THOTL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Pastor
- Celebration Arts Director
Presiding Bishop F. Josephus Johnson II, better known as Bishop Joey Johnson, is the Organizer and Senior Pastor of The House of the Lord in Akron, Ohio.
Bishop Johnson is a renowned Bible Scholar, counselor, author, educator, conference speaker and workshop facilitator. His experience in leading one of the city's largest churches for over forty years has equipped him to impart wisdom for issues related to church growth and development, business management, leadership and team building.
As a visionary, Bishop Johnson founded The Pastoral Mentoring Institute, where he utilizes his practical and down to earth skills as a communicator to train and mentor senior pastors and church leaders to be more effective in their local churches. As a result, these pastors and church leaders are being better prepared and equipped to impact today's society and generations to come for the cause of Jesus Christ. As a lover of The Holy Scriptures with keen intellectual curiosity and insatiable appetite for reading, Bishop Johnson founded Emmanuel Christian Academy and Logos Bible Institute to present opportunities to both children and adults to be educated and equipped in the foundation of God's Word.
Bishop Johnson was promoted to Bishopric through the providential wisdom of God and at the request of the senior pastors he mentors. His consecration and ordination in 2004 was accompanied by having the Doctor of Divinity degree conferred upon him by the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops Congress. Within the Christian community at large, Bishop Johnson's apostolic responsibilities include the oversight of Beth-El Fellowship of Visionary Churches. Beth-El was created to be a source of encouragement, practical leadership development and team building, as well as a haven of rest for senior pastors, their spouses, and other church leadership. He offers over four decades of pastoral wisdom and guidance to the senior pastors of these churches and their congregations.
Bishop Johnson's heart for the Akron Community includes participation in the National Day of Prayer Service on the Courthouse Steps, hosting a Citywide Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration Service, and helping out a local grocery store with a Henry's ACME Day which resulted in hundreds of members walking across the street and buying groceries.
The Fugitive Safe Surrender Program, a collaboration with the U.S. Marshall Service, in 2007 and 2009 and the Ohio State Attorney General in 2014, and various Court Systems throughout Summit County, the Fugitive Safe Surrender (FSS) was hosted by Bishop Johnson and The House of the Lord®. Designed to give those with criminal arrest warrants against them a "second chance" and "favorable consideration" at sentencing, more than 5000 persons over those three sessions peacefully surrendered.
Bishop Johnson's most recent community collaboration is The Village at New Seasons which features Low Income Senior Citizen housing and a fully staffed health care facility operated by SUMMA Health System. This facility is the only emergency health care facility in the West Akron Community.
Among his many accolades, Bishop Johnson is the winner of the first-ever "Praiseworthy Sermons! Contest," in April of 2007, conducted by Church Business Magazine. The winning sermon was "Restoring God's Witness To The Streets." And on June 27th, 2007, Saint Thomas College and Theological Seminary conferred upon Bishop Johnson the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. In addition, he holds a graduate-level reading certificate in cultural anthropology and New Testament Interpretation from the Theology Department of Creighton University in 2004.
In 1983, Bishop Johnson authored The Church: The Family of Families, reprinted March 2013. The popularity and power of his 1997 sermon series entitled, "Family Mess" inspired him to write God Is Greater Than Family Mess, whose popularity encouraged the updated and revised version, reprinted in 2009. Bishop Johnson completed his third book, The Eight Ministries of the Holy Spirit: From Denomination to Reformation: An Introduction to Biblecostalism® and released the accompanying Study Guide. In 2011 Bishop Johnson completed and released two books, The Biblical World through New Glasses and Lord of the Flies: A Leadership Fable.
Bishop Johnson is married to Pastor Cathy Johnson. In October 2014, Bishop Joey and Pastor Cathy, were the 2014 Community Service Awardees of the 2014 Achieving the Dreams Celebration of Project GRAD. Project GRAD Akron is a non-profit education reform program, which began in the Akron Public Schools in 2002.
As Bishop Johnson increasingly ministers to the community of faith not only in the city of Akron, but around the world, his participation and influence in the community continues to grow on so many different levels. One example of this is his commitment to attacking and solving the problem of poverty in our city. To do this, Bishop Johnson continues to humbly invite city and state leaders to sit at the same table. He is careful to reject the role of a hero, while he has embraced, with the good of all in mind, the role of being a host of conversations.
Pastor Cathy Lynn Johnson has ministered along side Bishop F. Josephus Johnson, II for over 40 years. She was born in Barberton, Ohio and raised in Akron, Ohio. Pastor Cathy is a graduate of North High School.
Job Titles:
- Pastor
- Marketing Administrator
Dara obtained her Bachelor's degree in Accounting from The University of Akron and her Master's in Business Administration - Finance from Miami University. She serves as the part-time controller at The House of the Lord. Prior to joining The House of the Lord, she was a tax manager at Ernst & Young. Dara resides in Copley with her husband, Jason, and their two children. They attend Northside Christian Church in Wadsworth. Dara enjoys being outdoors, CrossFit, and spending time with her family.
