contained an ingredient intended to sterilize Black men. The claim was false. There is no evidence the company was ever connected to the Klan in any way.
The rumor is unusually well documented because a scholar studied it. Folklorist Patricia A. Turner published "Church's Fried Chicken and The Klan: A Rhetorical Analysis of Rumor in the Black Community" in the journal Western Folklore in 1987, and expanded the work in her book on rumor in African American culture.[2] Turner tracked the rumor for close to a decade and determined it had no basis in fact.[16]
Her research also documented how it spread. Turner found the rumor was largely unknown outside the communities where it circulated, and that when she summarized it for people unfamiliar with it, the common response was to ask how any additive could distinguish between consumers. Among people who had heard it, the explanation offered was the concentration of Church's franchise locations.[17] A 1998 Baltimore Sun account of her work described Turner as finding that rumors alleging Klan ownership of consumer brands tended to intensify after those brands raised prices, and as theorizing that a rumor gave consumers an easier reason to stop buying something than cost did.[16]
The company did not mount a public campaign against the rumor at the time, and it faded by the end of the decade. Similar allegations later attached themselves to other food and beverage brands, following a documented pattern in which such stories migrate from smaller companies toward larger ones.[17]
This history matters for a reader trying to assess the company because it is the single most persistent thing attached to the Church's name online, and because it is not true. It says nothing about how the company behaves.
Where the Business Stands Now
The business has been in a turnaround, described in figures the company reports itself rather than in filings any regulator reviews. Church's reported system sales above $1.6 billion in 2025, up from $1.5 billion the prior year. The company said it recorded its first year of positive net United States unit growth since 2010, with nearly 200 restaurants opened globally between 2024 and 2026. From year end 2021 through the first quarter of 2026 it reported roughly 19 percent cumulative domestic same store sales growth, with United States systemwide traffic up more than 6 percent, during a stretch when fast food visits industry wide were falling.[4]
Gonzalez described the period as "rebuilding the foundation of this brand, strengthening our operations, investing in our franchisees" and reconnecting with the communities the chain serves.[4] Ownership has stated a target of $2 billion in system sales.[15]
The chain operates more than 1,500 restaurants across 25 countries, with more than 770 in the United States. Trade reporting drawing on its franchise disclosure document has put average unit volume above $1 million.[1][18]
Where to Find Them
Church's Texas Chicken restaurants operate across the United States, concentrated in Texas and the South, with locations and ordering at churchs.com. The brand trades as Texas Chicken in many international markets. Corporate headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is privately held and files no reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Footnotes
[1] Restaurant Business, "Church's Texas Chicken names Roland Gonzalez CEO," February 21, 2025. https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/leadership/churchs-texas-chicken-names-roland-gonzalez-ceo
[2] Patricia A. Turner, "Church's Fried Chicken and The Klan: A Rhetorical Analysis of Rumor in the Black Community," Western Folklore, volume 46, 1987, page 294. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Church's-Fried-Chicken-and-The-Klan:-A-Rhetorical-Turner/e386ad0009a0469245fc1e5e8866985409316abc
[3] Alicia Kelso, Forbes, "Church's Chicken Acquired By Investment Firm High Bluff Capital Partners," August 2, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2021/08/02/churchs-chicken-acquired-by-investment-firm-high-bluff-capital-partners/
[4] Church's Texas Chicken, "Church's Texas Chicken Secures Strategic Growth Equity Investment From Golub Capital," July 2026. https://www.wboc.com/online_features/press_releases/church-s-texas-chicken-secures-strategic-growth-equity-investment-from-golub-capital/article_b94394b7-2b9b-5c74-ac1f-e8059672603a.html
[5] Business Wire, "KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Cajun Global LLC 2021-1 Senior Secured Notes," October 25, 2021. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211025005604/en/KBRA-Assigns-Preliminary-Ratings-to-Cajun-Global-LLC-2021-1-Senior-Secured-Notes
[6] Church's Texas Chicken, "Explore Our Franchise Opportunities," accessed August 2026. https://www.churchs.com/FRANCHISING/
[7] GlobeNewswire, "Two Church's Executives Named to Diversity Boards," August 27, 2003. https://www.globenewswire.com/fr/news-release/2003/08/27/299980/1483/en/Two-Church-s-Executives-Named-to-Diversity-Boards.html
[8] PR Newswire, "Church's Chicken Vice President Receives Franchising Diversity Award," November 16, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/churchs-chicken-vice-president-receives-franchising-diversity-award-301425978.html
[9] Business Wire, "Church's Texas Chicken Shares Impressive Results of First-ever Culture Survey," April 24, 2023. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005098/en/Churchs-Texas-Chicken-Shares-Impressive-Results-of-First-ever-Culture-Survey
[10] Church's Texas Chicken official LinkedIn company page, accessed August 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/company/churchstexaschicken
[11] Business Wire, "Church's Texas Chicken Announces OG Crunch Challenge to Celebrate Legendary Flavor and Give Back," November 19, 2024. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241119440806/en/Churchs-Texas-Chicken-Announces-OG-Crunch-Challenge-to-Celebrate-Legendary-Flavor-and-Give-Back
[12] Business Wire, "Church's Texas Chicken Unveils the Return of Its Original Recipe," October 31, 2024. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241031629852/en/
[13] Entrepreneur, "Church's Texas Chicken franchise directory listing," accessed August 2026. https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/directory/churchs-texas-chicken/282202
[14] Business Wire, "Church's Chicken To Be Acquired by High Bluff Capital Partners and Investment Funds Managed by FS Investments," August 2, 2021. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210802005473/en/
[15] Restaurant Dive, "Church's Texas Chicken appoints CEO," February 21, 2025. https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/churches-texas-chicken-promotes-roland-gonzalez-ceo/740601/
[16] Baltimore Sun, "Absurd rumors, real harm: Urban legends are fiction, but the fact is, they hurt consumers, businesses," September 13, 1998. https://www.baltimoresun.com/1998/09/13/absurd-rumors-real-harm-urban-legends-are-fiction-but-the-fact-is-they-hurt-consumers-businesses/
[17] Snopes, "Tropical Fantasy Renders Blacks Sterile," fact check citing Patricia A. Turner. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tropical-storm/
[18] Verdict Food Service, "Church's Texas Chicken secures investment to support growth plans," July 2026. https://www.verdictfoodservice.com/news/churchs-texas-chicken-secures-investment-to-support-growth-plans/
[19] International Franchise Association, "Church's Texas Chicken" member listing, accessed August 6, 2026. https://www.franchise.org/franchise-opportunities/churchs-texas-chicken/
[20] Bret Thorn, Nation's Restaurant News, "Church's Chicken exec named NCCR's chairman of the board," February 10, 2018. https://www.nrn.com/restaurant-executives/church-s-chicken-exec-named-nccr-s-chairman-of-the-board
[21] Business Wire, "Craig S. Prusher is Named Church's Chicken Senior Vice President, General Counsel," August 13, 2012. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120813005161/en/Craig-S.-Prusher-Named-Church%E2%80%99s-Chicken%C2%AE-Senior
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