What is "A Witness to the Light?"

AOL. AIM. MySpace. Xanga. Blogspot. Blogger. LiveJournal. Facebook. Tumblr. Twitter. Instagram. Medium. WordPress. Squarespace. Substack. And now... Ghost.

My name is Fr. John Wakefield, and like many of you, I have been online since the days of yore, when AOL chat rooms required dial-up access, and AIM away messages conveyed the deepest of our teenage angst through 90's movie quotes and music lyrics.

I purchased johnnywakefield.com back in 2003 (!!!) to share photos and blog posts of my time studying abroad in China with friends back home, and I maintained that site with a basic understanding of HTML for many, many years. I have been JediJohnny, JediSpam, JWakes, JustJohnny, JW53, FirstWardJohnny, JohnnyWakes, JWCLT, and more recently, JhnWkfld and FthrJohn. It has all been quite a digital ride.

For years, my posts covered a wide range of subjects, with my time as a stay-at-home dad/sportswriter/community activist my most "heavily online." Sports, politics, movies, and books were my usual go-to topics, like they are for most everyone else. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 helped refine the focus of my online presence - and my entire life - as I attended seminary and pursued ordination to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.

The shift to seeing online life as an opportunity for sharing the good news brings with it many, many, many theological and ecclesiological problems. But ultimately, I think these problems are in desperate need of addressing, worth engaging rather than ignoring or dismissing. (I hope to do some of that here.)

In 2024, I graduated from Sewanee's School of Theology and was ordained a deacon in the Diocese of North Carolina. Our family then accepted a call to South Haven, Michigan, where I became rector of the Church of the Epiphany and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of the Great Lakes.

Hoping to keep a record of shareable sermons, to wade into conversations not quite fit for Epiphany's pulpit, and to start fresh online once again, I started this blog on Ghost, "A Witness to the Light," after my ordination. The title is inspired by one of my favorite pieces of scripture, for what may be obvious reasons.

John 1:3b-8 says the following:

"What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world."

This text that begins the Gospel of John speaks to the light of Christ that entered the world some two thousand years ago, a light that no darkness can overcome. The gospel writer speaks of another John, the Baptizer, who lived in hope of witnessing to that light so that all might believe and be changed... and so do I.

Thanks for reading.