Pietisten Editors Face Their Failure Skogsbergh’s Point Remains Untaken

An objective established at one of our first editorial meetings was to retake Skogsbergh's Point on Lake Minnetonka, west of Minneapolis. We outlined a plan to sail up to Skogsbergh’s Point in the dead of night, land, and plant the Pietisten flag firmly in its soil. Six years have passed without action.

Skogsbergh’s Point was the site of important meetings in the early years. That peninsula was owned by Erik August Skogsbergh, noted Covenant preacher who founded and pastored First Covenant Church, Minneapolis, and who was known by many as “The Swedish Moody.” Many pietist discussions, including talk of schools and church politics, took place there. A picture of a gathering held in 1889 can be found on page 48 of A Precious Heritage by Philip Anderson.

Thus far, we have failed to get a boat, make a flag, set a date, and plan for the ensuing consequences. “Why?” we ask. There are other questions, too: Why do we want to take the Point? Does the idea of nautical adventure arise from our Viking genes? Are the boat ads and the increase in articles about boats, motors, sails, and water in Pietisten the result, in part, of a sublimation of our failure to carry out this objective?

Another issue has arisen. David Hawkinson stated to Tom Carlson at a recent meeting that Tommy has lost all his credibility because he now has a regular job. Tommy, who formerly made his living as a private contractor, has been hired permanently by Holy Name Church and School in South Minneapolis. As he has become indispensable to the maintenance of their property, he could not deny David’s charge.

Tommy, as usual, reminded David and Peter Sandstrom that they are ordained clergy and, therefore, most things they say or do are, and have always been, highly suspect. “The Covenant was supposed to be a lay movement, a movement of the people, and now we are lucky to have one Sunday a year to hear from a lay person,” he said once more.

Poetry Editor Bruce Carlson stunned the editors by coming up with a Covenant lay minister’s license complicating things more. Previous to this, lay editors with no ministerial standing had a four-to-two majority.

Another hotly debated matter is whether the Covenant Church is worthwhile, worth caring about, and worth working to preserve. “Who gives a rip?” Tommy asks rhetorically with considerable forcefulness. “What will it matter in a hundred years anyway?” The Poetry Editor consistently proclaims his love for the Covenant and for North Park and that 100 years is too long a time by which to measure. The Managing Editor says that he values his Covenant citizenship, which he claims with as much conviction as did Paul his apostleship, and that he intends to continue to exercise it.

Points of agreement among the editors are often hard to detect. Whole meetings have passed without noticing one. When we talk politics — church or public — we seldom agree. Some editors look forward with eschatological urgency to new regimes in our church. They dream of a pastoral presidency under G. Timothy Johnson or Arthur Anderson.

Meanwhile, we delight in our connections with you and with one another through Pietisten. David says, “This is the conventical. This is what it is all about. This is the real ship of state. If we can’t take Skogsbergh’s Point, we can’t get anybody in or out of office. We need funds and we need people. Our situation is like Henry the Fifth’s when he learned that France belonged to England. The heart of the Blessing is land. Abraham said so.”

These statements make sense to us all. The juices flow. We agree that this is our objective. Then the juices recede and we begin to wonder what to do. In some ways we feel that we have spiritually retaken Skogsbergh’s Point already. The Kingdom is present. Though this is true, it is equally true that we are pilgrims on the way and we must get on with our journey. We want a quest.

So, ponder David’s prophecy, send money, and keep your lamps trimmed and burning. Calls will come. We wish you all a fine summer. Enjoy some boating!