Advent is almost here! This year, you can enter into the sacred rhythm of the season through the voices of the four evangelists—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—in our newest devotional, Gospel Voices. Each week of devotions offers a deep exploration of one gospel writer’s perspective on the coming of Christ, weaving together scripture, reflection, prayer, and action. The structure encourages a holistic Advent spirituality—waiting, watching, repenting, and rejoicing—guided by Jesus’s disciples and friends.
Four authors guide this Advent journey, one for each evangelist. Today you’ll hear from two of these authors: Marshall Jolly (our guide for Mark) and Deon Johnson (our guide for John). Learn more about these authors below, and don’t forget to order your copy of Gospel Voices from the Forward Movement website!
Meet the authors:
The Reverend Dr. Marshall Jolly is the Rector of Saint Thaddeus Episcopal Church and President of its parish day school, Mead Hall. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of South Carolina at Aiken in the Religious Studies department.
Deon Kevin Johnson was consecrated as the 11th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri on June 13, 2020, at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis. He became the first black, first gay, first immigrant to serve as bishop in this diocese. Johnson was born and raised in a small village on the Caribbean island of Barbados. His faith was formed under the watchful eye of his maternal grandmother who taught him how to pray, how to listen with his heart and introduced him to the beauty of worship in the hymns and spirituals she sang throughout Deon’s childhood. He immigrated from Barbados to New York at the age of 14. “I see my role primarily as pastoral in this time in the church and the world,” the bishop said. Johnson and his husband Jhovanny Osorio are the proud parents of two children, Lilo and Ja’Lon. He enjoys cooking, photography, hiking and being an armchair movie critic.
How did you get started as a writer?
Marshall: I’ve always enjoyed writing—even as a child. When I was in college, I really fell in love with the creative process of constructing ideas, arguments, and stories.
Deon: I have always loved writing. I got started writing short stories when I was about 11 years old on, believe it or not, an old typewriter. I loved being able to spin new worlds and characters that would let my imagination take flight and soar. Writing has always been one of my passions and it was sparked from discovering an old typewriter.
What was the most enjoyable part of the writing process?
Marshall: One of my non-negotiables in the writing process is that whenever I’ve got a complete draft of a sermon or article or devotional, I go into an empty room with my manuscript and trusty blue pen, and I read it aloud. Hearing my words, rather than just reading them, helps me massage and knead the text into its final form.
Deon: I always enjoy looking at what is familiar from a different perspective. We often then to think of the gospels and books of scripture to be pretty flat, so for me, making the people and places come alive feels natural. Discovering that there is more to the story than simply the words on the page brings me great joy and allows for my imagination to take flight. Writing about the Gospel of John was particularly enjoyable because it meant I had to re-read the entire gospel. As with any scripture, you discover themes, and sequences that were previously overlooked or completely missed. Walking through the Gospel allowed me to reconnect with a familiar friend in a way.
What about the most difficult part?
Marshall: The “2 am” moments! When I’ve got a working idea of what I’m writing, then at 2 am, the Spirit takes hold and totally upends the direction I was writing in with something altogether different.
Deon: I tend to be a brief writer, allowing the nuance of certain words to carry the weight of story or the writing. I often struggle with the nagging voice in the back of my head that asks, “Is that the right word to convey what you’re trying to express?” Which often means I spend way more time editing and rewriting than I probably should.
Where do you typically write?
Marshall: I tend to do my best writing at home on the couch with my cat and a good cup of coffee nearby (which is where I’m writing this right now!)
Deon: I have developed an online prayer ministry with daily prayers on social media. That is my most creative outlet and often challenges me to draw on images that speak far beyond the words of the prayers. As I mentioned, I choose my writing words carefully so that the power of the word-images carry the weight of conveying meaning. Having to be confined to short prayers that fit into the social media landscape is both challenge and joy.
Who is your favorite gospel writer – and why?
Marshall: Is it a cliché if a priest answers “John” to this question? John is a poet-theologian. Every time I return to his Gospel, something new reveals itself.
Deon: I love the writer of the Gospel of Mark. Mark writes in much the same way that I write, letting the word-images and word-references enhance the story while keeping things short. Plus the Jesus we meet in Mark is accessible and engaging in many ways.
Do you have a favorite Advent or Christmas tradition?
Marshall: My father was a firefighter, and he has seen the disastrous results of people being careless with living Christmas trees, so we were only allowed to have artificial trees growing up. Now, my wife and I have a tradition of going to the tree lot and selecting our tree and bringing it home to decorate it with ornaments from our travels while we eat take out and watch old Christmas movies—and we zealously over-water our tree to ensure it doesn’t become a hazard!
Deon: In our household we have more than a few Advent-Christmas traditions. One of my favorites is that every year we watch as many versions of a Christmas Carol as we can find, beginning with the 1953 version in technicolor and ending with the Muppet Christmas Carol. There is something timeless in that story, and each year I find something beautiful and whimsical in rewatching it.
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