Age: 28
Hometown: Baton Rouge
Occupation: Priest at St. Aloysius Church
Father Joshua Johnson, the youngest ordained priest in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, has devoted the rest of his life to serving God through his priesthood.
But he does it a little differently than most priests.
Many know Johnson as Baton Rouge’s “rapping priest,” although he says the title is a bit of a myth. He doesn’t rap during mass. Rather, he uses hip-hop music and pop culture as a means to familiarize youth with the Gospel.
Johnson uses music as a teaching tool at youth conferences and school services. He puts the words to prayers such as the Rosary to an upbeat rhythm, hoping to encourage quick learning among elementary school-aged children and people new to Catholicism.
He also uses rap as a medium to share his own experiences, including his personal journey to Catholicism and the priesthood. He wants to show his audiences that the Catholic Church is not intimidating but fun and welcoming.
Ironically, Johnson himself didn’t always feel that church was fun. In 2004, he reluctantly accompanied a friend to a Catholic retreat in Alexandria.
“I didn’t want to go,” he says. “I didn’t like the Catholic Church growing up. I didn’t understand it, and I thought it was boring.”
Unbeknownst to him was that his half-hearted attempt at participating in a Catholic retreat would lead to his life’s revelation: the realization that God was what he’d been missing.
“I always had an ache for more,” he says. “I thought if I played more basketball, went to more parties, did better in school, I would be satisfied. And finally, after years of that longing, I realized I was missing something.”
Today, Johnson strives to make his own sermons authentic and interesting.
“I remember being in the pews week after week [when I was younger] and not understanding what the preacher was saying,” he recalls. “When you don’t understand something, you naturally become resistant to it.”
He’s made examples out of big musical hits with positive messages, such as John Legend’s “All of Me” and A Great Big World’s “Say Something.” Pop culture and the scriptures go hand-in-hand, he says—the better churchgoers understand the scriptures, the more likely they are to find Jesus’ messages in unexpected places, such as television and pop music.
Johnson’s distinctive preaching style doesn’t stop there.
“I make sure people know that the journey to accepting God isn’t easy,” he says. “But I also make sure they know that it’s worth it.”
Johnson says some of his darkest times arose in his journey to priesthood. For nearly a year, he struggled with prayer, often believing his prayers and intentions were empty. He had trouble coming to terms with his own sins and flaws, but he eventually discovered that God loves him despite those imperfections. He wants his congregation to know they will be loved despite theirs, too.
“When I preach, I make it clear that I’m still broken, and I still need a savior,” he says. “My communication of the Gospel is a little different, but ultimately it is bearing fruit, because it shows that anyone can accept God into their lives.”
