For the past

few years. Johnson also has served as vicar of the Church of the Good

Shepherd in Milledgeville.

Johnson is

a graduate of Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., and will receive a Master

of Ministry degree from St. Michael's Seminary later this year.

A native of

Clayton, Johnson was licensed and then ordained in the Assemblies of God,

and served as an assistant pastor at Trinity Fellowship in Sharpsburg.

In 1996, he was ordained into the priesthood of the Evangelical Episcopal

Church at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Oklahoma City. Later that

year, he was received into the Charismatic Episcopal Church during services

in Black Mountain, N.C.

Johnson has

served as the chaplain for the Peachtree City Police Department, earning

several ribbons for service.

"We are

really going to miss Mark," said Peachtree City Police Chief James

Murray. "He was always available whenever we called on him. He did

a lot of good work for us."

Both the Right

Rev. John Holloway, Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia, and the Rev. Canon

David Epps, rector of Christ the King, agreed that, "Father Mark

is one of the most faithful servants in the diocese." Holloway recommended

Johnson for the position in Wilmington.

Johnson's wife,

Natalie, also has been an active participant in the church, preparing

the historical scrapbooks and teaching a parenting course. She has been

a leader at Trinity Christian School where the Johnson children have been

enrolled and, this year, successfully coordinated a major fund raiser

. She also has been active in ministry to nursery-age children at Christ

the King.

Johnson's two

older children, Hannah and Emily, Have served the church as acolytes and

nursery assistants.

Epps said,

"Mark and I have been together in ministry for almost 17 years. I

feel a sense of loss as Mark prepares to leave but I also feel like a

proud father who is watching a son excel and grow. The people of Wilmington

are getting a wonderful family."

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