Johnnie Colemon
Johnnie Colemon was the founder of several large organizations within the African-American New Thought movement, including Christ Universal Temple and the Universal Foundation for Better Living. The Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary is named in her honor.
Colemon was born in Centerville, Alabama on February 18, 1920 but her family moved to Columbus, Mississippi at an early age, and she identified more with that location as her birthplace, leading others to misidentify Columbus, Mississippi as her place of origin. She attended Union Academy High School and graduated from Wiley College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1943. She then taught at schools in Mississippi and Chicago.
Colemon was ordained as a Unity Minister in 1956 and promptly founded Christ Universal Temple, a Chicago-based megachurch. In 1974 Colemon founded the Universal Foundation for Better Living, "an international association of Bible-based New Thought Christian churches, centers, and study groups." She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1987.
Colemon retired in 2006. She died at Mercy Hospital in Chicago on December 23 at the age of 94.
