Today we’d like to introduce you to Jef Johnson.
Hi Jef, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I entered this world in 1958 and was raised in Killeen, Texas, the first of 8 children. After completing high school in Granville, North Dakota (a rather long story) I attended St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.
It was in Austin where I first met and began my life with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) in their college program. After earning my Bachelor of Arts in 1980, I entered the Oblate novitiate program in Godfrey, IL. I left the novitiate after a short teaching tenure at St. Henry’s Prep Seminary in Belleville, IL and began my seminary studies at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. During my seminary years I also taught stained glass art to the students of St. Anthony High School Seminary. My seminary internship was spent at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville, TX where I first began my wedding ministry by doing marriage preparation work and wedding planning.
Acquiring my Master of Divinity (Theology) degree and the first Outstanding Scholarship Award offered by the school, I was ordained in my home of Killeen in 1986. My first parish as a priest was at St. Joseph’s in Brownsville where I served several years until being sent to St. Anthony High School Seminary in San Antonio. After three years there, both as a teacher and Dean of Students, I went to Sweden for a short period seeking missionary opportunities in the Scandanavian countries.
From Sweden, I returned to San Antonio and was co-director of the Casa San Jose retreat center there. Following that assignment, it was north to Alaska. While there, I served in Ketchikan, Metlakatla (the only indian reserve in Alaska) and Juneau. While in Juneau, I also accompanied the Archbishop of Central Asia as Cultural Attache to the Vatican in Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The purpose of that trip was to investigate the feasibility of opening the first Catholic Church in Turkmenistan since the iron curtain was established. That community is now thriving under the care of the Polish Oblates. It was during my time in Alaska that I created and posted one of the first church websites in the country and the first website for a religious order in the world. My work was noted in both Modern Liturgy magazine and on NPR.
In 1999 I was called from Alaska to help set up the new national headquarters for the Oblates in Washington, DC. There my work was of the technical sort and I was also the Communications Director for the Oblates of the U.S. From there I organized a national gathering of youth from Oblate parishes across the United States in Belleville, IL. This was also the beginning of my new assignment as National Youth Director for the Oblates in the U.S. It was that position that brought me to Chicago, IL. I established a headquarters for their youth ministry and headed a team of people who would visit our parishes across the states, establishing Oblate-oriented youth groups.
In 2002, for a number of reasons, but primarily due to a question of integrity, I decided to leave the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the role of Cleric in the Church. I taught for a couple of years at a Chicago private school before taking a job with the City of Chicago where I maintained my “day job” until the end of the year 2023 when I retired. In January of 2024 I returned to Texas to live among family in Central Texas.
Because we believe that ordination is forever, I felt a need to continue ministering to people without the burden of the Church’s strictures and narrow requirements. That led me to CITI ministries and the ICCC. It is through these two religious organizations that I am once again “certified” to perform marriages. It is my wedding ministry that gives joy to my life and makes me feel as though I am making a difference to people. There is nothing like being in the presence of “new love” to lift the spirit and “energize” life. I thank all my couples for sharing their love with me, even if for only a brief time. I wish all of them the best and pray daily for their married lives. I was good enough in my wedding ministry that Yelp, year after year during my time in Chicago, rated me among the top 10 wedding officiants.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not a smooth road. After years of study and living in a religious community, getting ordained and all that entails, I thought I had it all once ordained. I loved the ministry, the interactions with the parishioners, the couples I prepared for marriage and all that comes with parish life. However, as the church began to take a more defensive mode, centering more on itself than social justice and service to the poor and most abandoned, I became disenchanted. It felt like the church was “circling the wagons” instead of going boldly where the Holy Spirit encouraged us to be. Finally, for the sake of personal integrity, I had to leave the clerical life and live as a layman. It took some time to get used to my new status, but it has been very rewarding.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I look upon the wedding ceremony as one of the most important decisions a couple will make in in their lives. I truly do what I can to celebrate the commitment a couple is making to one another and try to develop the ceremony in a way that will help celebrate that commitment in the manner and spirit that speaks of the uniqueness of the couple.
I come at it with the firm conviction that it is the couples’ ceremony… not mine. So, I don’t have a lot of “have to’s” except that the couple and I work together to make the ceremony uniquely theirs.
The couple has total creative control over the ceremony, while I offer the expert, gentle guidance that will help make their vision a coherent and beautiful reality.
Prior to your wedding day I meet with the couple to discuss their vision and concerns, get to know one another a little bit. I then provide materials to the couple which will help them choose what they think is appropriate for each part of their ceremony. I also provide a questionnaire to the couple that allows me to better personalize my wedding talk. The questions are geared to provide some moments for smiles, some moments for “ahhhs” and all of it personal to the couple. I have never given a “cookie cutter” wedding talk because each couple’s responses are unique to them.
For those wishing a religious ceremony, I most often perform weddings in the Catholic tradition to couples when their parish will not. However, I am not limited to religious ceremonies – I do non-religious, melded traditions and civil ceremonies
My major concern for the wedding is that it is the ceremony the couple wants. I have peformed weddings on the lake shore, IN the lake, on mountain tops and attached to ropes on a mountain side, at campgrounds and in living rooms, chapels, banquet halls, etc. I have performed weddings in the style of a boxing match, as a Renaissance friar, a Space Trek character and dressed in various native costumes. If your wedding is different or unique and I can accomodate you… I’m almost always willing..
I also officiate same-sex weddings. My husband would be upset if I didn’t.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
The Gospels primarily in terms of my Christian life. Other than that, I read a lot of mystery novels, Sword and Sorcery and a whole lot of psychological and human development materials. I guess if I had to point to any podcasts it would have to be The Hidden Brain. I love his topics and discussions.
Pricing:
- GENERALLY my rate for a wedding within 45 minutes of Kempner, TX is $450. If I am to be at the rehearsal – $550. My rate outside of 45 minutes of Kempner, TX begins at $600. If I am to be at the rehearsal – extra. My “elopement” rate within 30 minutes of Kempner, TX starts at $275. * driving distance is based on Google maps driving directions and estimated time. My starting point is always Kempner, TX
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CenTexWed.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cen-Tex-Weddings-100076992656876/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fr-jef-johnson-kempner-3
