Bishop’s Biography
Native Baltimorean and intuitive visionary, is the beloved Pastor and teacher of the Mt. Pleasant Church and Ministries. He has been married to the former Dorothy King for over fifty years; they have five children and thirteen grandchildren. Since his Call to the Ministry in 1962, Pastor Johnson has distinguished himself as an author, a counselor, a tenacious builder, a faithful Ministry father, a gifted teacher, and an anointed preacher. Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. graduated from Kenwood High School in Baltimore County, Maryland as a celebrated athlete and student.
Following graduation, Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. pursued academic advancement through course work at the Baltimore College of Commerce and the Community College of Baltimore. Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. initiated his Christian education at the Baltimore School of the Bible where he majored in Bible Theology. He earned the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Pastoral Theology from the Washington Bible College and Capital Seminary. In 1975, the Virginia Seminary and College of Lynchburg, Virginia conferred upon Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. the Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.
As a passionate Bible scholar and an avid reader, Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. is a lifelong learner; he has also studied in the areas of psychology, Greek, and Evangelism. As Pastor of Mt. Pleasant, Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. has led the congregation from glory to glory. The glory began in 1970 when the Lord joined Clifford M. Johnson, Jr. to the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, then located at 1801 E. Preston Street. With passion and purpose, Pastor Johnson proceeded to admonish, exhort and nurture his sheep in the Word of God through the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the ever-present aid of his comforter, the Holy Spirit. In 1991, the Lord propelled Pastor Johnson’s visionary leadership to new challenges and opportunities with the purchase of 6000 Radecke Avenue. With the unfailing support of his officers and congregation, Pastor Johnson converted the Radecke Avenue site from a deteriorating shopping center that served the fleshly desires of man to a beautiful, 17-acre, multi-million dollar, meticulously built and crafted Ministry Campus that now addresses the spiritual needs of the Mt. Pleasant congregation, as well as its communities.
God’s glory continues to abide with Pastor and people. Since 1996, Mt. Pleasant Church and Ministries with over eight thousand members has continued to exercise a powerful, energetic witness at the local, state, and national levels, within political, civic and ecumenical church communities. Moreover, Pastor Johnson’s uniquely loving leadership has spawned diverse anointed ministries, including the Kingdom Men Bible Class, the Prison Ministry, the Adult Learning Center, the Word of Life Ministry for children, the Evangelism Ministry, the Food and Banquet Ministry, and the Lampstand Christian Bookstore. In addition, Pastor Johnson has established the Mt. Pleasant Christian School, which provides authentic academic and biblical education to children in grades preschool through six. Pastor Johnson’s teaching and preaching experiences are impressively vast and notably cross-cultural. His spiritual gifts, his strong character, his gentle demeanor, and his insightful knowledge of God’s Word have propelled him to honorable places where few have been invited. Within the State of Maryland and along the east coast, Pastor Johnson has taught life-changing lessons to Pastors and their congregations, particularly in the areas of discipleship and evangelism.
On the national level, Pastor Johnson serves as a faculty member for the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, the teaching arm of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. On the international level, Pastor Johnson has ministered in Canada, Sweden, France, and Africa. At the invitation of the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem, he stood and declared the Word of God in the Holy Lands at the Feast of Tabernacles, one of Israel’s highest holy days. Most recently, Pastor Johnson, as a member of the Baltimore Peace for the City organization, earned the distinction of the first African-American to preach and evangelize in the communist country of Cuba. Clifford M. Johnson, Jr., is God’s man, an awesome man, committed to the cause and call of the Lord Jesus Christ, compelling men to come in, that the Lord’s kingdom may be filled.