A new pastor for Bright Hope

The Rev. Kevin R. Johnson received some Tastykakes as a Christmas present last month, but the Harlem-based minister is holding off on eating the treats.

He wants them for dessert after he gets his teeth into his first-ever authentic Philadelphia cheesesteak.

And he will get to enjoy that steak as a new Philly resident: Johnson was elected yesterday to be the new senior minister of the renowned Bright Hope Baptist Church. He plans to move to the area sometime in the next month.

Bright Hope's pulpit committee announced its overwhelming recommendation of Johnson, 32, now an assistant pastor at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, to the 2,500-member congregation in November.

Yesterday, a ballot vote was held after Sunday morning services, with 96 percent of congregants giving Johnson a vote of confidence.

Pastor Emeritus Rev. William H. Gray III phoned Johnson in New York at 2 p.m. with the news.

"I thank God for that vote of confidence," Johnson said yesterday by phone in New York. "I believe the Holy Spirit is moving not only my life, but in the congregation of Bright Hope Baptist Church."

Johnson said he found the Bright Hope community to be the "most loving congregation that I have encountered in a long time."

Johnson will be the first new senior minister in 35 years - and will be the first person outside the Gray family to lead the church in 80 years. He begins as head pastor on Feb. 1 and will give his first sermon on Feb. 11, the 97th anniversary of Bright Hope's founding.

He also said he wants to initially "learn and observe" Philadelphia and the church.

From there, the married father of two - his wife, Kimya, is an attorney - hopes to develop a comprehensive community development program that will address issues such as education, housing, care for senior citizens, and social justice.

Abyssinian Baptist was once led by New York's first elected African-American congressman, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. That church and Bright Hope share a similar history of political activism and civil rights advocacy, so Johnson's election is a natural fit, said Gray.

"He's been tutored by some of the best men in the country," such as Calvin O. Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist, and Otis Moss, head of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Gray said.

Johnson also has extensive training in urban ministry and "has excellent academic credentials, which we know are correct," Gray said, a reference to a former Bright Hope minister, the Rev. Cean James.

James had been expected to take over from Gray on June 1, 2005, after six years with the church, until it was revealed by the Daily News that he had not received his undergraduate degree at Florida A&M University nor the post-graduate degrees he claimed to have earned. James soon left the church.

This time around, said Gray and pulpit committee members, applicants under consideration were required to authorize schools to send their transcripts. The church constitution states that the senior minister must have a theological degree from an accredited seminary, and one can get into such a seminary only with a degree from an accredited college.

Also, the church hired a legal firm to do credit and legal background checks as well as to research the resumes of serious applicants, Gray said.

"We learned," he said.

"Our church has demonstrated our great faith, grace and strength under fire," he said. "The church has continued to grow . . . despite being lied to, never apologized to and having hearts broken," Gray said.

Johnson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and has a degree in theology from Union Theological Seminary.

Johnson said it's clear that Bright Hope church members love God and the church. "When you have that combination, you cannot help but fall in love. I look forward to being married to Bright Hope for a long time." *