It was a simple statement from a fifth grader. It turned out to be a good prognosis for Pastor Bill Johnson and his family.

The year was 1986 when Pastor Johnson and his family moved to Great Bend. He was set to take over as the minister at the First Christian Church. His son Eric was a 5th grader.

“Can we stay here until I get out of high school,” Johnson said Eric asked him.

Some 40 years later, Pastor Johnson, now retired, and his family is still here.

During those 40 years here in Great Bend, Pastor Johnson has made this place home. So much so, he plans to go on to eternity right here in Great Bend.

“This is home. This is where I will be buried,” Johnson said. “I had a seminary plot in Missouri but my son and I stopped in and loaded up my tombstone and brought it here.”

He has left his imprint on the community. But he remains humble about his legacy.

“Shoot, I get put on hold when I call up Dial a Prayer,” Johnson joked.

Johnson was born in 1943 in southeast Missouri. During high school in Poplar Bluff, he considered a career in ministry. But first, he spent four years in the US Navy, serving as a chaplain for a bit.

He graduated from St. Louis Christian College in 1974 and completed his seminary at Phillips University in Enid, Okla. in 1983, earning a Master in Divinity.

He served as a minister in Henryetta, Okla., from 1983-86.

“I met a lot of good people there,” Johnson said. “But we felt Great Bend was a good fit for us. It was bigger than Henryetta. It was about the size of the town I grew up in.”

So they made the move to central Kansas.

He came here in November of 1986, serving 27 years as the pastor at the First Christian Church before his retirement in 2014.

“The best part of the job is the people you meet,” Johnson said. “A lot of great people. Contractors, dentists, doctors, oil field workers, veterans. I’ve met a lot of great people.

“I met a man who went through the attack at Pearl Harbor. Someone who crash-landed in Iwo Jima. A man who was medic and was in on the liberation of one of (Adolph) Hitler’s concentration camps.

“I’ve heard some very interesting stories. Friends everywhere. I’ve got to know some super, super, super people.”

When he got to Great Bend, the First Christian Church, also called the Disciples of Christ, was located downtown at 1501 Broadway across from the old Roosevelt Junior High School.

“Early on we talked about some ground out on west Broadway,” Johnson said. “Finally in 1997 we went through the decision making process about building a new church on that ground.

“We broke land in 1997. Through 1998 we built the church and finally on the third Sunday in 1999 we held our first service in the new building. That was exciting. There is nothing like the excitement of building a new church. A lot of neat people made that possible. Lots of those souls are still with us.”

He retired in 2014, but he was far from done being at the pulpit.

Johnson spent some time on some interim ministries in Ellinwood and McPherson before spending several years at the Immanuel United Church of Christ in Ellinwood.

Finally, in 2021, he entered retirement for good. He will fill in on occasion for a funeral, but is done as a minister.

It was during his retirement Johnson was able to do something not many get the opportunity to do.

“I got to do the opening prayer on the House floor,” Johnson said.

In May of 2019, now Senator Roger Marshall, then a congressman, made it possible for Johnson to say the opening prayer on the floor of the US House of Representatives. Marshall was a member of his church. Johnson baptized his children and officiated his daughter’s wedding in Florida.

“It was an awesome experience,” Johnson said. “I would have never, ever dreamed I would be saying the opening prayer on the floor of the House. I was very nervous. It’s something I will always cherish.”

Ironically, at the age of 76 that year, he recalled his 8th grade history teacher back in Poplar Bluff as he ate lunch in the Congressional Dining Hall.

“I remember him telling us about a lawmaker who wanted some white beans and they didn’t have any in the dining hall so he introduced a bill to require white beans in the dining hall. I ate some that day as I thought back to 8th grade.”

The church is currently looking for a new minister at the moment. Josh Lu recently took a job just outside of Memphis.

But don’t look for Johnson, who will be 80 in September, to fill in.

“I am very much retired. I sit in my little corner of our church,” Johnson said. “I call it Amen Corner. My wife and I help with Wednesday night dinners, but other than that I just sit back, listen and keep my mouth shut.

“The church is extremely gracious to me and my family.”