Out and About

Groom Shanghaied on Lake Michigan

As Navigation Editor I am pleased to report that a wedding reception on the Spirit of Chicago successfully steamed away from Navy Pier out onto beautiful Lake Michigan in late August. A three hour dinner cruise followed.

The groom was Eric Johnson, son of the Covenant Trust nabob LeRoy Johnson—a man who has steered more money toward North Park and Denomination coffers than anyone else in history. (Dwarfing . . . swamping, the Alaskan Gold Mine Windfall which financed some Covenant capers at the turn of the last century.) Those of us who have some contact or interest in this mysterious Denominational family can be grateful for his remarkable accomplishments.

Renee Johnson was the lovely bride. Her brother, Peter, is the current Commodore of Covenant Chris Crafts at Spread Eagle, Wisconsin.

At one point in the cruise, four trench-coated pranksters with Green Bay Packer hats and nylon stockings over their heads tackled the groom and placed on his ankle a chrome chain and blue bowling ball — the same shade of blue as the bridesmaids’ dresses. On the ball, the letter “R” was stenciled.

David Horner, President of North Park College was on board. I caught up with him in the ship’s salon and asked him to write something for Pietisten about his philosophy of Christian education. He said he was thinking of North Park as a university and might test-market this idea in a future issue.

Three hundred and fifty-eight wedding guests were on this vessel, prompting the father of the groom to comment that this was like the Covenant Annual Meeting, only bigger. He also quipped, apropos of this elaborate high seas reception and lovely dinner, “Whatever happened to pale green mints in the church basement?”

There were twenty bridesmaids and groomsmen. The bride just completed a master’s degree in physical therapy at Northwestern University. The groom is one of the principals in the Johnson & Dahlstrom Construction Company based in the northern suburbs of Chicago. — Bruce Carlson

North Park Homecoming, 1995

Thirty-five years ago, the first students to earn bachelor degrees graduated from North Park College. Some of these guinea pigs gathered at Monastero’s Restaurant in Chicago to honor the occasion. Joining them were some members of both faculty and administration who were architects of the four-year program. One of them, Dr. Earland Carlson, Dean at that time, spoke about the transition from a Junior College to a full four-year program.

Several things struck home as a result of Dr. Carlson’s reflections and the subsequent discussion: that the way was prepared by careful, creative planning on the part of the faculty and administration; that few of us realized the extent of the risk of our degrees being from a non-accredited college; and that prompt accreditation confirmed the quality of planning and execution.

Faculty and graduates talked happily about those years and their experiences as being part of something fresh, new, and good. Also, Betsy (Anderson) Evans confessed, after 35 years, that she and a gang of coeds, who remained silent while the men took the heat, tossed the silverware into the swimming pool. — PJ

Jim Sundholm Honored at surprise Fete

Rev. Jim Sundholm’s twenty years of service as Senior Pastor of Community Covenant Church of Minneapolis were joyfully and sometimes raucously celebrated this past September 9. Community Covenant’s sanctuary was filled with Pastor Sundholm’s parishioners, both past and present, friends, family, clergy colleagues, and a host of others who came to honor this man’s distinguished tenure. Jim is much loved by his parishioners and highly regarded in many circles of faith for his excellent, reflective, and energetic preaching of the Gospel, a lifelong devotion to urban ministry, and a strong personal integrity that allows his voice to be listened to well beyond his congregation.

Jim was completely taken by surprise as he was escorted from a youth fund-raising banquet in the church basement upstairs to a ninety-minute special presentation given on his behalf. He was honored by story-telling and letters from family, parishioners, and church leaders. Poems and songs were shared in his honor. Even an epic country music ballad (his favorite form of cultural diversion) was commissioned for him by the anniversary committee. Said ballad was composed and sung at the event by a member of Pietisten’s editorial staff and is included at the end of this column, in honor of Rev. Sundholm and for the readers.

Both Jim and Carol Sundholm were presented with several gifts on behalf of the Community Covenant family by Church Council Chair, Robert Sloan. Pietisten and, we are sure, many of our readers also convey our congratulations to Jim and Carol for a ministry that represents the very best of pietism’s spirit and people. — Peter Sandstrom

A Cowboy Preacher

An Epic Country Ballad Written by Peter Sandstrom In Honor of the Twentieth Anniversary Of Rev. Jim Sundholm’s Call To Be Senior Pastor Of Community Covenant Church

Chorus

He’s a cowboy preacher.
Rides to church on a bronco.
Wears black cowboy boots
And faded blue jeans.
His face is gray-bearded.
His forehead is furrowed.
His laughter rings true
And his heartstrings run deep.
So, we thank you for comin’.
God bless you for stayin’.
And Lord be with you
When you ride away.

Verse

He’s a son of the wave
Of the great immigration
From the plains of Old Sweden
And the fjords of Norway.
He’s a man of the streets
And Near North highrises.
A pastor to the city
And he calls himself ‘Jim.’
His horse he named “Ragnar.”
He named his kids from the Bible.
And his wife was named Carol
(By somebody else).
He serves the wine of the Kingdom.
He shares a coffee with strangers.
He drinks the Living Waters.
He sips a brew on the sly.

Repeat Chorus

Verse

He speaks the Word from the Scriptures.
He reads the books of old scholars.
He notes the letters of saints.
He knows the lessons of life.
He’s a friend of the exile,
A soulmate to survivors.
It’s a repetitive pattern
Of a twenty year stride
In a parish of tales
Where everyone’s got a story;
Each one sadder than Hades
On a very bad day.
Oh, we peasants and priests,
We prophets and pilgrims
Comprise the glad chorus
Of his Community!