User:Johnmdonohue1953

John Michael Donohue (born May 3, 1953, Chicago, Illinois) is a non-denominational Christian minister and founder of the Barth Ministry Center, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He served in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 1986 to 2010, retiring at the Commissioned rank of Chief Warrant Officer. He received a Master of Arts degree in 1993 from the American University (AU), Washington, D.C., concurrently studying Church History at AU’s affiliated university, Wesley Theological Seminary. Donohue was Lector at Saint Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican in 1989, and was Lector at the Washington National Cathedral from 1992 to 1994. He currently resides in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin with his wife Brenda A. Donohue. Early Life. John Michael Donohue was raised in the Portage Park District of Chicago, in the parish of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church. He has one sibling, Cathleen C. (Donohue) Sloane, a Registered Nurse, who resides in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin with her husband, Thomas G. Sloane, an international business executive. John Donohue’s father, Joseph Gerard Donohue was a World War II veteran, serving as Master Sergeant in the European Theater, and then establishing himself as a design engineer. John Donohue’s mother, Dolores (Betley) Donohue, worked in the office of Chicago Mayor Martin H. Kennelley. Donohue’s paternal grandfather was a Chicago policeman and prohibition-era forensic photographer. His mother’s brother, Chester Betley, served as a Marine during World War II and was killed in action during the landing at Iwo Jima. His father’s brother, Edward G. Donohue, held the rank of Major during World War II in the Army Intelligence Corps in Bavaria. Edward was husband to Erika Richter, granddaughter of Dr. Hans Richter, who was copyist for composer Richard Wagner, and the first to conduct the full score of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Bayreuth in 1876. Given these influences of religious, civic, and cultural upbringing, Donohue had expressed an interest in becoming a Catholic priest in his youth, but was discouraged from entering seminary because of a perceived lack of academic abilities. Formative Ministerial Life. John Donohue entered military service in 1985. Despite discouragement from entering a religious vocation by the Catholic Church, he responded to a persistent ministerial calling while on active duty in the United States Army while serving in Korea, Turkey, and Italy. While in Korea, assigned as a Legal Specialist for the Second Infantry Division (1986-87), he attended the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul. As his assignment with the Division was concluding, he was introduced to Reverend Lydia Swain, secretary to Reverend Cho Yonggi, founder and Senior Pastor for the Yoido Church. Reverend Swain invited Donohue to become a Foreign Guide at the church and introduced him to Pastor Cho, who asked Donohue to record English translations of Cho’s books, Prayer: Key to Revival, and The Fourth Dimension. His active involvement with this largest protestant congregation in the world continued through July 1987. In August 1987, Donohue was assigned as Legal Specialist to a special weapons base at Cakmakli, Turkey, where he led chapel services and bible studies for fellow soldiers stationed at Cakmakli, as well as military detachments at Corlu, Ortakoy, Erzurum, and Izmit. In September 1988, Donohue was then assigned as Legal Noncommissioned Officer to the Southern European Task Force, Vicenza, Italy. While attending the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at the Vatican in 1988 just after completing military academy at Bad Tölz, Germany, he envisioned being appointed as the English speaking reader for the following year’s Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, which was precisely what occurred. Through the Military Attaché in Rome and the Vatican’s Office of Liturgical Celebrations, Donohue was selected as Lettore (Lector) for the Midnight Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Christmas Eve, 1989, reading for Pope John Paul II and an audience of 52 nations. Upon his return to the United States in 1990, Donohue transferred to the United States Army Reserve to accommodate his graduate studies at the American University (AU), Washington, D.C. While completing his Master of Arts degree at AU, he concurrently studied Church History at Wesley Theological Seminary with particular academic focus on Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. During that same time, he was appointed Lector at Washington National Cathedral, reading Scripture for such dignitaries as President William Clinton and family, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Personal Life. John Donohue and his wife Brenda Ann Donohue currently reside in in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.