Johnson, Dorothy Webster
3/28/1998
| When I arrived at my first preachers’ meeting of the Alexandria District following my appointment as Superintendent, I met Dorothy Johnson. In fact, for entertainment at that meeting, she played the piano and sang a solo, which was truly a blessing to us all. She was a very quiet and humble person, but was bold when she ascended the pulpit to preach God’s word. She was so loved and respected by her members that the Chair of the PPR Committee at Charge Conference wanted to know how they could keep Rev. Johnson for at least 20 years. While Dorothy’s death came as a shock and a surprise to us, it was no secret to her in that she planned and wrote her entire funeral. In addition to writing and planning her funeral, we are told that three or four days prior to her death, she preached two sermons and got happy while lying in the bed. She began writing her obituary with that familiar quotation from Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” Dorothy was born on March 5, 1937 and she died on March 28, 1998. Her husband, Elvin Johnson, Jr., had shared her ministry over the past nine years at Wilton United Methodist Church. When we gathered at Wilton on April 1st at 11:00 a.m. it was no funeral, but it was a worship service befitting the home going of one of God’s children. “How beautiful are the feet of the herald who proclaims good news!” |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Conference 1998, p. 251 By Dr. Donald R. Avery | |
