“Grow where you are planted.” The phrase reminds us that we do not always need to go far to make a difference—to serve God and others faithfully. Sometimes we simply need to say “yes” to the opportunities God gives us, right where we are.
Jean Johnson of Hedding United Methodist Church is a living testament to this truth. On Sunday, September 14th, she retired from an astounding seventy-year tenure as the church’s organist. Her decades of service grew from seeds planted in childhood—an early embrace of circumstance and possibility—and were nurtured by each faithful yes along the way.
Serendipitous Beginnings
If you had told ten-year-old Jean that she would become a church organist, let alone that she would play for seventy years, she most likely would not have believed you. She began piano lessons at age six, but when her piano teacher became unavailable, she stopped playing and had no desire to start again. In fact, when her family later moved to a new home, they didn’t even bring the piano with them!
But as providence would have it, the previous owners of their new home had left behind a piano—albeit an old, out-of-key one—and despite her lack of interest, Johnson found herself back at the keys. “Since there was no kids in the neighborhood and by the time we did our chores…there was really nothing to do except homework, so I started playing the piano,” she recalls.
She soon resumed lessons, but her new teacher insisted that Johnson could not really be taught how to play unless she had a decent instrument. So, Johnson’s parents offered to buy her a new piano for Christmas. Together, they went to the store, found the perfect instrument, and her parents went into the office to arrange payment. But again, God had different plans. Young Johnson remained in the showroom—where she heard a salesperson playing something with a little more pizzaz: a Hammon Spinet organ.
“Oo, that’s pretty,” she said. Before long, Johnson was playing “Silent Night” on its electric keys.
Her parents came back into the showroom. “Would you rather have an organ instead of a piano?” her father asked.
“Yeah, I would,” she replied.
However, it was not long before another wrinkle appeared—her piano teacher didn’t teach the organ! But as luck would have it, Johnson had a relative, George, who happened to be taking organ lessons from famed television organist, Larry Ferrari. When George heard that Johnson’s family had an organ at home, he asked if he could use it to practice. That was how Johnson learned to play the organ—by observing George, asking questions, and using her piano books to teach herself. She never had a single formal organ lesson.
Growing Together
Shortly thereafter, the ladies at Hedding UMC learned that Jonhson had an organ at home and were eager for her to fill in when the regular organists were unavailable. Johnson was hesitant; at only fourteen and without any formal training, she didn’t feel confident playing for Sunday worship. However, the need arose, and Johnson said yes. She picked up a hymnal, substituted practice for confidence, and began playing when she was needed.
Two years after Johnson graduated high school, in 1960, she was officially offered the job of organist and never looked back. Reflecting on those early years, Johnson says, “People were gracious, and they knew that I didn’t have a musical history.” Though she was nervous, Johnson says, “they were all friends of my family and we just kinda clicked. They were okay if I made a mistake. I was not okay with myself if I did. But they were okay and over the years, you just learn.”
Over the next six plus decades, Johnson grew not only in musical ability but in her relationship with the church and with God. Johnson shares how Hedding UMC loves to sing the old, familiar hymns, “and when they do,” she says, “the church really, well, it doesn’t shake, but you can see it vibrating… I love to play when I hear them singing like that and it’s just like…you’re kinda married to the congregation. You know how they sing, you know what they wanna sing.”
As organist, Johnson played for the congregation’s most meaningful milestones—baptisms, weddings, funerals—and became an ever-present part of their weekly rhythm. Rev. Garey Hope, who served as Hedding’s pastor from 1965 to 1999, estimates that Johnson has played over 350 weddings and an astounding 14, 000 hymns in her many years of service.
The congregation has likewise walked with Johnson through her own life’s joys and sorrows —getting married, the birth of her son, Paul, her and her husband’s battles with cancer, and the deaths of her mother and husband. When Johnson’s mother’s health prevented her from watching young Paul during worship, he sat beside her on the organ bench while she played. When he was even smaller, she wrapped her arms around him to play.
Johnson’s fierce commitment and willingness to serve went beyond her role as organist. Rev. Hope says, “As long as I can remember, Jean’s been the same. Whenever you ask her to do something, she always says yes.” Her friends Karen and Bill Walder remember when she opened her home to children who were frightened and in need, giving them home-cooked meals, stability, and a Christmas to remember. From the organ bench to her own living room, Johnson’s heart for service has touched countless lives, blending her family’s story with that of the congregation she has loved for decades.
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
After devoting so much time and love to her role as the organist at Hedding UMC, when Johnson made the decision to retire, a true celebration was in order. Johnson laughed, “[Pastor] Skitch told me right at the very beginning, ‘We’re gonna celebrate you.’ I said, ‘No, you’re not.’ He said, ‘Oh, yes, we are.’”
On Sunday, September 14th, the sanctuary was filled with longtime members, friends, and family. During worship, Rev. Erik ‘Skitch’ Matson presented Johnson with a bouquet of flowers in rich shades of pink, purple, and cream. He invited Rev. Hope and the Walders forward to share memories of Johnson’s ministry and deep gratitude on behalf of the congregation.
During the Children’s Time, Rev. Matson invited anyone who had learned, “Jesus Loves Me,” from Johnson over the years to come forward. They filled the front of the church and performed a heartwarming rendition of the song to Johnson’s accompaniment on the piano. A middle-aged man joined her on the bench—her son, Paul—the same seat he occupied decades before as a young boy. The moment was a snapshot of Johnson’s legacy of love in the community.
After the service, the celebration continued in the church’s fellowship hall with cake, refreshments, and more laughter. Johnson moved with delight from table to table, chatting with congregation members who feel like family and with family who were part of the congregation that day. A few weeks later, on Saturday, October 4th, the church hosted a special dinner in Johnson’s honor where more laughter and stories were shared around the table.
The Next Faithful Yes
So, what’s next for Johnson? “I’m looking forward to doing what I’m doing—sitting in the back pew with my son and his wife. That happened to be the pew that my mother sat in and my grandparents and my dad…So that’s where I am…and that’s where I want to be.” Although Johnson will be sitting in the back pew, she certainly does not plan to sit idle.
In faithfulness to who God has called her to be, Johnson will continue to grow where she is planted, to say yes to the opportunities in her path: “As long as I’m able, I’ll continue to do whatever needs to be done or whatever I’m asked to do.” Already, Johnson has helped with the church’s annual Oyster Supper and she is now preparing for the Christmas bazaar with the church’s sewing group. At home, Johnson cares for several animals on her small farm. “I love them. Gets me up and moving,” she says.
Johnson’s life is a shining example of what can happen when someone keeps saying yes—yes to God, yes to community, yes to serving with the gifts they have. She didn’t wait to feel ready or qualified. She simply grew where she was planted. And over seventy faithful years, that growth has borne beautiful fruit—music that lifts the soul, relationships that sustain, and a legacy of love that will continue to echo through Hedding UMC’s sanctuary for years to come.