Bill Johnson, leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California began a new chapter last week after marrying Linda Francoeur in a private garden ceremony conducted by his longtime friend and colleague Kris Vallatton.
Their marriage took place just over a month after Johnson proposed to Francoeur on his knees at a family celebration on his 75th birthday on July 18. He publicly announced their engagement while speaking recently at Kenneth Copeland’s Southwest Believers Conference. He said his children cheered in approval when he popped the question to Francoeur, who is believed to be about 51.
The marriage comes four years after the death of Johnson’s first wife, Beni Johnson, who died in July 2022 following a battle with cancer. Bill and Beni had been married for nearly five decades and shared a life centered around family and ministry. When speaking about his new relationship, Johnson made clear that Francoeur was not coming into his life to replace Beni, reports Highlight Truth Ministries in a Facebook post.
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“She’s not going to be filling Beni’s shoes. That’s impossible,” Johnson said. “Beni took her shoes with her, and Linda has her own shoes to fill.”
Announcing their engagement. Johnson described Francoeur as a woman of deep compassion and wisdom who had already become a source of strength for him.
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Bethel Church senior pastor Bill Johnson returned to the altar earlier this week, marrying his fiancée Linda Francoeur.
Despite being on a 4-month sabbatical, Johnson was a keynote speaker at Kenneth Copeland’s Southwest Believers Conference, where he revealed that he asked Francoeur to marry him on July 18, his 75th birthday.
Notably, in 2022, Bill’s first wife Benni Johnson passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67
During her first diagnosis in 2017, Beni Johnson revealed she had a heavenly encounter with Jesus in the spirit and gained access to “healing power over cancer” and told the congregants to begin grabbing the healing power of cancer “out of heaven” as a means of obtaining healing.
in 2021, when Bill revealed the cancer came back, he said they were confident she would be healed, sharing with the church:
LocatingNearby Places Of Worship
We’re not begging for a miracle. It’s already been bought and paid for. The entire Christian life for me is learning what’s in my possession and what’s in my account and how to make withdrawals, and that’s the entire Christian life.
…Guilt and shame is false humility, and it introduces you to an insulation to breakthrough, and so what you want to do is stay away from that…but what we know for sure is that divine health is our portion. We know that no weapon formed against us can prosper. We know that he sent his word that is finely tuned and specifically designed for Benni’s situation.
He sent his word and healed her. We know that by the stripes of Jesus- did you know the stripes of Jesus, the suffering, was not necessary for your redemption? It was necessary for our healing. The death on the cross was necessary for our salvation- the shedding of blood, but not the suffering from a whip. That was for the healing. That was for the deliverance.
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“Linda loves my family so much- my family is so crazy about her that I thought ‘I’m going to do the unusual. I’m going to propose at my birthday party.’
“… And I went down on a knee. I’m not going to right now, but I went down on a knee. If I do it now with tears and all, I’ll be a mess. So, but uh anyway, I asked her to marry me and my kids just cheered and just went, “This is great.” Yeah. So, so fun.”
A month later, on August 18th, the two were married in a private ceremony with Bethel chief prophet Kris Vallotton presiding.
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.
“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.
