Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Troy United Women’s League 2020 Scholarship Banquet Celebrating Black History Month will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, February 29 at the Troy University Trojan Center Ballroom.

Tickets are available by calling Lee Scott, TUWL president, at 670-2585.

The league will honor the recipients of the 2020 Troy United Women’s League Scholarships.

Joseph Fred “Pastor Joe” Johnson, senior pastor of Mount Hebron Church Ministries in Mobile, will be the keynote speaker for the annual scholarship banquet.

Shelia Jackson, TUWL member, said Johnson was a keynote speaker at the 2019 Leadership Conference.

“Pastor Joe is such a dynamic speaker that we wanted to have him back as the keynote speaker for our 2020 Scholarship Banquet,” Jackson said. “We are looking forward to having him. He will inspire and motivate us to do great things in our communities.”

Johnson grew up in New Orleans and was educated in the public school system. After completing high school, he enrolled at Xavier University in New Orleans, where he attended for two years before joining the United States Air Force in 1974. Johnson was later deployed and to England to serve in Operation Desert Storm.

During his tour of duty, Johnson was responsible for setting up medical (M.A.S.H.) units before retiring with the rank of Master Sergeant in January 1994, capping 20 years of service.

The Johnsons moved back to Mobile immediately upon his military retirement, and he began teaching in the Mobile County Public School System.

In August of 1993, Johnson accepted his calling to the ministry, and three years later (1996) became pastor of the then Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church. Under his leadership, over 40 new ministries were added to meet the needs of a growing congregation, and membership grew from 200 to 1,150 by December 2001. To accommodate the congregation’s rapid increase, two additional worship services were added.

Johnson led the church in purchasing two old car dealerships that soon became the site of a new sanctuary, and is now The Bright Spot, a multipurpose church facility.

At present, the church owns 25 acres of land, 12 of which are interstate property. The church membership is more than 5,000 and is steadily increasing. Under Johnson’s guidance, the church now has its own Family Life Center, Christian Child Care Development Center, Youth Center and Café.