Hymn Festival in St. Paul Honors Tradition
This article appeared in the November 4, 1993 issue of Nordstjernan (“North Star”), a weekly newspaper of the Swedish-American community. The editors were pleased to receive it from L. Christina Sjöstedt, Minnesota news reporter for Nordstjernan. It is reprinted here with her permission. The Hymn Festival, held in tribute to Rev. J. Irving Erickson, was conceived by Bruce Carlson (Pietisten Poetry and Navigation Editor) and Glen Wiberg. Over 600 people attended, and from their generous offering a contribution was made to North Park Seminary to help establish and develop a hymnody program in J. Irving Erickson’s honor. Royce Eckhardt, organist at the Hinsdale, Illinois Covenant Church, served as organist, pianist, and music director. The Annual Meeting of Pietisten preceded the concert, and Pietisten editors served as ushers for the concert. According to Bruce Carlson, the event was such a smash hit that a similar program is planned for next fall. — Ed.
First Covenant Church in St. Paul, Minnesota was filled to capacity on October 15, 1993 for this Hymn Festival, which was subtitled, “A Musical Tribute to J. Irving Erickson, 1914-1992.”
Moderator for the evening was the Reverend Glen V. Wiberg, retired pastor from Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton, Minnesota. Opening words were given by Dr. William L. Peterson, pastor of First Covenant.
The Hymn Festival was sponsored by the Fine Arts Commission of First Covenant Church in St. Paul, the Covenant Hymnal Commission, and Pietisten and was offered in tribute to one whose life and work represent a landmark in the worship and hymnody of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Perhaps more than any other, J. Irving Erickson has contributed to maintaining the traditions of Scandinavian hymnody in America, thereby enriching the song of the Church. Irving Erickson, who passed away in 1992, had been the consultant for the Covenant Hymnal Commission, which is chaired by Glen Wiberg.
J. Irving Erickson was born in Stambaugh, Michigan in 1914. He attended Moody Bible Institute, North Park College and Seminary, and Wheaton College. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English literature at the University of Chicago in 1956 and a Master’s Degree in library science at Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois in 1963. Ordained into the ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1944, he served congregations in Yakima, Washington and Glen Ellyn, Illinois where he was the founding pastor. In 1948, he became chaplain at North Park College and then chaplain and librarian at the seminary in 1961; he retired from full-time service to the school in 1972. An honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from North Park was conferred upon him in 1985. He served as chairperson on the commission that produced The Covenant Hymnal (1973), was on the Worship Committee for The Covenant Book of Worship (1981), and was consultant for the present Hymnal Commission at the time of his death.
The evening in First Covenant featured songs that Wiberg noted bore a striking resemblance to the person of J. Irving Erickson. These were songs celebrating new life in Christ. He has been defined as being a “landmark” in the Covenant’s musical tradition. With the Covenant Church being defined as “the sole custodian of a hymnody other churches have given up . . . [he] helped the Covenant find its voice . . . he helped us remember.”
And remember the people did, with songs such as “Now Shine a Thousand Candles Bright” (Nu Tändas tusen juleljus) in Erickson’s own translation. Soloists were Maria Jette, William Wahman, and Harry Opel, joined by combined Covenant Choirs from the Twin Cities and the Northwestern College Brass Ensemble.
A certificate was presented to Myrtle Erickson by James Hawkinson, editor of The Covenant Companion from Chicago, Illinois, in memory of her husband and for “his love for us and the hymnody of the Church.”
J. Irving Erickson was the author of two books, Sing it Again (1985), a handbook to The Covenant Hymnal, and Twice-Born Hymns (1976). Twice-Born Hymns gives a brief history of the church and the musical heritage (Swedish) it brought to this country, as well as the songwriters it produced here. Many songs were born out of the Swedish writers’ own spiritual struggles, and then were born again in America and in English through painstaking work of dedicated translators. Erickson outlined 104 of these songs in his book, and they are printed with music as they appeared in The Hymnal (1950) and The Covenant Hymnal (1973).
The people who attended the Hymn Festival in St. Paul and those reading J. Irving Erickson’s books find that his memory lives on and will continue to do so with the songs he treasured and sought to preserve.