William R. Johnson

William R. Johnson (sometimes referred to as Bill Johnson was a United Church of Christ minister.

He was the first openly gay pastor to be ordained within a traditional Protestant denomination in 1972, co-founder of the Open and Affirming Coalition UCC and national coordinator from 1972 to 1977.

Biography He was born on June 12, 1946 in Houston, Texas.

He studied English at Elmhurst University in Illinois and earned a Bachelor of Arts in May 1968. In September, he began theology studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and became associate pastor at Community Church San Carlos (United Church of Christ). In 1970, he joined a support group for gay seminarians organized by the Graduate Theological Union. That same year, the group held a public forum on the topic of homosexuality and the church. The event attracted approximately 400 participants. At this public forum, Johnson revealed his sexual orientation and expressed his intention to be ordained in the United Church of Christ. He received a Master of Divinity in May 1971.

His ordination was approved by the San Francisco Bay area churches of the United Church of Christ on May 1, 1972. He was ordained a minister at Community Church San Carlos (United Church of Christ) on June 25, 1972.

He also studied education at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco and received a doctorate in May 1977.

In 1974, he co-authored the book with San Francisco State University professor Sally Miller Gearhart Loving Women/Loving Men: Gay Liberation and the Church, which argued that marriage is a covenant relationship, regardless of gender.

After moving to New York in 1977, he founded Maranatha: Riversiders for Lesbian/Gay Concerns at Riverside Church the following year, the first LGBT ministry in the United Church of Christ.

Recognition 1992: Elmhurst University Alumni Merit Award

2011: Founding of the William R. Johnson Intercultural Lecture at Elmhurst University, an annual conference on inclusive Christian churches.