By Raymond Jones
Entering the Germantown Seventh-day Adventist Church vestibule, you are greeted with a board on the wall that displays the pictures of influential Black entrepreneurs.
Next to the Sabbath School Worship prayer schedule are the detailed accomplishments of Berry Gordy, John P. Johnson, and Madame C.J. Walker, among others — a unique welcome into a house of worship.
“When Jesus comes back, he’s not going to ask, ‘Hey Corey, how many people were in the building for two hours?
He’s going to ask, ‘When my people were hungry, did you feed them?’ said Rev. Corey Johnson, Germantown Seventh-Day Adventist’s newly installed pastor on September 9, 2023.
Johnson said his job is to represent the “relevancy” of people’s needs — economic, physical as well as spiritual. Johnson joins his congregation every 3rd Saturday of the month at 2:00 PM, on the corner of Wayne and Chelten Avenue for a food grab and go giveaway.
In addition, the congregation has put together hygiene kits for residents in need who live close to the church.
A native of the Yorktown section of North Philadelphia, Johnson grew up with parents that introduced him early in the Adventist Christian school tradition. He attended the Larchwood Seventh Day of Adventist Church, where his grandmother taught for 30 years.
A third-generation graduate of Oakwood College, he met his wife Morgan, the daughter of Rev. Alyn E. Waller, senior pastor of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, when they were both students attending school in Alabama.
They are the parents of a baby girl, Cori.
To the 32-year-old pastor, his is an activist ministry and a personal calling to bring attention to issues that are of relevance in people’s lives.
“Child hunger, the controlling of wom-
en’s bodies, Black maternal mortality rates those are spiritual issues, and the church exists to say this is not just a policy problem, this is not just a political problem, these are spiritual issues,” Johnson said.
Johnson gained his experience pastoring a church in Newark, New Jersey, then later at a church in Trenton.
Johnson balances his preaching with his public policy stances and hands-on community outreach, with a special focus on empowering people to advocate for themselves.
Historically, there has been an elite class speaking for the most vulnerable population, he said.
“I see my job as providing platforms for vulnerable populations to speak for themselves with my support,” Johnson said.
For more information about the church’s programs and outreach activities, visit: www.germantownsdachurch.com.
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