A Courageous Church: Loving Like Jesus, Acting For Justice, United In Hope
Welcome Pastor Corby!
The First United Methodist Church of Safford welcomes a new minister.
Pastor Corby J. Johnson has taken residence and started working at the Methodist church as of July 1, 2020.
Pastor Corby Johnson was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa but was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, where her mother still owns their original house. Her husband, Phillip, is a retired farmer, School bus and city bus driver. They met at his family's church...His mother thought he should come and meet the new girl in town. They have been married for 30 years and raised 3 children together, Brad manages "Smart Film" in Mesa, Kent rehabs houses and Rebecca just began a new job as an HR director for children in peril. All of them reside in Arizona and now they get to see them regularly!
As a youngster, she participated in a variety of neighborhood churches in activities such as Vacation Bible School, ice cream socials, and after school programs. In about 1992, she started in a church ministry position as a children’s minister in one town where she started a kids’ club called Treasure Team. Another town heard of the program and asked if she would do it there, also. In the end, she was working in children’s ministry in three different towns.
Pastor Corby Johnson attended a Presbyterian Seminary, which had a large contingent of United Methodist students. She says she speaks Presbyterian fluently. She was ordained in 2006. Pastor Johnson has been the pastor of four churches before Safford FUMC. She came to us from Casa Grande.
Pastor Johnson describes herself and her husband, who is a retired farmer, as “small town” people. She says smaller communities provide better personal interactions with people. She has found the people of Safford to be very friendly and welcoming.
Pastor Johnson wants the community of the Gila Valley to know that she is eager to meet people face to face. She enjoys working with other denominations and people of many walks of life. She is hoping to be in ministry together with this community.
Though the Methodist church is still not having in-church services, Pastor Johnson’s sermons can be seen live every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on the Methodist Church Face Book page. Past sermons can also be found there. She also does a daily, live devotional on Face Book at 10:00 a.m., Monday through Friday. So far, she has been covering the Psalms. Her last comment was that she really enjoyed being in ministry with others and the community, and that she is open to people contacting her to see how “…we can work together.”