After walking through one of the deepest losses of his life, Bethel Church senior leader Bill Johnson is stepping into a new season marked by love, family and an unexpected new beginning.
Johnson recently announced his engagement to Linda Francoeur, sharing the joyful news publicly at the Southwest Believers’ Convention, and also revealing his new relationship status to his Bethel church family on July 26.
“I am engaged to be married,” Johnson told the convention crowd before asking Francoeur to stand. “We are getting married very soon.”
But perhaps the sweetest part of Johnson’s announcement was the story of how he proposed.
Johnson said he popped the question during a family gathering celebrating his July 18 birthday. He has a tradition of giving presents to his children and grandchildren on his own birthday, and after distributing their gifts, Johnson announced there was still one more.
Francoeur began looking around the room, apparently wondering who had been forgotten.
Then Johnson asked her to stand.
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“I went down on one knee,” he recalled. “I asked her to marry me, and my kids just cheered and just went, ‘This is great.’”
For Johnson, the enthusiastic response from his family appears to be an especially meaningful part of this new chapter. He told the crowd that Francoeur loves his family and that they are “so crazy about her.”
The engagement comes four years after Johnson experienced tremendous personal loss. His wife, Beni Johnson, died in July 2022 following a battle with cancer. Bill and Beni had been married for nearly five decades, raising a family together while serving in ministry.
And as Johnson made clear while announcing his engagement to Bethel, moving forward does not mean replacing what came before.
“She’s not going to be filling Beni’s shoes. That’s impossible,” Johnson said of Francoeur. “Beni took her shoes with her, and Linda has her own shoes to fill.”
It was a simple statement, but one that captured the heart behind this new beginning.
Johnson described Francoeur as a woman of “deep, deep compassion” with “great wisdom and discernment,” adding that she has already become “a great strength” to him. Bethel attendees may have noticed her alongside Johnson in recent months as he greeted, prayed with and ministered to people following services.
Johnson also revealed that the couple planned to keep their wedding intimate.
“It’s going to be a small backyard wedding just to bring our families together,” he said, adding that they wanted to “celebrate the fact that Jesus brings people together.”
“I’m engaged and I’m about to enter a whole new season of my life,” Johnson told the Bethel family, “and I’m so thankful for all of you for your loving support through these years.”
It was reported by Protestia in a post on X that Johnson and Francoeur were married on August 18.
After years marked by both faith and heartbreaking loss, Johnson’s story is entering a new chapter. One surrounded by the people he loves and rooted in his conviction that Jesus is still bringing people together.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].