Johnson, Dennis L.: - Rev. Dr. Dennis L. Johnson is a retired minister with over forty years of pastoral leadership to two congregations in metro Chicago, Illinois, and the historic Baptist Temple in Charleston, West Virginia, giving particular attention to worship and spiritual formation. His Bachelor of Fine Arts/Drama is from Quincy University, Quincy, Illinois, and his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees are from Northern Baptist Seminary in suburban Chicago. He received an honorary doctorate from Alderson-Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia. He has served in numerous denomination roles (American Baptist Churches USA) at regional and national levels, taught as seminary adjunct faculty, and is a member of the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Historical Society in Atlanta, Georgia, and is chairman of the Board's Research and Publications Committee. He has a special interest in linking faith and literature, and early in his ministry he was attracted to the life, ministry, and writings of pastor and theologian Walter Rauschenbusch as a spiritual mentor, pastoral guide, and model of Baptist spirituality. He is the author of Remembering that It Happened Once: Christmas Carmen for Spiritual Life All Year Long, and To Live in God: Daily Reflections with Walter Rauschenbusch which was nominated for the 2021 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. During his twenty-year ministry in Charleston, he was a member of the city's Human Rights Commission and a regular panel participant for interfaith dialogue. After retiring, he and his wife Holly relocated to Lexington, Kentucky, to be near their daughter Megan and son-in-law Jamie DeHart.
