Theology Newsletter | Spring 2021
Dr. Ella Johnson was welcomed to the Theology Department at SAU in August 2018 to teach for both the undergraduate program and the Master of Pastoral Theology program, and this spring was promoted and granted tenure.
Her specialization is systematic theology and teaching courses in ecclesiology and doctrine of God, but she also has secondary expertise in medieval women's religion and spirituality and teaches a course called Medieval Women Mystics.
Before coming to SAU, Ella taught at St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, NY, but moving to Davenport, with her husband Gerry and 5-year old daughter Isa, was like coming home. Ella grew up in New Winsor, Illinois, where her extended family still reside; Ella's sister is even an alum of the SAU in Early Childhood Education program.
Dr. Johnson completed her BA in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois, her MA inTheology at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, and went on to earn her PhD in Systematic Theology at the University of St. Michael's. While living in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Johnson earned her Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) with Regis College at the University of Toronto. She also met her husband Gerry, in Toronto, who is Canadian.
When asked why she chose to study Theology, Dr. Johnson spoke about her involvement at the Saint John's Catholic Newman Center during her years at the University of Illinois because her spiritual faith was important to her. She took a Theology course through the Newman Center and found the discipline to be more than interesting and enjoyable to study. "Once I started studying, I couldn't stop!" she said.
Dr. Johnson had always thought she would become a medical doctor; however the fire ignited in that undergraduate theology course drove her to pursue a graduate degree in Theology. That program included courses on women throughout church history, which both excited and upset Ella because she had never heard of these women growing up in the Catholic Church. These women spoke on gender and the body-soul relationship in a way that made interesting connections for her and her pre-med undergraduate courses. For her, studying women in the Church brought her major interests together: the body-soul relationship, faith, and feminism.
Ella Johnson, PhD
Dr. Johnson spent more than a decade writing her latest book on Gertrude the Great of Helfta, a 13th-century mystic theologian.
Dr. Johnson's book "This is My Body: Eucharistic Theology and Anthropology in the Writings of Gertrude the Great of Helfta" (2020) was published by Cistercian Publication with Liturgical Press. It is the product of 14 years of work on Gertrude, a 13th century mystic theologian. Read the publisher's book description
"The book looks at how Gertrude the Great very positively views the body and the important role the body plays in liturgical worship and union with God," Dr. Johnson said, "while highlighting important contributions to the tradition of teaching about the Eucharist and theological anthropology."
Read Dr. Johnson's February 2021 article, "Open Wide Our Hearts," in the Catholic Messenger
–Senior Kennedey Moffet, Theology Major
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