AN UNCOMMON FAITH & FAITHFULNESS

Sittin’ on da Porch with Reverend Monsignor John Thomas Johnson, St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, Gregory Town, Eleuthera

By Tyrone L. E. Fitzgerald

Travelling speedily but steadily down a steep yet small hill just half a mile within the Eleuthera settlement of Gregory Town, a small, statuesque frame of a man sits on an island blue front porch, gazing curiously outwards to the many incoming interlopers to this cove-enclaved paradise of freedom, faith, and family.

His demeanour is not that of a frightening, overprotective “guardian at the gate”, but of a sweet, calm, peaceful, and omnipresent uncle greeting you at family Sunday dinner or Sunday Catholic mass.

Father John Johnson (or Father Johnson as he is affectionately known) is the familiar face, radiant personality, and infectious smile that greets you as you enter this magnificent settlement of Gregory Town, and local folklore has it that no one who enters or leaves this almost-mythical settlement escapes his gravitating energy, captivating essence, or multi-panoramic gaze.

He has been and continues to be the embodiment of a strong Christian faith, unwavering faithfulness, and charitable communal spirit that has demonstrated over time the powerful tenacity of the strength, resilience, and cooperativeness of a thriving island community for more than seven decades since his birth on the 26th of June 1948.

Born to Ida (née Levarity) and Prince Johnson, local Gregory Town farmers, Father Johnson grew up as the youngest of three children in the settlement, although he also had family ties in the nearby settlement of Hatchet Bay to the south of Gregory Town.

He was an adventurous, hard-working young boy who helped raise his family’s sheep and goat; harvest local fruits and vegetables such as pineapples, tomatoes, and corn; shoot marbles; tote water; chop wood; and swim in “The Coe” (the v is colloquially dropped when pronounced locally), a semi-deep, blue-hued, translucent island cove where ships sailed and docked daily, bringing valuable goods and wares from Nassau, the nation’s capital, and other parts of Eleuthera.

Father Johnson admitted that his family was poor by modern-day economic standards but rich in unity, Christian values, and a strong work ethic. They were a very close-knit family who were an integral part of a wider island community where, in his words, “everyone lived together and shared as one”.

He attended the Gregory Town Public School and, by all accounts, Father Johnson was a model student who loved learning and using that knowledge to understand the people with whom he lived and the world in which he lived.

In his memory, Gregory Town, in the late 40s and 50s, and much the same in present day, was a bustling tourist retreat, agricultural pioneer in pineapple and tomato farming and distribution, blueprint for successful co-operative economics, and a symbol of shared communal living.

Whilst sitting in the artfully decorated Unca Gene’s Seafood Restaurant, which was the old family homestead that his uncle, Eugene Johnson, a hardworking businessman—whom Father Johnson also credits with instilling in him a strong work ethic—transformed into a local eatery, and is now a popular tourist and local food haven of freshly prepared, sumptuous native dishes—Father Johnson leaned in closely to tell me of his favourite food, as a child and still as an adult, the eponymous, Bahamian “peas soup ‘n’ dough”, complete with fresh salt beef, sweet potato, cassava, “Lutra” conch, and all the fixings.

I laughed and admitted to Father Johnson that it was also my favourite food. We both laughed and wondered where we could find some peas soup ‘n’ dough this late in the afternoon and seriously contemplated scouring Gregory Town for a generous, heavy-handed neighbour to appease our afternoon craving.

Reflecting on his time in the priesthood, Father Johnson has had a varied and interesting journey. Since there was no high school in Gregory Town at the time, he left the settlement in 1967 to attend St. Augustine’s College in Nassau. Upon graduation in 1970, with fellow classmates the Honourable Frederick Mitchell, Sir Michael L. Barnett, Sonia Knowles, Dr. Tyrone Olander, Gus Roberts, and Michael Weech, Father Johnson began working for the Ministry of Education in the Personnel Department.

Father Johnson left the Ministry of Education on study leave to study for the priesthood in Tunapuna, Trinidad, in 1974, having been motivated to join the priesthood by his family’s ongoing work with local priests back in Gregory Town during his childhood and teenage years. Father Johnson later attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he obtained both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Religious Studies.

Father Johnson was ordained by Archbishop Sam Carter, the archbishop of Jamaica, on August 8, 1980, and has been an ordained Catholic priest for the past forty-two years, twenty-four of which have been spent as priest in Gregory Town where he returned in 1999, upon selecting one of two openings on Abaco and in Gregory Town offered by Archbishop Lawrence Burke.

To Father Johnson, returning home to Gregory Town was a “no-brainer”, as it was and always will be his home. He is now responsible for the spiritual leadership and administration of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church (Gregory Town), St. Catherine’s Catholic Church (Hatchet Bay), and St. Paul’s Catholic Church (Governor’s Harbour).

In addition to the priesthood, teaching has always been a passion of Father Johnson’s, having taught religious studies in the Catholic and public school system for over 30 years, before retiring in 2013.

As we ended our afternoon conversation at Unca Gene’s near “The Coe”, I asked Father Johnson what the challenges were facing the Gregory Town community and about his wider dream for The Bahamas, on celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence this year. He spoke of the negative effects of the drug culture with its attendant entitlement mentality, which plagued many Bahamian communities in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, and its destructive impact on the work ethic of many young people within Family Island communities.

Despite the psychological and social remnants of this bygone era, Father Johnson has always implored young people to take responsibility for their lives and continue to build upon the resilience and hard work of their elders who worked together to create thriving, well-knit, economically viable communities like Gregory Town.

Father Johnson views the role of the church as being an empowering and engaging religious institution that is relatable and relevant to the exigencies of daily life and the people who live and work within the communities in which they have spiritual stewardship and guidance.

Citing significant progress in education as one of the primary national achievements since Independence Day in 1973, despite the increased criticism of the current educational system, and the proverbial national “D” average, Father Johnson’s vision for The Bahamas on its 50th anniversary of independence is to create an increasingly industrious Bahamas where everyone lives and works as one people towards a common goal—a loftier one—forward, upward, onward, together. UA