Job Titles:
- Deacon
- Finance Administrator and Administrative Assistant to Pastor Herman Matherson
Generosity is one of the most supreme external characteristics of God. Therefore, we seek to be a generous church. Among many things we should be generous with love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. We also believe we should be generous with our giving. Generous giving is a principle found throughout the New Testament which is consistent and flows out of the Old Testament. The New Testament church is instructed to give proportionately to how we have been prospered by God (1 Cor 16:1-2); with a cheerful attitude and not under compulsion based on what each person purposes in his heart (2 Cor 9:7-8, 2 Cor 8:3-4); and in a faithful and systematic manner (1 Cor 16:1-2).
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Pastor
Love LOUD er than our personal agendas, policies and procedures and so LOUD that the world takes notice as we partner with God to transform Akron first and then the world.
Job Titles:
- Social Media Specialist
- Social Media / Graphic Design Specialist
Job Titles:
- Minister
- Receptionist
- Secretary
Job Titles:
- Minister
- Christian Education Director
- Member of the House of the Lord
Min. Sheila Watkins has been a member of the House of the Lord for slightly over forty years. She is a retired teacher from the Akron Public Schools system and has a Masters Degree in Secondary education. She is currently superintendent of the church's Sunday school. Min. Sheila started the first Children's choir and paved the way for the Divorce ministry at the church. She oversees the teacher training program and has been instrumental in providing new avenues of ministry ranging from women and men's class options to children's and teens offering to enrich their life's choices. Min. Sheila has been a workshop presenter and has spoken at Women's conferences.
Min. Sheila is the mother of three children, Al, Shawnda, and Michael. She is the grandmother of four beautiful girls and the great-grandmother to two more darling girls. Her hobbies are reading and jewelry making during her retirement years. She loves to travel and enjoys life to the fullest. Her favorite scripture is Jerimiah 29:11 as she believes that God has a plan to continue to prosper her and those who are called according to His purpose. Min. Sheila has published her first book, Still Standing on the Word of God.
Pastor Cathy is one of the four original members of The House of the Lord, founded 40 years ago. She has been an intricate part of the development of the ministry. Over the history of the church, Pastor Cathy has served in a variety of capacities including the Celebration Arts, Nursery, Baptism, Benevolence, Tape Ministry, and as a Trustee. She is an Elder, and the Director of the Women Walking Together In Christ Ministry (WWTIC) where she has ministered to thousands of women throughout Northeast Ohio and beyond through her weekly Bible Studies, Prayer Breakfasts, Women Conferences, Pastor Wives Summits and a heart to hear women.
Under WWTIC, Pastor Cathy has facilitated many ministries during the past forty years. She is the Pastoral Advisor for Intercessory Prayer Warriors; Greeters; Ushers; Welcome Centers, Pioneer Girls, Diamond in the Rough, and Naomi and Ruth as well as assisted in the development of women ministries in other churches.
Pastor Cathy has a heart for women and a desire to see the whole woman ministered to, she has hosted Health Fairs, Back to School Fairs, College Fairs, and other activities that ministers to women and their families.
Pastor Cathy has trained in Lay Counseling under North Coast Counseling Family Practice, the American Association of Christian Counselors Caring For People God's Way Lay Counseling and Extraordinary Women Women's Ministry. She is also a certified Grief Recovery Specialist. She attended Logos Bible Institute where she received a certificate in Systematic Theology, as well as Johnson Leadership Institute of The House of the Lord. Pastor Cathy has a Certification in "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Ruby Payne. In addition, Pastor Cathy also serves as a board member of Emmanuel Christian Academy.
Pastor Cathy is a noted conference, retreat, and workshop speaker. An anointed singer, Pastor Cathy serves as a worship leader and concert singer. She has sung with Babbi Mason and has opened for various gospel recording artists, including The Winans, Commissioned, Take 6, Larnell Harris, Whitley Phipps, CeCe Winans and Tamela Mann. In addition she did a solo benefit concert for Emmanuel Christian Academy who serves children who historically have been defined as at risk. She also was a featured guest on The Chat Room, a women's talk show sponsored by "THE WORD" Church as well as a musical guest on FOX 8 News in Cleveland, OH.
She is the recipient of numerous awards throughout the community and recognized for Community Service with Black Pages of Cleveland, the Humanitarian Award for Service to Summit County Community from Legacy III; The Women of Light Award for Service in God's Kingdom and most recently along with her husband Bishop Johnson she will be honored for her community service by Project Grad Akron.
Job Titles:
- Pastor
- Pastor over Adminstrative Services and Executive Assistant to Bishop Johnson
- Staff Member of the House of the Lord
Pastor Pat Butler is a staff member of The House of the Lord and serves as Pastor over Administrative Services, Events Coordinator and Executive Assistant to Bishop F. Josephus Johnson II. She was appointed to office of Elder in 2005 by Bishop Johnson. In 2006, Pastor Pat was appointed to the role of Chief Adjutant to Bishop Johnson and in February was ordained to the Adjutants Ministry.
Pastor Pat has been under the tutelage of Bishop Johnson since joining THOTL in 1983. During this time, she has served in many ministry roles as servant leader, one who serve others. One of her passions is helping those who desire to get back up again and walking along with them on their journey back to healthiness, whether is emotional, physical or spiritual.