Reverend Dr. Wayne Arthur Johnson, Sr., B.A. M.Div., D.D.

The Reverend Wayne Arthur Johnson, Sr. was born in New York, New York and is the son of the late Elder Arthur N. Johnson and the late Dorothy Elizabeth Kingcade-Johnson.  He was educated in the New York City School System and graduated in June 1970 from Flushing High School, Flushing, NY.  

Upon completion of High School he enrolled at Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY.  In 1972, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and was honorably discharged in 1976. Upon completion of military service, he began employment with the United States Coast Guard maintaining various positions in a civilian capacity during the period 1976-1980 and 1985 –1990.  As a collateral duty assignment, he also served as a Human Relations Specialist for the Commander, Third Coast Guard District and Commander, Maintenance and Logistics Command, New York.     

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in psychology and a minor in history from the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY.  He earned the Master of Divinity Degree (M.Div.) from New Brunswick Theological Seminary and was awarded The Reverend James Edelman Prize in Preaching; an award which demonstrates excellence by exploring the nature and development of preaching in a given ecclesiastical tradition. In recognition for the contributions made on behalf of the ecumenical and religious communities; he was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Monrovia College.

Ordained as an itinerant deacon in 1977 and an itinerant elder in 1979 in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, by the late Bishop Richard Allen Hildebrand, his pastoral assignments within African Methodism began in 1980. He has pastored congregations in New York, Western New York and Delaware (the First Episcopal District), Oklahoma and Arkansas (the Twelfth Episcopal District). He also served as pastor of Historic St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church, Wilmington, NC.  He enthusiastically served as the under-shepherd of Shiloh AME Church, Morganton, NC for 8 years. On June 13, 2025, at the seat of the 133rd Western North Carolina Annual Conference, he was appointed Pastor of Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, Hillsborough, NC where he proudly serves and has already made a difference in the life of the Church (the Second Episcopal District). While in the First and Twelfth Episcopal Districts, he also served as a Presiding Elder. He is the former chairman of the Ministerial Roundtable of Wilmington, NC and currently serves as an instructor on the Board of Examiners and the Chairman of the Memoirs Committee of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. He served as the Chairman of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Morganton, NC for 6 years.

Dr. Johnson is married to the former Fredia Ann Hanley of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  She is the immediate past president of the Connectional Ministers Spouses Widows and Widowers Organization plus Preacher’s Kids of the African Methodist Episcopal Church serving from 2006-2014. They are the parents of seven children and have seventeen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

As a lover of music, especially the organ, at “Allen, AMEC, Jamaica, NY”, he served as assistant organist to the late Mrs. Edith White Ming and his favorite hymn is “O Thou in Whose Presence”. His ultimate desire is expressed in the Latin phrase: “Soli Deo Gloria” - “To God alone be the glory”. In reflecting upon his call and response to the Christian ministry, the ecumenical community and service within the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Johnson’s response continues to be:

“So great a calling, so great a responsibility - the work is all divine”.