John Barron
Theology
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801.517.2146
John Barron has served as a member of the Judge Theology department since 2020. He also serves as an assistant baseball coach and an associate in the campus ministry office with a particular focus on liturgy and service. Born and raised in New Jersey, Mr. Barron attended Catholic schools throughout his childhood and earned his bachelor’s degree in Catholic Theology from the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University. While at Seton Hall, he helped run leadership and service retreats with the provincial youth ministry office of the Salesians of Don Bosco and assisted with youth programming at a local parish. After graduation, Mr. Barron moved to Florida where he served as the director of youth ministry at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg. There he also helped establish a regional young adult ministry program before moving to Utah in 2018. John is married to his college sweetheart-turned-department chair, Megan, with whom he is raising four wonderful children.
John's theology is heavily influenced by the work of 20th century thinkers Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, and Joseph Ratzinger, who emphasized loving relationship (communio) with God and neighbor rooted in the person of Jesus Christ and lived out through His Church. Rather than speaking only of rules or abstract ideas, theology and living as a person of faith is about being drawn into God's life, which enables us to then echo God's life-giving love in our care for others and for ourselves. This relational approach centered in the person of Christ and the life of the Trinity influences every aspect of Mr. Barron's classroom, where he works to create a space in which students feel welcomed, loved, respected, and given a safe place to grow and stretch themselves as we together tackle the deepest questions in life. Mr. Barron believes he was put on this earth to be a “tour guide”, and hopes to be the kind of teacher who leads and encourages young people along the path God is calling them to go.
