Rev. Kevin R. Johnson was elected yesterday to be the new senior minister of the renowned Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA. He plans to move to the area sometime in the next month.
Bright Hope’s pulpit committee announced its overwhelming recommendation of Johnson, 32, now an assistant pastor at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, to the 2,500-member congregation in November.
Johnson will be the first new senior minister in 35 years – and will be the first person outside the Gray family to lead the church in 80 years. He begins as head pastor on Feb. 1 and will give his first sermon on Feb. 11, the 97th anniversary of Bright Hope’s founding.
From there, the married father of two – his wife, Kimya, is an attorney – hopes to develop a comprehensive community development program that will address issues such as education, housing, care for senior citizens, and social justice.
Abyssinian Baptist was once led by New York’s first elected African-American congressman, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. That church and Bright Hope share a similar history of political activism and civil rights advocacy, so Johnson’s election is a natural fit, said Gray.
“He’s been tutored by some of the best men in the country,” such as Calvin O. Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist, and Otis Moss, head of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Gray said.
Johnson also has extensive training in urban ministry and “has excellent academic credentials, which we know are correct,” Gray said, a reference to a former Bright Hope minister, the Rev. Cean James.
Johnson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and has a degree in theology from Union Theological Seminary.
Excerpted from: Philadelphia Daily News
Amn.eris
January 10, 2007
Awww…thanks for posting this. I swear we are really sorry to see him go. He has been QUITE an asset to our church.
During his tenure he really made our church move into the new century. I doubt some of the old heads ever thought they would purchase sermons online, have a podcast..and pay their tithes online.
Bright Hope really has gained a jewel.