BishopPeggy

Rev Peggy Johnson, affectionately known as Rev. Pink (her favorite color), is now Bishop Pink. She was elected at the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, July 16-18, 2008, and is now assigned to the Philadelphia area. This means she will no longer be serving at Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore, a long time appointment for Peggy. In Baltimore she was able to raise the level of awareness of ministries with Deaf, Late-deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-blind people within the United Methodist Church, all across the nation and in many other parts of the world as well.

Peggy had been elected as president of the 2009-2012 United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-deafened, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-blind People, but has given up that position so she can focus on becoming a bishop. She will certainly be our advocate, friend, and supportive person as we pursue our work and she grows in the ability to make a positive effect on world Methodism.

Bishop Peggy, we love you, honor you and wish God's great blessings on your every step, your every word, and may your hands continue to tell the Gospel story to all!

From Bob Walker: UMCD Members: Here's the official article on Bishop Peggy A. Johnson's
election this afternoon:

Peggy Johnson elected a bishop of The United Methodist Church

By Linda Bloom

July 17, 2008 | Harrisburg PA (UMNS)

Bishop-elect Peggy Johnson
The Rev. Peggy A. Johnson of Baltimore has been elected a bishop by the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Johnson, 54, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf, was elected July 17 by jurisdictional conference delegates. On Sept. 1, she will become one of nine active bishops in the Northeastern Jurisdiction, which includes 13 annual (regional) conferences from Maine to
West Virginia.

A consecration service for Johnson is set for 11:15 a.m. on July 18 at Grace United Methodist Church. Geographical assignments for the jurisdiction' s bishops will be announced earlier
that day. Endorsed by the Baltimore-Washingto n Conference and the Association of
Physically Challenged Ministers, Johnson was elected on the 10th ballot, receiving 163 of 248
votes cast. The Northeastern Jurisdiction has two retiring bishops, Bishop Violet L. Fisher of
Rochester, N.Y., and Bishop Susan Morrison, who took early retirement. Because of a planned change in annual conference boundaries and a reduction from 10 to nine episcopal
areas in 2010, only one new bishop was elected.

Johnson has been actively involved in the United Methodist Congress of the Deaf since
1988 and has supported a deaf ministry effort in Zimbabwe through her conference. Since 1995, she has been an adjunct faculty member at Wesley Theological Seminary. She served as a General Conference delegate from 1996 through 2008; was a member of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry from 1996 to 2000; served as a consultant on deaf ministry for the Board of Global Ministries from 2001 to 2004 and was a member of the NEJ episcopacy committee from 2000 to 2004. Johnson received "The Circuit Rider of the Year Award" from the United Methodist Publishing House in 1990 and "The Pillar of Faith Award" from
Howard Divinity School in 2006. She earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa., in 1975, a master of divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., in 1980 and a doctor of ministry degree from Wesley in 1993. Besides Christ Church , she has served at Fulton-Siemers Memorial and Lansdowne United Methodist churches in Baltimore and the Mount Pleasant charge in Frederick, Md.
She also was chaplain at Gallaudet University in Washington from 1985 to 1986. Johnson received the "HIV/AIDS Activist Award" from the Family Service Foundation of Baltimore in 2004 and the "Helping Hand Award" from the Maryland Association of the Deaf in 1991 and 2005. She currently is a part of the Maryland Governor's Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Mental Health Task Force.

A United Methodist bishop in the United States is elected for life and, although eight years is the standard term for a bishop to serve in an episcopal area, it is not unusual for a bishop to be assigned to one area for 12 years for "missional reasons." Bishops are charged by the church's Book of Discipline to "lead and oversee the spiritual and temporal affairs" of the church and
to "guard, transmit, teach and proclaim, corporately and individually, the apostolic faith as
it is expressed in Scripture and tradition, and, as they are led and endowed by the Spirit, to interpret that faith evangelically and prophetically.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom. org