Bios

Speaker: Rev. Dr. William J. Carl

In addition to serving as Pittsburgh Seminary’s fifth president, the Rev. Dr. William J. Carl III is a professor of homiletics. Before coming to the Seminary, Carl served as pastor of the 1,700-member First Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, for 22 years.

Carl graduated from the University of Tulsa with a bachelor’s in religion and philosophy. He earned his master’s of divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary where he was a Patterson Fellow in New Testament Greek. In 1977, he received his doctorate of philosophy in rhetoric and communication from the University of Pittsburgh where he also worked as an instructor. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1973.

Carl’s previous teaching experience includes associate professor of homiletics and worship and instructor of New Testament Greek at Union Theological Seminary (Va.). Thirty years ago, he was an instructor at Pittsburgh Seminary and more recently served as an adjunct professor at Austin Theological Seminary.

He has lectured at Oxford, Princeton, Boston University, the Moscow Theological Academy, the Kerala United Theological Seminary in India, the Beijing Theological Seminary in China, and dozens of other divinity schools and conferences both here and abroad. Carl has published six books, including his newest one The Lord's Prayer For Today (WJK, 2006) and more than 50 scholarly articles and reviews.

Carl is married to Jane. They have two sons: Jeremy, associate director of external affairs for National Credit Union Administration, and David, an actor in New York City, and a daughter-in-law (married to Jeremy), Melissa, who is a lobbyist for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

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Preacher: Rev. Dr. Marcell A. Johnson

Dr. Marcell Anthony Johnson was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as the second child of the late Joseph Johnson, Sr. and Pamela Freeman Johnson. He received his basic education in the public school system and graduated from the historic Capitol Senior High School. Rev. Johnson was baptized at the age of ten and became Prayer Leader for the Youth Fellowship at the age of eleven. He preached his first sermon at the age of 15. Reverend Johnson accepted the call to full time ministry in December 1985.

Rev. Johnson was the first and only member of his family to attend college. He has earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Psychology, St. Martin Community College, Olympia, WA; Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, Tacoma, WA; Master's of Divinity Degree, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA; The Doctor of Divinity, Faith Grant College, Birmingham, AL and five units of Clinical Pastoral Education, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL.

Rev. Johnson has built effective, Christ-centered, and progressive ministry while serving in the following areas: twenty-five years as pastor in the United Methodist Church; sixteen years as counselor in the hospital systems of Jefferson and Madison Counties; and Police Chaplain for both Madison County and the City of Huntsville. He is founder of Pneuma Ministries Community Development Inc., Pneuma Enterprises, the Huntsville Center for Clinical Pastoral Education, and Healthy Choice Ministries, which was a radio broadcast. He is currently in the process of establishing a facility, the Pam-Ruth Home, for women who suffer from chemical dependency and bipolar disorder. Currently, Rev. Johnson serves as Director of Pastoral Care at Huntsville Hospital.

Rev. Johnson is an Associate Minister at New Hope CPCA, where the Rev. Terry Ragland is Pastor.

The Reverend Johnson is married to the former Jeanette Ransom of Sparta, Georgia. They have a daughter, Kendra Dionne, and two sons, Marcell Anthony, II, and John Wesley Jeremiah.