Sturdy, Ralph

A Tribute to Chaplain Sturdy (Winter 2000)

C. Cassius (Cash) Sturdy, Covenant Pastor and Military Chaplain, was one of a great generation of Covenant pietists. A person of the Word and of prayer in the best sense, he had an open and inquiring mind.

Remembering Henri Nouwen (Winter 2001-2002)

A friend, Mitch Zeman, was an assistant to Henri and I was counting on him to introduce me to Father Nouwen. There were no specific promises of a meeting but late on my first afternoon at Yale, Mitch took me to the great man's office and introduced us. Nouwen asked me why I was there.

A tribute to Ivar Wistrom 1920-2005 (Winter 2005)

On Sunday June 12, Mel Soderstrom informed me that one of the giants of my life had fallen! Ivar Wistrom a character who seemed to me as old as North Park University and Seminary itself, finally, in the words of my grandfather, “checked out.”

Personal Considerations Regarding Sexual Preference and the Church (Christmas 2007)

I am grieved that the 2004 Covenant Annual Meeting endorsed a policy on human sexuality that limits and judges the participation of homosexual persons in the life of denominational churches. I fear the policy was intended, at least in part, to cull out those who disagree. Some of my Covenant clergy brothers, suggest that if I can’t agree with them, I’d best find another denomination. I say to my brothers, “you can’t get rid of me that easily.”