Bishop SC Johnson

[Zander]

Bishop Sherrod C. Johnson (1899-1961) was a dynamic African-American Oneness Pentecostal leader. He was born and raised in North Carolina and had a harsh life. Later he moved to Phildelphia that he heard of the water baptism in Jesus name and the pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit. He began his ministry in 1919, and soon aligned himself with Bishop R.C. Lawson's Refuge Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith in Harlem, NY. It was in 1920 that Lawson sent Johnson to pastor the Phildelphia Church of Christ. Lawson appointed Johnson bishop over the states of Pennsylvania and North Carolina in 1930. It was in 1931 that Lawson incorporated his church as the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (COOLJC) in 1931 and Johnson was one of the incorporators. It was in 1933 that Johnson withdrew from the COOLJC and founded the Church of The Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (COTLJC), with his Phildelphian church being its headquarters. He was very evangelistic and his church grew to be inter-racial, through his many debates, gospel tours and radio network. At one time his Phildelphian church was one of the the largest Oneness churches in the United States. In the July 1949 issue of Ebony magazine he was listed as one of the most widely listened too, African-American preachers in the U.S. Johnson died during an evangelistic tour in Kingston, Jamaica, W.I. His denomination is still in existence today and is currently headed by Bishop Omega Shelton. Denominations that were birth through his ministry include the Holy Temple Church (Bishop R. Goodwin) and the Church in the Lord Jesus Christ (Bishop L. Hunter).