Seminarian Spotlight: James Johnson
Johnson shares a moment with a parishioner at Our Lady of Consolation last Christmas.CHARLOTTE — Three chance meetings on a weekend in 2018 changed the direction of James Johnson’s life.
He was an active member at his home parish, Our Lady of Consolation in Charlotte, and volunteered as an altar server. On that weekend, he served at all three Masses, and at each of the Masses, three different people asked him if he had ever considered becoming a priest.
That hadn’t been on his radar – he’d considered careers in engineering and business management. But the question coming from nine different people had an impact.
“I was just floored. I asked, ‘What is going on?’” Johnson said. “So I went home and looked at the diocesan vocations website and saw a checklist for what made a good candidate for seminary. A lot of it sounded like me, so I submitted the online form around 11 p.m. at night and didn’t expect to hear back for a while. But the very next morning, I had a response from the vocations director.”
Johnson went on to graduate from St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly and now studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati.
Since 2023, Johnson also has been president of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association, a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to supporting Black men studying for the priesthood nationwide.
It all happened because of those nine people he talked to that Sunday. Johnson said that Deacon Curtiss Todd, one of his mentors at the parish, said it “may have been the Holy Trinity coming to me three different times, telling me to become a priest.”
James Johnson
Hometown: Born and raised in Charlotte
Favorite saints: Venerable Augustus Tolton and St. Joseph
Favorite prayer: Litany of Humility, which trains the heart to desire to do the will of God for His glory rather than my own
Favorite hobbies: Traveling and learning about new cultures
What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned about the faith as a seminarian?
I’ve learned about the true universality of the Church, something I’d never really thought about until seminary. Before that, I went to Our Lady of Consolation and that is how I saw the Church for many, many years. Since coming to seminary, I’ve visited all sorts of different parishes, seeing the spirituality and the charisms that they have. That has helped me understand we’re not a uniform Church. There’s a diversity in ways of showing our faith, which is a beautiful thing.
What has your work with the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association and your journey to leadership in that organization been like?
I joined in 2019 because Deacon Todd at my parish told me I should get involved. It was a great chance to work with other young Black men also studying for the priesthood, to share in experiences and pray with people who look and sound like me and are in the same position in life. I was just a normal member. Next thing I know, in 2021 I became the secretary, taking meeting notes and sending out emails on behalf of the president. Then I was made the vice president, and next thing I know, in summer 2023, I was elected president.
Since becoming president, I have visited seminarians, priests, deacons and religious from coast to coast. I’m working to grow our organization – we’re at 67 members now. I’ve done a lot of work going through vocations sites for dioceses and archdioceses around the country to locate seminarians with African American or African backgrounds and reach out to them to let them know about our organization and what we offer, and to offer a ministry of presence and encouragement. I’ve met some of our members in the northeast, in Washington, D.C., and some in Chicago. Our biggest cluster of seminarians is in New Orleans, and I hope to get down there next year to check in with them.
My work has been really fruitful and honestly a huge blessing for me. It gives me encouragement to see other men of African descent studying for the priesthood, and it’s a blessing to be able to offer them encouragement and hope in return.
What is your advice for young men who might be considering the priesthood?
To both young men and young women considering vocations, I would say go for it, because you can’t lose anything from it. Whether you go to seminary or discern with a religious community, they can help you grow in your faith and personal journey with Christ. You grow in faith and love with them.
If you feel like the Lord is calling you, go out on a limb and trust Him.
— Christina Lee Knauss
Seminarian James Johnson is president of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association.