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‘Christ is alive and well’: Ordination completes former Loyalsock teacher’s journey into ministry

When she retired from her teaching position in the Loyalsock School District, Carol Johnson knew that she wanted to devote some of her time to working at her church, perhaps as a lay leader, but never on the scale that she is now, following her ordination as pastor of Redeemer and Saint Michael Lutheran churches.

"I knew the need in the church for people to fill in when pastors are on vacation and things like that. So I had thought about entering the lay worship leader program and doing that,” Johnson said. Her pastor, however, told her that he felt she really had a calling for ministry.

"I went, you're nuts. I don't see myself that way. I'm happy being just someone who helps with outreach, helps with things at the church," she said.

But, her pastor's words stayed with her.

"When somebody tells you that they see that in you, that works on you and you start looking at the things that have happened over the course of your lifetime," Johnson shared.

Another turning point in her life came when her husband passed away.

"I said, what now God? That's kind of like, no, not that God. What are you thinking? I think we better rethink this God," she said.

"Well, it got to the point that you're like, well maybe he's not so far off," she said.

Her pastor again encouraged to pursue the ministry as her teaching career was coming to an end and then in 2019, right after she retired, Johnson began the process of deciding whether ministry was a good fit for her.

"You have to do all the essays and the psychological testing. All those kinds of things you have to do to decide if you're right to go into ministry," she said.

"You have an entrance meeting. There must have been 12 to 15 people at that meeting -- the bishop, someone from the seminary and pastors from around and whoever was in charge of the committee and lay people, that asked you all these questions," she said.

Their job was to determine if someone thought they were really prepared to enter ministry.

Her years of study culminated earlier this month as she was ordained by Bishop Craig Miller, of the Upper Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in a service at Redeemer Lutheran Church.

In his message to the congregation and attending local pastors, Miller cautioned those in ministry to "give themselves over to God's use, not the church's use. Not the congregation's use."

"And Carol, I say this is especially about you. I know, I have heard, you do everything around here," Miller told Johnson.

"There's so many little things that need doing that just one more thing seems like it won't hurt," he said.

Referring to Paul's call to people to "present their bodies as a living sacrifice," Miller said, "It's really easy to read that and think to ourselves that we have to give everything about ourselves to the church where we're called."

"Paul is saying not just to those who are called to ordained ministry, but is saying it also to the whole church altogether to present your bodies as living sacrifices for the sake of the Gospel," he said.

Miller addressed the busyness that can overtake lives, which he said the passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes, which was read at the beginning of the service, calls "vanity."

"It's calling us to step back from that and look at what we do, this busyness that we have in all our lives. Say to ourselves, is this what we really need to be doing," Miller said.

He urged Johnson to find time to just sit around doing nothing because "it is in those times when you may find yourself in deepest prayer and meditation on the word of God," he said. "There's a lot of prayer to be done and prayer often looks like you're doing nothing."

It is an example of what we are all called to be and to do, to be a people of prayer for one another. It also means we have spent some time abiding in Jesus. When you hear the word abiding do you think of running here and there, preparing things, writing things? Just spend that time with Jesus...without Jesus in the work, the work is futile.

"There is nothing good that comes from working without Jesus. It is Jesus who has chosen you and you would do well to not forget that," he said.

Looking ahead, Johnson sees the churches in her charge continuing in their outreach to communities, such as Daniel's Closet at Redeemer, which provides clothing free of charge to those in need. St. Michael's is a rural church so their outreach takes the form of helping other global and local ministries.

"I hope that people realize that Christ is alive and well throughout the world. The greatest thing we can do is we need to set aside the barriers that we keep creating. We're all one in Christ. We were all created in God's image and we all have lots more in common than we differ," Johnson said.

"If we could quit creating barriers, then God's boundless love could do wonders. As Christians it's our responsibility to do everything we can to spread that love," she added.