Rev. Nelson Johnson, interviewed by Otto Scharmer

"I think at the base of this new possibility is growing into a higher level of our humanity. I think we have to invent social structures that are reflective of that way of thinking."
Rev. Nelson N. Johnson, Pastor and Founder of Faith Community Church in Greensboro, NC, has been active in the movement for social and economic justice since high school in the late 1950’s. He served as a local and national student leader including Vice President of the SGA at North Carolina A&T State University, in Greensboro, NC in 1970. As a student leader, he worked closely with the local NAACP on voter registration, redevelopment, housing, education, open public accommodations and worker justice. Both survivors of the November 3, 1979 tragedy, he and his wife, Joyce, helped initiate and continue to be instrumental in the groundbreaking Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project (GTCRP). 
He continues to work for social and economic justice in Greensboro as the Executive Director of The Beloved Community Center of Greensboro. In addition, he is Vice-President of the Greensboro Pulpit Forum and Co-Chairperson of the Chicago-based Interfaith Worker Justice.
Guided by his multiple emphases of faith, diversity, justice and democracy, Rev. Johnson is actively building relationships with and providing leadership among faith groups, organized labor, and community organizations in Greensboro and the south in the form of the Southern Faith, Labor and Community Alliance. Some of the most significant initiatives he has been involved with in Greensboro have been the successful K-Mart labor struggle in the late 1990’s and two current initiatives, the historic Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Process and the Justice at Smithfield Workers Campaign. Rev. Johnson and his wife Joyce were recognized for their work through the prestigious Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World Award. Rev. Johnson is a native of Halifax County, NC.
Rev. Johnson received a baccalaureate degree in political science from North Carolina A&T State University and a Master of Divinity Degree from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He is married to Joyce Hobson Johnson, and they have two daughters, Ayo Samori Johnson, a registered nurse and certified recreational therapist, and Akua Johnson‐Matherson, a university administrator. Rev. Johnson and Joyce are also the proud grandparents of three granddaughters, Alise, Imani and Nia Matherson.