Brooklyn born and raised, The Rev’d Candine E. Johnson, Ph.D. left NYC for Charlottesville, Virginia in 1976 to attend graduate school at The University of Virginia and except for a few short periods, she has called the Commonwealth of Virginia home. Upon graduating from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Johnson embarked on a life-long journey of education both as a student and educator. With a Ph.D. in Education, Johnson returned to New York as an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Syracuse University. After two years in the frozen north, she returned to Virginia to the University of Richmond. During her 16 years of service at UR, she served as the Director of Academic Advising to the University’s 400 Division I student-athletes and as an Assistant Professor. Upon answering a long denied call to ministry, Johnson, a postulant from the Diocese of Virginia, matriculated at The General Seminary in NYC. September 11, 2001 was her fourth day of seminary and she was two miles from Ground Zero – she considers this the first day of her ministry.

Graduating with honors from GTS, she was called back to her home diocese to serve as chaplain and teacher at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, a boarding school for girls grades 8-12 located in Tappahannock along the banks of the Tappahannock River. While serving as the chaplain of St. Margaret’s, she also undertook parochial ministry and served as the priest-in-charge of Vauter’s Episcopal Church, Loretto, Virginia.

Making her home in Tappahannock, Johnson has taken a very active role in her adopted community. She has served as President of the Essex County Ministerial Association, Chair of The Long Term Recovery Group following an F-4 tornado in 2016, and founded and served as Chair of TRIAD, a joint program of law enforcement and the Attorney General’s office. In September 2015, Johnson was called back to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Tappahannock, Virginia. While at St. Margaret’s, she served her diaconal time at St. John’s from 2004-2005. In 2018, the 13th year of her priesthood, she was called as St. John’s 23rd rector. She returned to St. Margaret’s as chaplain and DEI officer in 2021.

In April 2023, The Rev. Johnson left Virginia to answer a call to St. Bartholomew’s as the interim priest-in-charge. Even though it’s not Brooklyn, she views her move to Audubon, New Jersey as a “homecoming.” Having left her family in 1976, she’s thrilled to be living close to her sister in Collingswood and her niece in Haddon Township. She’s glad to be home!