Bishop Alfred Johnson

Bishop Alfred Johnson is a retired Bishop of The United Methodist Church, having served from 1996-2004.

Bishop Alfred Johnson was born to Earl E. and Cora Johnson in Philadelphia, PA. He credits his loving and praying parents and his home church, Tindley Temple UMC, with giving him a strong foundation in the Christian faith.

He received an A.A.S. from Community College of Philadelphia. He went on to receive a B.A. from Albright College, Reading, PA; his Th.M. (MDiv Equivalent) from Boston University School of Theology; and a DMin in Urban Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Albright College and Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ granted him honorary doctorates in Divinity, (DD), and Humane Letters, (LHD) respectively.

He was ordained Deacon (1973)and Elder in Full Connection (1976) in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. His first full-time appointment was as Pastor-Director of the Community United Church and Chester Missionary Project of Chester, PA 1975-1978. Later, he was appointed pastor of Tioga United Methodist Church in North Philadelphia 1978-1983. From 1983 to 1986 he served as pastor of Leola UMC in Leola, [Lancaster County] PA. 1986-1988 he served as a full time Conference Consultant for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. 1988-1994 he served as the Executive Director of United Methodist Metro Ministries, Inc. and from 1994-1996 he served as district superintendent over a section of Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs.

Alfred was elected a delegate to the UMC Northeastern Jurisdictional (NEJ) Conference 1984-1996 and a delegate to the General Conferences 1988 and 1996. Prior to election as a bishop, he also served the denomination as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Methodist Development Fund; chair, the Board of Directors of the NEJ Multi-Ethnic Center for Ministry; chair, NEJ Court of Appeals, and various other task groups.

He was elected to the episcopacy in July, 1996, and assigned the New Jersey Episcopal Area. As a bishop, he was assigned to the General Council of Ministries, NEJ Urban Steering Committee, and the NEJ Multi-Ethnic Center.

He retired from the active episcopacy on September 1, 2004, and served as interim pastor of the Huntington-Cold Spring Harbor Church on Long Island, NY, from November 2004 to June 30, 2005. July 1, 2005-June 30, 2015 he served as the organizing and Lead Pastor of the Church of the Village, Greenwich Village, NY. In 2015-2017 He served as Interim Pastor of Jones Memorial UMC in San Francisco, CA. 2017 – 2023 he served a Visiting Professor of Urban Leadership and Executive Director of the Center for the Study and Practice of Urban Religion at New York Theological Seminary, Manhattan, NY. He has also taught urban ministry in the Bishop in-Residence Program at Drew Theological School, Madison, NJ, and taught the UMC Polity course at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT.

July1, 2022, he serves the Congers UMC, Congers, NY as the Coordinating Pastor.

On February 5, 2005, he married the Reverend Sherrie Boyens Dobbs. She transitioned on March 27, 2020 due to COVID-19 related illness. He was remarried to Shantelle Eneé Williams on May 27, 2023.