Meet Bishop Johnson

Apostle Raymond Allan Johnson accepted the call to the Ministry as a young man. Raised as a Jehovah's Witness, Apostle Johnson – who we call “Pastor Ray” – accepted Christ in November 1974; and he preached his First Sermon on the Third Sunday of April 1975, at the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, in Jacksonville, Florida.

He was ordained on Sunday April 9, 1978, at the New Mt. Vernon Baptist Church of Detroit, Michigan.

Pastor Ray’s earliest years in the Ministry were spent in Youth Ministry. He was the Minister to the YouthFellowship at Bethel, from 1975 until 1977; the Youth Choir Director at New Mt. Vernon, from 1977 to 1978; and directed Bethel's Annual Youth Retreats from 1979 to 1982. Pastor Ray has five years' direct experience in Urban Missions, gained during his tenure as the Executive Director of the Christian Mission Center – known today as the Jacksonville HelpCenter.

For his last two years at Bethel, Reverend Johnson served as Assistant to the Pastor.

In 1983 he returned to Detroit, and a decade later joined the Second Unity Full Gospel Baptist Church. In 1993 he became the Apostolic Adjutant to Bishop Gregory M. Davis, Sr. – General Overseer of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. After Bishop Davis resigned from Second Unity Elder Johnson continued as Adjutant to the new Pastor, Bishop Clarence L. Morton, Jr. – who was at the time the Bishop of Interdenominational Ministries for the Fellowship.

In 1993 Apostle Johnson also established Elder Raymond Allan Johnson Evangelistic Ministries, Inc. (ERAJEMI), as a Ministry to churches and pastors, and in response to changes in the federal tax laws that applied to church tax exemption - particularly under the rules for Article 501 Section (c)(3) of the U. S. Internal Revenue Code. The goal was to create a Ministry that would specialize in providing guidance and professional advice to Pastors and other key church leaders, in all matters relating to church fiscal management.

In the course of time the initial objectives were expanded to include small businesses and non-profit corporations. Also, owing to Elder Johnson's personal love for design, desktop publishing, and overall Web Design, an additional design component was added, called Living Concepts, which is today a part of the Destiny Digital Media Group.

In addition to Ministry to churches, as stated above, ERAJEMI is a Totally-Evangelistic and Evangelical Ministry. Elder Johnson's twenty-three years' experience in the Watchtower Society has afforded him special preparation for Ministry to people bound in cults, and other heterodoxical religious movements. In 1998 he established "XJW-Central" as a Ministry to Jehovah's Witnesses and former Jehovah's Witnesses, and the first "Virtual Church," Abyssinian Church of the Living Word. Today XJW-Central boasts almost 150 members throughout the United States, as well as Berlin, New Zealand, Italy, Holland, El Salvador, Ukraine, Fiji, and - of course The Peoples Republic of China.

Through the years Pastor Ray has been blessed to share his gifts with the Body of Christ, in the areas of Evangelism, Urban Evangelism, Christian Apologetics, Ministerial Training, Christian Education, The Ministry of Protocol and Helps, and Church Administration.

In April 2004 he organized and incorporated Hope Fellowship, in the state of Michigan, and began regular services in Detroit's Masonic Temple under the banner: "Hope Fellowship: Home of the Abyssinian Church of the Living Word;.

Hope Fellowship struggled in the beginning, but having a legal structure made it possible for Pastor Ray to carry the Ministry to Lorain, Ohio where he organized again in August 2004, under the name DESTINY FELLOWSHIP.

Destiny also faced many of the challenges common to new Ministries, especially in finding a permanent home. But early on, God continually granted favor. With no funds for a building, the earliest services were held in a park. But when the weather forced the church to find an indoor location, the Lord opened a door for them at the Spitzer Plaza Hotel, in Lorain. The church lost its home again, when that hotel closed without notice. But in February 2005 God again granted favor in providing an even larger meeting place in the Spitzer Conference Center, on the campus of Lorain County Community College. Worship continued there until services were suspended, from July 2005, until the new beginning here in China.