Van Johnson was born September 9, 1949 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He attended New Bethel Baptist Church with his four siblings and parents, where he participated in the Youth choir, Sunday School, the Youth usher unit and the Boy Scouts. After graduating from high school in 1967, Van enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1968 and was honorably discharged in 1971 as a Security Police/Law Enforcement Patrolman after a tour in South Vietnam. He graduated from Parks College of St. Louis University in 1977, with a BS in Aeronautical Administration and Golden Gate University in 1985 with a MBA in management. Van worked in the corporate world and for the US Government from 1978 to 2012, as a Insurance Underwriter, Crew Scheduler, a Logistics Analyst, a Logistics Manager, and an International Program Manager. He was a volunteer, Support Group Facilitator, and a Board of Director member for Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., from 1991 to 2009.
Van's spiritual journey in New Thought began in 2003 by taking a JCTS course at Divinity Center for Better Living in Washington, DC, and later he became a core member of this Study Group. He enrolled in the JCTS Intensive Students Program in 2006, in pursuit of the UFBL Teacher License, but was not successful. Van completed the JCTI Master Certificate Program in 2007. When the new UFBL/JCTS Teacher Training Program was established in 2009, Van enrolled, and successfully completed the program in 2013. Van states..."This spiritual journey helped me to peel back layers of error beliefs about myself and made me aware of my Divinity as a child of God. " Van received his teaching license at our 40th Anniversary Celebration of UFBL during Panorama of Truth, 2014. Welcome teacher Van!