Hi, my name is Rev. Dr. Sharri Johnson, and I am the Senior Minister and lead faculty for One Heart Retreats. This is how I came to be here:
I have spent my life in search of spiritual understanding, as an educator, mother, friend and practitioner. My goal is to continue that search, to be like a spiritual tree – as my high school biology teacher said, “Trees never die from old age, they only die when some outside force causes them to stop growing” – to me that is the epitome of “staying open at the top”. In fulfilling this goal, I hope to be a model, a teacher, and a facilitator of growth for all who cross my path.
Although I was born in Junction City, Kansas, I have lived in 37 states, and been the “new kid in school” 38 times, not counting teaching appointments. I graduated from high school in Irving, Texas. After two marriages, each producing one child, had ended in divorce, I realized I really needed to go back to college and get a degree that would enable me to support and educate my children. I enrolled at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and completed a B.S. in Mathematics in three years, working 40 hours per week at the same time. By the time graduation rolled around, I had married a professor, who adopted my daughter and I prepared to go to graduate school, so that I could teach college. I completed my Master of Computer Studies degree in 14 months by taking classes in the summer, followed by fall and spring semesters, and finishing up in the second summer. I then taught college for 17 years, even going so far as to write a Computer Science textbook, before I discovered my true calling of ministry.
A great deal happened in those 17 years: my husband, who was in the throes of alcoholism, and unwilling to consider any spiritual path, reached rock bottom, and I went through a third divorce. I had an automobile accident that was my responsibility and the man in the other car died. My first grandson was born. My son, his father, who had been diagnosed as bipolar, but refused to take medication, took his own life. In my life I have been exposed to addiction in a spouse, bipolar disorder that eventually led to my son’s suicide, bankruptcy and divorce. My youngest sister a lesbian who just married her partner of 27 years, so I have experienced, through her, the is challenges of sexual discrimination. All of these experiences seem to me to be wonderful on-the-job training for ministry, and that has helped me to thrive and to help others thrive as well.
When I finally accepted the call to ministry, with some trepidation, I asked in prayer for guidance regarding my ministry (I did not see myself as a pulpit minister) and I received an astounding and detailed vision of a retreat center in the mountains. I followed that vision for over 20 years, convinced that it came direct from the Divine Mind. I even found a husband who was at the end of a 40-year career in hotel management, and saw my vision of ministry as the next logical and spirit-driven step for him. He supported me through Ministerial training and spent most of his time searching for the “right” site. In my final term of seminary, he found a site outside Marshall, AR.
My husband and I liquidated all of our assets, sold our house and most of what was in it (I even sold most of my 30-year collection of dragons!), in order to bring this vision into manifestation. Then we set out to purchase and equip One Heart Retreat Center outside Marshall, Arkansas. We moved here in the middle of October, 2017. There were physical and financial challenges with the property, but we KNEW this was where we were meant to build.
On February 19, 2018, my husband was quite unexpectedly diagnosed with acute small-cell lung cancer that had metastasized to his brain, his spine, his liver, and his adrenals. On March 19, 2018, he made his transition. He chose not to have a memorial service, donated his body to science, and requested that donations be sent to One Heart Retreat Center in lieu of flowers. His only request of me was that I keep One Heart alive and fulfill the vision we had shared for so long. The rest, as they say, is history!