It is with great pleasure that I announce to you that Rev. Randy Johnson has accepted the call to serve the Michigan District as Congregation Mission and Ministry Facilitator—North Zone. Rev. Johnson will take the place of Rev. Dr. Richard Wolfram, who will retire on June 30 after serving the District for 19 years.
Rev. Johnson is a second-career pastor who previously served in the Navy, was an EMT, truck driver, auto mechanic, managed a Holiday gas station, and owned a refrigeration and heating company with his father-in-law and brother-in-law. He graduated from Concordia University St. Paul, Minn. in 1997 and Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Mo. in 2002 and was called to serve at Mount Hope Lutheran Church in Allen Park, Mich. He served there for seven and a half years before accepting the call to start a mission church in New Buffalo, Mich. He left New Buffalo in July of 2013 to become pastor of St. John, Cheboygan.
He has served the Michigan District as Circuit Visitor and as a member of the Board of Directors. In the community, he served as Chaplain for Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Department.
Rev. Johnson is married to Lynne and has three children: Ryan (Melanie), Kristin (Jon), and Kelly (Herbert), and seven grandchildren: Alex, Riley, Rowan, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Herbert, and Phoebe. His hobbies include golfing, fishing, hunting, and watching football, baseball, soccer, and other sports. Serving God and touching peoples’ lives with the good news of Jesus Christ is what he truly lives for in life.
Rev. Johnson will be installed on Tuesday, June 26, at the Chapel of the Holy Trinity (Concordia University Ann Arbor) during the Convention Sending and Installation Service at 5:30 p.m.
May God’s blessings rest upon Rev. Johnson, his wife Lynne, and the congregation at St. John, Cheboygan during this transition time.
Photo courtesy of Rev. Randy Johnson
