By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC
Enjoy this interview with Todd Johnson, the new Lead Pastor of First Covenant Church, Seattle, WA.
What is your personal and ministry background?
I am a life-long Covenanter, born and baptized into Ridgway Covenant Church in Ridgway, Pennsylvania and grew up mostly in Bradford, PA and the Covenant Church there. I was an engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh when my faith was fortified and enriched through the ministry of Coalition for Christian Outreach at Pitt. In a ministry through Coalition with children in the housing projects just beyond our campus I felt called to ministry, particularly inner-city youth and family ministry. I transferred to North Park to complete my bachelors degree and then went on to seminary there. I continued to work with youth and family in Chicago through Young Life and other ministries. Since then I have lived out my call to ministry “in various and sundry ways,” including hospital and police chaplaincy, church ministry, and educational ministry that includes Covenant Bible College, North Park Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary. My call to First Covenant Church Seattle allows me to return to my passion for urban ministry in all its delightful complexities.
What are you passionate about in ministry right now?
I am grounded and centered by my family: my wife Susan, and our five adult children, Kyle, Kjerstin, Kate, Kari, and Kelsey. In my first months of virtual ministry, I have begun to know and love my new church family. I look forward to what I pray is a fruitful ministry in my new homes of Seattle and First Covenant Church. I invite prayers that I might be faithful to that end.
Some Things You Didn’t Know About Todd:
What’s one thing you couldn’t live without?
Routine. Each day begins with Morning Prayer, Exercise, Breakfast with a side of an LP and newspaper. This routine may change, but not having a routine.
What is the one thing you cannot resist?
Italian food. My kryptonite.
What is your favorite thing to do?
Anything related to music. Though not a musician, I love listening, attending performances of, and reading about music.
Where is the best place you’ve traveled to and why?
Sweden. Susan I have distant relatives who are now fast friends, and friends we know from the US who live there who remain close.
What has been the most important innovation you have witnessed in your lifetime?
The microchip. Incredible amounts of work can be done by such a small resource, making so many things not only easily accessible, but portable. It has changed our world.
What is the best book you have ever read?
Not the best book I have ever read, but what I think is the most important book for Americans in this century is THE SACRED SANTA by Dell deChant. It defines our culture as a very religious culture, with its most important rituals and sacred seasons being defined by our religion of consumerism. It lays out the challenges of faith formation we face being immersed in this context 24/7 in very stark terms.
Tell us something that might surprise us about you.
I live a vowed life, being a member of a religious community for over a quarter of a century.
[Click Here] to visit First Covenant Seattle’s web page