Pietisten

Musings from a 1940s Covenant parsonage

by Carol Elde

I grew up in a Swedish Covenant parsonage in the late 1940s. There was much going on that we kids did not completely understand, even until today. But sometimes there were weddings in the parsonage, not in the church.

My Dad would dress formally for the holy occasion. My mom, a preacher’s wife of her time, would decorate with garden flowers and lay things out to look nice. Swedish egg coffee was a must. It was festive. We kids were advised to watch but not talk.

Some of the marriages were biracial, which at the time was controversial. As a kid, my thoughts were so sweet and nice and celebratory.

So as I think and remember in my own little way, I hope the future of the Covenant denomination is to love and celebrate and to not judge what we really do not understand.