Reverend Roy Retires After 22 Years

The hospital was his church

By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn

HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. – Pastor Roy Johnson has walked the halls of Betsy Johnson Hospital for 22 years tending to the needs of anyone and almost everyone who stepped onto his path. Patients, families, hospital staff and contractors all know him. He’s Reverend Roy.

And for 22 years the hospital has been Reverend Roy’s church and its many, changing occupants have been his flock. This week will be his last week.

At the age of 88 he’s retiring from his third and most meaningful career and looks forward to a future with more time for family, friends and the “great physician.”

“God … deserves all the glory, because I feel confident he opened this door for me and has blessed me with the love and desire to serve and to have kept me in good health. I do feel confident that the timing is right and that my successor will do a good job and, of course, (for) my future ministry, my prayer is to listen and to be obedient and to enjoy every day,” Johnson said.

Cape Fear Valley Health’s Chief Operating Officer Michael Tart, who also serves as president of Cape Fear Valley Harnett Healthcare, said he’s seen many referrals and consultations in his time, but maybe none quite as special as Johnson’s.

“I appreciate the consults that you’ve made with the great physician and the introductions that you’ve made to him, the referrals that you’ve made to him, to staff, to patients, to family members. The difference that you’ve made goes on throughout eternity,” Tart told Johnson at a special retirement party Friday afternoon.

Harnett Health’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Olalekan Tokumbo “Toks” Folarin was still on leave, recovering from a medical condition, when he made a special visit to Johnson’s ceremony.

“We’ve seen a lot of patients at their low moments, family at their low moments, and you’ve been able to comfort them,” Folarin told his friend. “… It’s always good when you see somebody that has the Holy Spirit.”

Folarin said that he used to seek out Johnson to “tap” some of his energy before seeing patients.

“There are times when I tell some patients, you don’t need me, you need Pastor Roy,” he said with a chuckle. “I just pray that whatever it is that God is setting you up for that you continue to blossom, you continue to be blessed.”

One by one, Johnson’s colleagues took the podium to share their appreciation of the man who covered them in prayer. But 40 years ago, Johnson didn’t know his path would lead him there.

He started his career as a businessman, running the IGA grocery store for 22 years. Then he became a restaurateur, owning and operating Roy’s Family Restaurant for 21 years. In 1991, he was called into ministry at the age of 53. He became a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God and started as a police chaplain in 1994 — a position he held for 25 years. He was ordained in 2000.

Johnson started as a staff chaplain at WakeMed in 2001. He earned his bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministries from Heritage Bible College the following year and moved his full-time ministry to Betsy Johnson Hospital on Feb. 4, 2004.

“… Being a hospital chaplain takes a very specific, extraordinary kind of calling,” said Kelly Honeycutt, director of administrative operations at Cape Fear Valley Harnett Healthcare. “You have to be part counselor, part prayer warrior, part listener, and — let’s be honest — part Olympic marathon runner given how many miles Pastor Roy walks through these hallways every single day.”

Honeycutt led the special retirement party for Johnson inside the hospital’s cafeteria on Friday afternoon.

“Pastor Roy, you have walked into rooms during some of the darkest, hardest moments of people’s lives, and somehow, you always manage to bring the peace and light of Christ right in with you,” Honeycutt told Johnson inside the crowded cafeteria. “Whether it’s sitting quietly with a grieving family, offering a quick word of encouragement to an exhausted nurse in the hallway, or holding the hand of someone who just needed to know they weren’t alone — you have been the hands and feet of Jesus in this hospital.

“… You’ve brought so much grace into these walls, but you’ve also brought so much joy and genuine warmth into my life and so many others,” Honeycutt said. “We are going to deeply miss your presence more than words can say. The hallways are going to feel a little different, but you will always be remembered here for your unwavering love and faith in Jesus.”

Johnson was a charter member of the Betsy Johnson Hospital Foundation when it formed in 2005. He’s continued his service on the board (now the Harnett Health Foundation) ever since. He plans to continue his work on the board, but he’ll miss the hospital.

And the hospital will miss him.