Called to help

DOVER — When Malcolm Johnson describes the moment when he received his calling from God to go into ministry, he likens the conviction he felt then to the feeling of falling in love.

The 54-year-old sixth-term mayor of the small town of Dover began preaching in 1979, and has since then worked for 30 years as a pastor in churches in Faison, Trenton, Vanceboro, Kinston, and most recently, in Wilson.

In May, he was elected to be the general vice bishop for the General Assembly, which is the governing body of the Church of Christ that he said has about 4,000 members.

Thinking back to the moment when he first felt the “spirit speaking to me,” Johnson said that it was a moment when he just knew it was time for change.

“It was just a time to change, when you know, even in your heart, it was a time to change,” he said. “Like you know you’re falling in love, or you’ve met Mr. Right or Ms. Right. It was just a time.”

As a church leader, Johnson said he’s helped churches through various stages of development. He’s helped to build a church from the ground up, and helping to grow others whose congregations have split apart.

Through his work, he’s gone on 10 missionary trips to western regions of Ghana in the last 12 years. He was made an honorary tribal chief in the Western African country because of his work preaching and trying to improve the standard of living for the people there.

Although he’s received that honor, Johnson said that the most rewarding aspect of ministry has been the times when he’s been able to help someone overcome drug or alcohol addictions — or just to become a better person — through faith.

“I think that’s the greatest reward, to know that I’ve helped lead somebody to Christ,” he said.

As an example, Johnson said there are between 15 and 20 children who are now in various stages of their lives that he helped through college, or in other ways, that he considers part of his family, in addition to his own five daughters.

Johnson said he also tried to be a father-figure for the students he worked with while working at the Dobbs Youth Development Center juvenile corrections facility in Kinston. He worked there on the “graveyard shift” from midnight to 8 a.m. for nearly 24 years, while doing ministry work during the day.

The young men at Dobbs were there because they had committed larceny, breaking and entering or truancy, he said, and he tried to provide the students encouragement.

He was eventually able to see some of those that he “turned the key on” grow up to have successful careers.

“I’m just trying to be a blessing of other people,” he said. “I want to build a society where, not saying everybody’s the same, but nobody’s suffering. And through just working together, I want to make a better world, a better place, a better town, a better community. (I’m) just trying to make a better world.”

And though he said he’s been on each continent except for two, he said he’d never trade Dover for any other place to call home.

“I thank the Lord for the peace, the serenity and the praying people that are here,” he said. “This is a great area. It’s a great town.”

Laura Oleniacz can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at loleniacz@freedomenc.com.