Bill Johnson (pastor)

Bill Johnson
Born January 1, 1951 (1951-01-01) (age 61)
Minnesota
Occupation Author, Minister
Nationality American
Subjects Theology, Revival, Healing
bjm.org

Bill Johnson (born 1951)[1] and his wife Brenda (Beni) Johnson are the Senior Pastors of Bethel Church in Redding, California. Johnson is a fifth generation pastor.[2]

Contents

Personal background

Johnson was born in Minnesota in 1951 and became a Christian as a young child. Soon after, Johnson read seven books on prayer, which significantly affected his perspective and subsequent ministry.[3]

Johnson's father, Melvin Earl Johnson (1929-2004[4]) was the senior pastor at Bethel Church in Redding from 1968-1982[1] and subsequently became Executive Officer of the Northern California/Nevada District Council of the Assemblies of God.[5] Earl Johnson had four children, all of whom are in full-time ministry.[6]

Bill Johnson and his wife have three children: Eric, Brian and Leah.[6]

Ministry

Bill Johnson and Beni began as singles pastors under his father at Bethel. In 1979, they became senior pastors of Mountain Chapel in Weaverville, California.[7]

While pastoring in Weaverville, Johnson attended a 1987 conference led by John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Church Movement. According to Johnson "A number of healings and manifestations broke out and I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't object to it, I wasn't opposed to it; I just didn't know how to pastor it in a way that it would continue and increase".[8]

In 1995 Johnson attended the Toronto Blessing revival at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church. Johnson relates: "In Toronto I said, 'Lord, if You touch me again I will never change the subject.' So I went up for prayer every time it was offered. I didn't have anything dramatic happen, but I came home and said, 'I am going to give the rest of my life to this.'"[8]

In February 1996, after 17 years of leading the Weaverville church, the Johnsons were invited to become senior pastors of Bethel. Today Johnson describes Bethel as a church where "everything we do either fuels revival or is fueled by revival."[8]

According to a recent book written by Johnson, "Face to Face with God", Bethel is "a church where supernatural encounters with God happen regularly, miracles are common, and the congregation has an infectious passion for spiritual growth." The church has approximately 1,500 members,[8] and a School of Supernatural Ministry.[9]

Testimonies form a regular part of Johnson's ministry.[10]

Bethel Church and Johnson have been featured in video segments by Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)[11][12] and Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The segments reviewed the church's approach to outreach.

Their Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry has 1,200 students enrolled with over 370 from other countries.[8] Johnson leads a network of churches dedicated to global, multi-generational revival, Global Legacy.[13][14] Johnson has written a number of books and travels extensively as a featured revival conference speaker. Johnson is also involved with the Northern California Revival Fellowship, a group of north Californian pastors committed to revival.[7]

Published works

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Crowe, John (1999-03-07). "A family calling". Redding Record Searchlight (Redding, California: Record Searchlight). http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=RSLB&p_theme=rslb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=a%20family%20calling&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22a%20family%20calling%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. Retrieved 2008-06-01. 
  2. ^ "Bill and Beni Johnson - Senior Management Team - Bethel Church in Redding, CA". Ibethel.org. http://www.ibethel.org/users/billandbenijohnson. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  3. ^ Why Pray; Recorded Monday February 11, 2008 in the 10:45 AM Service. Why Pray; retrieved March 27, 2008
  4. ^ Schultz, Jim (2004-01-23). "Pastor was endearing to those he touched". Redding Record Searchlight (Redding, California: Record Searchlight). 
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Earl (2000-09-01). "A Godly heritage: The family of Earl and Darliene Johnson" (PDF). Assemblies of God Heritage (Springfield, Missouri: Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center). ISSN 0896-4395. http://ifphc.org/pdf//Heritage/2000_03.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-01. 
  7. ^ a b Johnson, Bill (1998-12-19). "Jesus only needs our open hearts". Redding Record Searchlight (Redding, California: Record Searchlight). 
  8. ^ a b c d e Flinchbaugh, C. Hope (2007-03-01). "Ignite the Fire". Charisma (Lake Mary, Florida: Strang Communications). ISSN 0279-0424. http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/covers/260-cover-story/14681-ignite-the-fire. Retrieved 2008-04-05. 
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ Take Your Place, Angela Kline (Xulon Press, February 2009)
  11. ^ "CBN Video: Living a Life of Miracles". Cbn.com. http://www.cbn.com/media/index.aspx?s=/vod/PST15. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  12. ^ "CBN Video: Miracles Outside the Church Walls". Cbn.com. http://www.cbn.com/media/index.aspx?s=/vod/PST45. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  13. ^ Bethel Church, Redding, California, USA. "Global Legacy". Igloballegacy.org. http://www.igloballegacy.org/. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  14. ^ Loren, Julia (2005-03-01). "California Fire". Charisma (Lake Mary, Florida: Strang Communications). ISSN 0279-0424. http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=10622. Retrieved 2008-04-06. 

External links