July 17, 2008, By Melissa Lauber
The Rev. Peggy Johnson, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf in Baltimore, was elected July 17 to be a bishop in The United Methodist Church.
Johnson was elected, from a pool of 13 candidates, on the 10th ballot by the 249 delegates to Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference.
She was presented to the conference by Bishop John Schol of the Washington Area, who explained to the audience that in American Sign Language one says bishop by mimicking a pointy hat, or miter, on one's head. In Kenyan sign language, one slaps oneself in two quick motions on the forehead and back of head - in a spirit of bemused wonderment.
"It's true," said Johnson, who promises to bring "a sense of wonder, creativity, compassion and grace" to her ministry as bishop.
Bishops bring the totality of who they are with them into the episcopal leadership, Johnson said. The pastors, congregations and communities she will lead can expect her to be humble, to listen, learn and be a servant leader. She intends to be relational and bring a spirit-centeredness to her first year. "You can't do anything unless you have the heart of Christ deeply embedded in your heart," she said.
Johnson's heart has been shaped over the years by her ministry to people in the margins. Her work in the Deaf community draws people from every socio-economic group, including the very poor, who bring with them a vast array of social, human and spiritual needs.
The church, she said, is at its best when it opens it doors to those who society looks down upon. "I am a strong believer in the love that draws people into our world," Johnson said. "We have to be out there doing love."
The bishop celebrated Johnson's election, saying "her gracious heart and proven leadership will enable her to serve the church as we move together, as a body connected in Christ, to make disciples and transform the world."
A child of the church, Johnson traces her family's roots back to some of the first members of Old Otterbein UMC in Baltimore, the mother church the Evangelical United Brethren.
She was baptized and confirmed at Lansdowne UMC, where her husband, the Rev. Michael Johnson, now serves as pastor.
A graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky, she was ordained in 1980, following a career as a vocal music teacher.
While teaching music her voice failed. She was discouraged, but her hope was renewed when she attended a concert by a Deaf choir that performed the "Hallelujah Chorus."
This visible music touched something in her soul and she began learning American Sign Language, she said.
Following ordination, she served a four-point charge in Frederick before working as a chaplain at Gallaudet University, a college for the deaf in Washington, D.C., and then becoming pastor of Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf.
Her ministry there has taken her around the world, where she helped to start or enhance Deaf ministries in Zimbabwe, Cuba, and a myriad of other places in the United States and abroad.
Johnson received her doctorate from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington and is the author of the book "A Joyful Silence."
She acknowledges that she does not come to the episcopacy through the traditional paths. "I'm not your typical profile," she said.
Instead, Johnson hopes her gifts, along with her desire to work in partnership with others, and being faithful to God, will enable her "see with the heart," where God is calling her, and the church, to go.
Johnson will begin her term as a bishop in September.
20080717 Peggy Johnson elected bishop in The United Methodist Church
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