The Board of General Superintendents announced General Superintendent Emeritus W. Talmadge Johnson was appointed interim superintendent of the Kentucky District. He replaces D. Eugene Wells, who passed away suddenly last month.

The appointment was made by General Superintendent Gustavo A. Crocker. Johnson began his duties September 15 and will serve until December 31.

Johnson was elected general superintendent in 2001 and served one four-year term before retiring. Following his retirement from the Board of General Superintendents, Johnson was appointed interim district superintendent for Southwest Oklahoma in 2007 and served two years.

He previously served as director of Sunday School Ministries (now Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries International), general president of Nazarene Youth International, superintendent of the Mississippi and Tennessee districts (now combined as the MidSouth District), pastor of several Oklahoma churches, and as an evangelist. Johnson was a member of the General Board from 1972 to 1976 and 1980 to 1994. 

A graduate of Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University), Johnson was honored with a Doctor of Divinity from Trevecca Nazarene University in 1983 and a Doctor of Divinity from Southern Nazarene University in 2000.

Talmadge and his wife, Genell, reside in Hermitage, Tennessee.