Whitman To Welcome New Interfaith Chaplain
By Kazi Joshua, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Listening to the sound of the genuine. The rev. seigen johnson delivers the talk “Sacred Source, True Flourishing” at a TEDxBU event in November 2022, hosted by the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground at Boston University.
“There is in every person that which waits, waits, waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in himself. There is that in every person that waits and waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in other people.
”
Howard Thurman
In May, we said goodbye to Adam Kirtley, our longtime Interfaith Chaplain of 18 years and beloved colleague. After an extensive search this summer that connected us to a highly competitive pool of candidates across the country, we returned again and again to the candidate who struck us as the embodiment—in the Rev. Thurman’s words—of “the sound of the genuine.”
We are pleased to announce the rev. seigen johnson as the next Interfaith Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at Whitman College. We will welcome the rev. johnson—currently in the process of relocating from Madison, Wisconsin—to campus at the end of September.
The rev. johnson’s academic background is rooted in English Language and Literature graduate studies in African American Studies and Literary Criticism. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology where she focused on Interfaith Leadership and Religious Conflict Transformation. Her research interests are interreligious spiritual formation; identification, repair and prevention of injury in spiritual congregations; and Buddhist womanist hermeneutics.
Recognized by Interfaith America as an Emerging Leader and BRAID Mentor (Building Relationships Across Interfaith Differences), the rev. johnson comes to Whitman with a broad experience in interfaith work and dialogue across difference, having served as the Program Coordinator for the Center for Interfaith Dialogue at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and as the Associate Director of the Building Interfaith Leadership Initiative (BILI) Launchpad Fellowship at Hebrew College.
The rev. johnson is an ordained Soto Zen priest who has been practicing Soto Zen Buddhism for over two decades, including more than six years in residence at San Francisco Zen Center, which has grounded their commitment to compassionate presence and contemplative practice. She remains deeply connected to the spiritual lineage of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in which she was raised.
“I feel honored to begin this new chapter with you at Whitman as Interfaith Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life,” the rev. johnson says. “My commitment is to honor the richness of diverse traditions and lived experiences we each bring with us to Whitman’s campus. My creativity is sparked by envisioning spaces where compassion, curiosity and courage can flourish together. I look forward to journeying with you in cultivating such spaces together here at Whitman. Join me for a walk, a cup of tea or coffee, and let me know how I may be of service to you. Should you need soft space to land, discerning space to query, open space to shout—I am here for all of it.”
Read more of the rev. johnson’s message to campus.