The commissioning service for the Venerable Susan Johnson was held at Port Lincoln’s Saint Thomas Anglican Church on Sunday, conducted by the Bishop of Willochra the Right Reverend Jeremy James.
Susan started with the Port Lincoln Parish in mid-October, yet is no stranger to the area having done her schooling in the city from 1970 to 1978, before working as a registered nurse at Port Lincoln Hospital for 20 years from 1994.
She spent the last four years in Ceduna and this year was made Archdeacon of Eyre, a vast area stretching up to Roxby Downs and William Creek.
“In 2011, I started doing my Bachelor of Ministry while working part-time at the hospital and studied three subjects a year until 2014 – that’s when I left to do my field placement in ministry with Uniting Church,” she said.
Through her journey, Susan made her way back to Eyre Peninsula and started in Ceduna in July 2019 with the Anglican Church as a priest before arriving in Port Lincoln.
“Even though Port Lincoln is my home, I’ve come back for my vocation and my call, so it hasn’t just felt like returning home, that is a different thing, being a shepherd for my congregation of sorts, I can’t describe it,” she said.
“I love Eyre Peninsula and Port Lincoln, there’s something particular about us and I look forward to pastorally and spiritually caring for people and discovering what it’s going to be like, it’s a discovery and a journey that we all are on.
“The people have been friendly and the church is amazing, I have reconnected with friends.”
Susan said we all had vulnerability and life experiences, and she believed that was part of her purpose here.
“Things in life are sometimes painful or sometimes we are suffering, we all are trying to make the most of our ordinary lives and trying to be the best we were created or born to be,” she said.
“I find my journey is discovering that we are all loved or beloved and being able to be a part of that with other people and their journeys is just a gift.”
A light lunch was served after the commissioning for parishioners and guests.
