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CCO Campus Ministry

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Todd Johnson

johnson_todd.jpgTodd Johnson only spent the first two years of his college career at the University of Pittsburgh, but those years changed his life. “The students involved were from many different church backgrounds, and that interdenominational atmosphere allowed for an honest dialogue, without being apologetic about the issues of God. Through them, I started to rethink my Christian faith.

“I grew up attending an Evangelical Covenant Church of about 30 members. In high school, I had bigger questions than my small church could answer. I didn’t exactly check out of my faith, but it wasn’t at the forefront of my life.”

Todd’s involvement in the CCO’s ministry, particularly working with the afterschool program at nearby Friendship Community Church, also gave him his first real exposure to people of a different race. “I was a kid from the rural hills of Pennsylvania moving to an urban campus like Pitt,” he says. “I was learning about racism and its effects on the urban poor first-hand for the first time in my life, and I was gaining a whole new vision of life and faith because of it.”

Through the Jubilee conference and other experiences, Todd came to understand that he could serve God as an engineer, but he gradually sensed a calling into fulltime ministry, which led him to transfer from Pitt to North Park College (now University) in Chicago after his sophomore year. He graduated with a major in sociology and philosophy, and after many ministry opportunities, his current teaching position combines his interests in education, theology, performing arts and science. Today, he serves as the Brehm Chair of Worship, Theology and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary.
“I got my PhD in Liturgical Studies from Notre Dame University,” says Todd. “I am a worship scholar, and I thank the CCO for preparing me for the ecumenical conversations and situations I’ve found myself involved with.”

Today, Todd and his family are actively involved at Pasadena Covenant Church where Todd serves on the Spiritual Life Committee, preaches regularly, and, as an ordained member of the denomination, provides pastoral care for the pastoral staff there.

“Through the CCO community, I deepened and broadened my faith in ways I never would have imagined and discerned a call to ministry. This call has taken me though a variety of experiences, as I have served as a police and hospital chaplain, campus minister, parish pastor and now seminary professor. Through it all, I have continued to look at my days in the CCO as pivotal.”