Bachelor of Arts, Wheaton College, 1965

Masters of Divinity, Evangelical Theological Seminary, 1968

Doctor of Ministry, United Theological Seminary, 1982
 

For fifty years Barry Johnson has been recognized as one of America’s outstanding preachers.  He retired in 2017 after twenty-five years as the Senior Minister of JupiterFIRST Church in Jupiter, Florida. 

Before assuming that role he served for ten years as the Senior Minister of First Community Church in Columbus, Ohio, for seven years as the Senior Minister of Shiloh Church in Dayton, Ohio and for four years as the Senior Minister of First United Methodist Church in Bensenville, Illinois. 

He is the author of seven books including Sometimes There’s A Hole in The Ceiling, published by Abingdon Press in 1975, Choosing Hope published by Abingdon Press in 1988 and But Now! published by Essence Publishing in 2009.

Writing in The Columbus Citizen-Journal columnist George Plagenz observed:
 

“As a preacher, Johnson beats anything I’ve heard in a long time.  Shunning both pulpit and notes, he is as easy to listen to as Hal Holbrook doing Mark Twain.  He combines the storyteller’s art with the skilled speaker’s ability to point a lucid and cogent lesson through all he says.”