Fr. Al Johnson is married to Vickie Arnold Johnson living currently in North Barrington and have been residents of the Barrington area since 1990. They have three children; two alive, Hannah and Zachary, and one in heaven, Nicholas. (Nicholas died in 1989 from leukemia). Al is an Episcopal Priest who retired in 2010 as Rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Barrington, Illinois. As a parish priest he has connected deeply with the greater Barrington area.
Since his ordination in 1979 Al has started a new church and redeveloped an existing church with a renewed focus on reaching out to people in need, forging substantial partnerships with neighboring congregations, developing and deepening faith, and healing. Al's current position is a half-time Canon for Congregational Vitality and Innovation with the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In this capacity he has responsibility for working with several clergy and congregations throughout the Diocese. He loved and loves being a parish priest and is deeply committed to helping develop the next generation of women and men who sense a call to parish ministry as the principal expression of that call.
Al is a 1979 graduate of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and also has a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Congregational Development from the same institute (1998) writing on how congregations recover following trauma. He also served as adjunct faculty at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Other interests have included singing in the local band Way Past Curfew, spending time with bereaved parents drawing out of the experience of the death of his first child. He loves family, enjoys sports, playing golf, writing, Pilates, walking, and reading. Al currently volunteers as the chaplain for the Barrington Countryside Fire District, St. Michael's Church, the BHS Football Chain Gang, and the Charter School of Excellence in Erie, Pa.