The New Pastor: Bringing Hope

By Alexandra Novoa and Hiroko Tanka

The Bright Hope Baptist Church choir patiently waits to welcome the new pastor, Rev. Kevin R. Johnson.

In his early thirties, Johnson is the fifth senior pastor at Bright Hope, where he will take over from William H. Gray. one of the most influential ministers in the United States.

Many church members were sad to see Reverend Gray leave, but are excited to have someone new with a great spirit. “We are so excited to have a new pastor. We hope he has big plans for Bright Hope,” says Edna Dunka.

Bright Hope Baptist Church sits on the corner of 12th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Yorktown. This is one of the largest African-American Baptist churches in the Philadelphia area. This church has a youth center, which provides various activities and programs for the community, such as a feed the homeless program, nightly basketball games for the youth, Bible studies classes, town meetings and many other programs. 

Many community members and the staff of Bright Hope participate in all of these activities. Brenda Willingham is the director of the women's ministry. She also runs a program, which counsels women and trains them for interviews and finding jobs. 

Johnson began his dream as a young boy. By the age of 16, he was already licensed to preach the gospel at his home congregation, David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.  A graduate from Morehouse College, Johnson was also awarded the Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey and Morehouse scholarships.

The new pastor is currently a doctoral candidate at Columbia University. Today, Johnson’s greatest passion is preaching and pastoral care. He is also a published author of several articles and publications. Johnson shares his ministry with his wife Kimya of nine years. She is an attorney and a former elementary school teacher. They have a son and a daughter.

Reverend Johnson

One of the pastor's biggest fans is Willingham. “We are very blessed to have him. I know he is going to do so many wonderful things here at Bright Hope. He teaches the Bible studies classes several times a week and he is working on a program, which gets young males from the community off the streets and to get involved in serving the Lord.”

Selecting the pastor was not an easy task.  It took a lot of time and a lot of patience.  “This was a very long process,” says Willingham, who sits on the board of directors in charge of selecting the new pastor. “This took us about a year and a half to find a new pastor. But as soon as we met Johnson, we all instantly fell in love with him, and we know everyone else will too."