A Pastor Like No Other

I met Pastor Renelle Johnson for the first time in May 2014. He had just started the RC DMV church a few months before. A close friend of mine, Krystle Uche, was the church’s administrator and had invited me to attend service with her one Sunday. I grew up in the church so I had seen and heard a lot of pastors and preachers in my lifetime. I remember a time in my childhood that my parents would drag us to multiple churches in one weekend. There was Pastor Cornellius Ritau in Long Beach, Pastor Om Donald in West Covina, New Joy in Fountain Valley, and then Om Gene Ho’s church in Orange.  However, they were my parents’ pastor and not my own. I couldn’t relate to their ministry. I couldn’t really understand their sermons. I didn’t feel any impact on my life. I honestly didn’t really understand what faith was. This is probably why when I moved out on my own for college that I lost my way and didn’t really attend church for a long time. In May 2014, everything changed. From the  moment I met Pastor Renelle Johnson, I knew I had found MY pastor. If sheep need a shepherd, and I’m a sheep when it comes to my spiritual faith, I decided I needed Pastor Ren to be my shepherd.

They say people don’t remember what you say to them, but they remember how you made them feel. I can’t remember what Pastor Ren’s sermons were back in 2014 but I remember that they made me feel like God had a plan for me, that God loves me, He sees me, He forgives me, and He doesn’t judge me.  I was moving around a lot at the time so I couldn’t attend RC DMV in person for very long. Pastor Ren began recording the services and uploaded them to YouTube so that I could watch the weekly services online. He invited me to be one of the first e-partners at the church, which allowed me to be a member of the church even though I didn’t attend the church in-person. He made me feel like I really belonged in the RC DMV church family, including me on the group text messages, GroupMe threads, and announcements. If I had any desire to fall out of my faith and the church, it wasn’t going to be on Pastor Ren’s watch. I had no choice but to be engaged. He continued to minister to me from afar and I faithfully watch the online services every week. Over time, I started attending local churches wherever I lived so that I could be in fellowship with other believers. This included Crossroads in Cincinnati, Mariners in Irvine, Hillsong United in New York City, and Lakewood Church in Houston. However, I continue to consider Pastor Ren as my pastor. 

In 2016, I decided I wanted to be baptized to signify a change in the way I was living. I asked Pastor Ren if he would baptize me and he agreed to baptize me on March 26, 2016. I didn’t really plan this well so I showed up in a nice black church outfit. I was told by the church leaders that I needed to wear something I could get wet in since I would be going down into a pool of water. I thought about this and pulled out a shirt that had the Wyzerr logo on it. I figured if I was getting baptized, I might as well have my company baptized too. It made sense for all of us to start over and submit our ways to God’s will. 

In 2019, when Jax was about 2 months old, I decided that I wanted to have Jax christened by Pastor Ren. We were living in California at the time so that meant I would need to fly to Washington DC. My mom suggested that we have him christened in her church, which was local to us so more of our family could attend the christening. Before she could even finish her thoughts, she realized this wasn’t up for discussion. I would go alone if I have to, but Pastor Ren was the only person that I wanted to christen Jaxon. To my surprise, a lot of people decided to come. All six of Jaxon’s godparents (Dom, Linh, Cas, Devon, James, and Shannon) flew to Washington DC to attend the christening. My mom flew to DC with Jax and I. Dave’s family traveled down from New York as well as his cofounder and his family. My friend Enzo, who lived in Baltimore, came down to the christening as well. I was grateful that everyone came to DC to witness Jaxon’s christening but I was more excited that everyone got to meet Pastor Ren and see how amazing he is since I talk about him a lot. 

In 2021, my son Jaxon became extremely sick. He suffered from seizures and I was at my wits end about what to do to help him. His illness created a lot of strain between Dave, Jaxon’s dad, and I. I think we were both very worried about what was happening to Jaxon, but rather than praying together about it, it caused us to fight over everything. We couldn’t seem to agree on anything. I eventually reached out to Pastor Ren for prayer and advice. What happened next really surprised me: Pastor Ren told me that he would fly down to Houston and pray for Jaxon, Dave, and I. The next week, he indeed made it down to Houston. He came over to Dave’s house and prayed over Jaxon. After Jaxon was fast asleep, he asked us what was going and how he could help. We held our very first co-parenting session with Pastor Ren that night. He listened carefully to each of our sides and weighed in on everything we had issues with, from Dave’s preference to have nannies in the house taking care of Jax, to my desire to have Jax attend church every Sunday. He gave us feedback and insight that really helped us. The next day, Pastor Ren came back to Dave’s house and met with him 1-on-1 without me around. I don’t know what the conversation was like, Dave and Pastor Ren never told me about what they discussed, but I feel like something changed in Dave that day. He texted me later on that night and said “I really like Pastor Ren.” That was it, but from that moment on, whenever we have major disagreements about anything, Dave’s go to line is “Let’s call Pastor Ren” or “Let’s see what Pastor Ren thinks.” To this day, Pastor Ren continues to counsel both Dave and I. 

These days I find myself quoting Pastor Ren quite a bit. One of my favorite lines that he says is “You have to participate in your miracle” which means you can’t just wait for a miracle to happen. You actually have to take action and do the possible so that God can do the impossible. I’ve found that Pastor Ren’s sermons and lessons are so easy to understand because he’s so relatable to my generation. I started quoting him to my friends and eventually, when they run into an issue, I tell them they should talk to Pastor Ren. Some of my friends, who don’t attend the church in person, now meet with Pastor Ren virtually to receive pre-marriage counseling and marriage counseling. This September, Pastor Ren will marry two of my friends in Austin. I think it will also be the first time he meets them in person, which is so crazy to me but exactly the way that God works.  God’s ways are not our ways.

For a long time, I attended church without ever developing a relationship with the Pastor. I think that’s okay if that’s where you are in your spiritual journey and you don’t feel like you need a personal relationship with a Pastor. As I think about it now, I don’t think I was even looking for a Pastor when I found Pastor Ren. It was almost like he found me. Shepherds have a way of finding their lost sheep. The only thing that helped my situation was that I was open to being led by Pastor Ren. He gave me accountability. He gave me direction on my faith journey. He brought me into a church family.  The church’s mission was now my mission too. I felt responsible for helping the church grow. It stretched my faith and made me uncomfortable sometimes, but I feel like it has helped me grow spiritually. It’s nice having a pastor that knows you well and knows your family too. I feel blessed that I have a pastor that I can turn to in my time of need. 

I know I’m biased but if you’re looking for a pastor, I highly recommend my Pastor Renelle Johnson. He is a true man of God. Everything he says is rooted in scripture. If he says anything that is contrary to what the Bible says, he has no qualms about following up and letting you know that he was wrong and made a mistake. I don’t think he’s ever given me any bad advice or feedback. He is originally from the United Kingdom but now calls Maryland home, where he lives with his wife Lady Meleasa Johnson, and three kids. He’s very active on his social media so you can find him here:  https://www.instagram.com/renellejohnson/