My name is Deacon Johnny Williams and for the past 27 years, my wife Sondra and I have been parishioners here at the Cathedral.  For many of those years, we served primarily in music ministry in both the Cathedral Choir and with the Adult Contemporary Choir.  In 2015, I answered the call from God to discern for the Permanent Diaconate Program, and after a four year formation period, I received the Sacrament of Holy Orders on June 22, 2019 here in my home parish.  I was blessed to have been assigned to the Cathedral as a deacon and have begun to grow and to learn in this new role of service to the Church.
 
Sondra and I have two daughters and a son who received many of their sacraments at Nativity.  We have been blessed with two sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law, along with five grandsons, and I can truly say that being a grandparent is one of my greatest blessings!  I hold both a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Social Work and I am licensed by the State of Mississippi as a Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW).  Since 2001, I have been employed with Memorial Hospital at Gulfport as a medical social worker, Coordinator of Customer Relations, and most recently as Director of Patient/Customer Satisfaction.
 
Ministry in the Church is sometimes challenging, but always rewarding.  It is amazing to have the opportunity to share my faith with others, and so awesome to see them grow in faith and in love as they encounter the living God through the Scriptures, the Liturgy, and through their personal encounters with the individual members of the Mystical Body of Christ.  I thank God for placing me here at the Cathedral on my faith journey with a such a wonderful group of faithful and loving people.