Out and About
Out and About with Christina and Bo
Once in awhile, a person gets a chance to do something entirely different. That chance came to me in September. I had the opportunity to be “manager” for the Minnesota portion of the concert tour of Christina Ekström and Bo Haraldsson.
High on the list of Pietisten’s valuable qualities is the way it helps us stay in touch with people and make new connections as well. One day last Spring, I received a call from Thomas Norrby of Uppsala, Sweden. He called to ask if we could be of help scheduling a concert tour for two Swedes, a soprano and a classical guitarist. They would perform music from the Andeliga Sånger — “Spiritual Songs,” collected by Oscar Ahnfelt. Mr. Norrby had been referred to Pietisten by the Scandinavian Center at North Park College. We discussed the project in an editorial meeting and decided to help.
Until Monday, September 12, when I met them in Milwaukee, Christina and Bo were “the Swedes” or “the Swedish musicians.” On the six-hour trip from Milwaukee to Minneapolis, we started to get to know one another more personally. The next morning, they immediately established their practice routines, which they maintained with discipline and energy. A noontime concert on Wednesday at the Schubert Club Musical Instrument Museum in the Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul, provided my first experience of their music. It was finer than anything I had hoped for. I knew then that attending eight more concerts of their Swedish music would be a treat.
Christina and Bo had received a warm reception in Illinois. Among the highlights were a concert in the new chapel at North Park College, which was hosted by Covenant President Paul Larsen, and singing in an inspiring worship service led by Glen Wiberg at North Park Covenant Church. I did not want their Minnesota experience to be a let-down.
The largest audience, and perhaps the most challenging, was the Minnehaha Academy Chapel service. More than four hundred students listened to Christina sing Swedish songs, both secular and sacred, and applauded their approval. They listened in rapt silence to the magic of Bo’s guitar as he played Campanas del Alba (Bells at Dawn) by Eduardo Sanz de la Maza. As the students left for their next class, I heard the comment: “Boy, he really played a mean guitar.”
Prior to the chapel service, Christina had given the Minnehaha choir some first-hand guidance with respect to the Swedish music Director Gordon Olson was teaching them. She noted, to her delight, that high on the back wall of the choir room hung a picture of Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale and benefactor of Oscar Ahnfelt’s songbook. Christina has been instrumental in uncovering and reviving the songs from Andeliga Sånger and it has been a source of joy for her.
And so it went. Concerts at Colonial Acres and Covenant Manor in Golden Valley, First Covenant of Saint Paul, Bethany Home in Minneapolis, First Covenant of Duluth, Salem Covenant in New Brighton, and finally Bethlehem Covenant in Minneapolis.
Among these engagements and practice time, we managed a bicycle trip to Fort Snelling, a few shopping trips — including the great Mall of America, and a visit to the Walker Art Museum. In addition, Bo and Christina managed to find their way to downtown Minneapolis by bike and, even better, find their way home again.
The trip to Duluth provided a special outing. We arrived on Wednesday evening just in time for a terrific meal that the church shared together. Our gracious hosts took us to breakfast on Thursday morning at the rotating restaurant on the 13th floor of the Duluth Hilton. As we ate our delicious omelets and shared in friendly conversation, we looked out on Lake Superior and the city of Duluth.
After an excursion up the North Shore, Christina and Bo prepared for the concert. By 6:30 pm, people began to arrive from Virginia, Embarrass, Moose Lake, and from up the North Shore near the Canadian border. They came from Ashland, Wisconsin which made me think about the south shore of Lake Superior and Helga Skogsberg’s From These Shores. And, of course, they came from Duluth. The church filled up and the Swedes filled the air with wonderful music. Aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual satisfaction was followed by bodily satisfaction, as all those gathered were invited to share the delicious pastries, along with punch or coffee.
We left Duluth with hearts warmed by the generosity we had experienced. Stopping at the Big Bear Casino seemed a touring necessity. There was rhetoric of generosity at the Big Bear, and I did leave 75¢ to the good, but, somehow, we did not experience the same fulfillment.
The concluding concerts at Salem and then Bethlehem Covenant Churches were equally satisfying, and they went by in a flash. The next thing I knew, Christina and Bo were boarding a small plane at Holman Field in St. Paul, hoping it would be the beginning of a safe trip home. It was.
I am pleased to report that these two very fine musicians left behind an excellent tape cassette of songs (see the ad on page 2 and the order form included in the mailing). Some songs are in English and some in Swedish. Those who wish to remember their music or who missed their concerts and would like to hear them can do so.
A Shortage of Brown Hymnals
One Sunday evening in October, I headed out for a meeting at Bloomington Covenant Church. I thought the gathering would be small. It was billed as a meeting of the Bring Back the Brown Hymnal Society.
Arriving at 7:30, I discovered to my surprise that the parking lot, large as it was, was almost full. What’s this? I wondered. Well, the church, a big one, was full, too. Pat and Peter Koontz arrived at the same time I did, so we entered together and found room in a pew on the side. Pastor Phil Stenberg saw us and graciously placed an authentic Brown Hymnal in our hands. We were lucky. But then, the old evangelical songs and choruses, some from the Brown Hymnal and many not, were very familiar, so that it was often possible to get along without the written words.
Pastor Robert Dvorak of Winnetka Covenant Church hammered out the tunes on the piano and our voices resounded as we belted out songs like “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” and choruses like “Deep and Wide.”
The Brown Hymnal (1931) was replaced by the Green Hymnal (1950) and the Green Hymnal by the Red Hymnal (1973). A Covenant Hymnal Commission is currently hard at work on a new hymnal that will be out in a year or so. It promises to be a great hymnal but, as far as I know, it will not be brown.
Runar Eldebo at Bethlehem
Runar Eldebo, Professor of Theology, Spiritual Life, and Preaching at teologiska högskolan stockholm, the Stockholm School of Theology, brings with him a glimpse of the world as well as a provocative message wherever he goes. This was confirmed at Bethlehem Covenant Church the weekend of November 12th and 13th.
Pastor Phil Stenberg of Bethlehem initiated the arrangements and asked Pietisten to join in planning a Mission Meeting for Saturday night. The string-band of Phil Swanson, bass fiddle; Bill Frykman and Alissa Anderson, violin; Einar Ekstedt, mandolin; Elaine Ekstedt, guitar; and Evonne Stenberg, piano filled the sanctuary with wonderful music. Leo Vetvick and Adele Cole witnessed to the Grace of God in their life experience.
Runar spoke on the text, “I am a companion of all who fear you,” Psalm 119:63. This text is of particular significance in Covenant History because it was the text that F.M. Johnson preached on at the founding meeting of the Covenant in 1885 in Chicago. Pastor Eldebo stressed the fact that fear of God allows one to be free of other fears. Almost everyone lingered long at the social hour of the meeting. People seemed reluctant to leave the warmth and blessing of this meeting.
Runar addressed the Bethlehem Sunday School and preached at morning worship. During Sunday School he gave us a glimpse of life in Russia, where he has done considerable work. Runar was in Red Square on May Day, 1993. He reported his mixed feelings as he watched 3000 American Christians marching through Red Square with arms raised high shouting, “Jesus! Jesus!” Though the word shouted and the people shouting were different the scene was not much different from the past. Pastor Eldebo thinks it essential for Christians, and others from the West, who go to Russia to remember that we have two ears and one mouth. — PJ