Rev. Angéle Saunders Johnson, M.Div. is the Executive Director of Disciples Women Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She began her tenure on August 16, 2021. In this capacity, her focus is on transforming Disciples Women Ministries through fundraising, sustainable program development and expansion, and perpetuating the wellbeing and growth of Disciples Women as they seek to live out their vocation in ways that and impactful.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Rev. Johnson earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in the field of Sociology from Alabama A&M University (Normal, Alabama), a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University School of Divinity and Kelly Miller Smith Institute Certificate in Black Church Studies. There, her thesis, A Movement for Wholeness: Pastoral Care of Marginalized Communities Based on King’s View of the Church, received Honors Distinction. Her graduate work also includes coursework in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, North Carolina). Rev. Johnson expanded her professional skillset by completing both a 12-week internship and a yearlong residency with Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) as a chaplain in the Atrium Healthcare System (Charlotte, NC) focusing her work on patients with critical neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
With more than 20 years of corporate, faith-based, and community nonprofit experience, Rev. Johnson is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has served in several capacities that include, New Covenant Christian Church (Nashville, Tennessee), Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church (Memphis, Tennessee), Region of Tennessee Pro-Reconciliation/Anti-Racism Commission, and the Healthy Boundaries Training Team of the Region of Tennessee. Rev. Johnson is a trained organizer through the Gamaliel Network and an active member of several professional and civic organizations where she furthers her work as God’s conduit of help to all people, especially to those who have been deemed as power minorities by hegemonic systems that continually oppress children of God. As such, acting as God’s hands and feet on the ground in a way that promulgates physical, mental, spiritual and social (justice) healing is paramount to everything Rev. Johnson does as she represents the radical love of Jesus Christ in her work. She believes that now is the time for the Church to act against all systems that threaten the health and wellness of those that come under the sound of God’s voice.
Rev. Johnson is married to Rev. Robert L. Johnson. Together, they enjoy the company of their children, Benjamin and Blake; twin sons Michael, and Mason; and their bossy German Shepherds, Bella and Beaux.