Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.10.2003, Side 4

page 4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday, 3 October 2003
My Career as an lcelandic North American
This column recognizes people oflcelandic descent who have made or are making a contribution to the Icelandic/North American community. Please let us know if there is someone
you would like to see featured. Contact (204) 284-5686 or email us at logberg@mts.net
Karl Sigurbjömsson wasn’t
going to be a minister at
all. He was going to be an archi-
tect.
The tuming point came for
him when he was seventeen. He
participated in an Intemational
Christian Youth Exchange Pro-
gram, affiliated with the World
Council of Churches.
The exchange took him to
Seattle, WA, where he lived
with a “wonderful family” and
went to high school. The Sig-
mars, Eric and Harold, whom
he knew from before, frequent-
ly invited him home.
He said, “I felt more and
more drawn to the church. Eric
and his brother were very inílu-
ential in this way. The way they
talked about things. The way
they saw the church and its role
in life and society appealed to
me. Eric was and is so dynamic
a person, so focused in his pas-
toral approach.”
When he retumed to Ice-
land, he attended Menntaskóli
Reykjavíkur and then complet-
ed his theological studies at the
University of Iceland in 1973.
His first posting was as pas-
tor of the Westmann Islands’
Church, where he taught Eng-
lish, Danish and Icelandic at the
school as well. He was the pas-
tor there during the volcanic
eruption. He said, “It was tough.
And fascinating working to
serve that congregation. They
were in part refugees from their
own homes. When they moved
back after the eruption stopped,
the community was completely
destroyed, like wartime. The
church went on, and the
school.”
His next posting was as the
pastor at Hallgrímskirkja, in
Reykjavík. He remained there
for twenty-two years. He
describes it as “a wonderful
church.” During his tenure
there, they were struggling to
get the building finished. “It
was a crazy project,” he said,
“Building this memorial
church. It took over forty years.
We used the funds as they came
in. When the church was fin-
ished there was hardly any debt.
It was fascinating to experience
this sense of people determined
to move the project forward to
completion. They gave out of
much love.”
The church was consecrat-
ed in 1986, and the organ came
in 1993.
Karl became bishop in
1998 when he was elected by all
the clergy and representatives
of the congregations. Although
the position used to be for life, it
is now for five-year terms,
renewed if there is no challenge.
He has started his second term.
He continues to do a lot of
preaching, at the Cathedral at
Chiistmas and Easter, and at
Hallgrímskirkja at Advent and
Pentecost. He also preaches at
other churches. He visits one of
the deaneries once a year. He
will spend sixteen days in Ska-
gafjörður this year, preaching in
twenty-four churches, visiting
schools, old people’s homes,
hospitals and meeting with con-
gregations and pastors. “This is
a wonderful time,” he says.
There are sixteen such dis-
tricts (prófastdœmi) in Iceland.
A church council (kirkjuráð)
which consists of two clergy,
two laymen and the bishop as
chair runs the church. He also
serves as chair of the lcelandic
Bible Society, which is working
on a new translation of the
bible. Well underway, it is
scheduled to come out in 2006.
He mentioned the generous
donation from the First Luther-
an Church and other donors in
North America.
Karl is married to Kiistín
Guðjónsdóttir. They have three
children, Inga, who is manied
with two children, Rannveig
and Guðjón.
Karl was in North America
for several reasons this summer,
including speaking at both the
August the Deuce and Islendin-
gadagurinn celebrations. He
also led a delegation of six from
Iceland to the Lutheran World
Federation Assembly, which
was held in Winnipeg. It was
his fírst time at this gathering.
There were 825 people from all
over the world, from over sev-
enty different countries, and
130 different Lutheran church-
es. For him “the most important
aspect is meeting people and
hearing their stories. For many
participation in church and
belief doesn’t come easy,
because of political and reli-
gious circumstances. Here we
meet people who are witnesses
to the power of faith.”
He said, “When we talk
about faith, hope and love and a
world in need of a saviour, it is
not academic at a gathering like
this.”
He said he was leaving with
“a load of wonderful memories,
remarkable people and experi-
ences. Not the least, the people
of Winnipeg and the Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church in Canada.
Six hundred volunteers from all
over Canada have been working
this assembly. They are incredi-
bly friendly and wonderful.
Even security is manned by vol-
unteers. All participants agree
on this, this is unique. Canadi-
ans have really made a differ-
ence.” Ivbmh
Watch for
our special
Literary Issue
Next week
Continued from Page 1
Manitoba and Iceland sign
The Government of Mani-
toba is committed to examin-
ing and pursuing opportunities
for hydrogen development
through the Manitoba Hydro-
gen Steering Committee. In
addition to the MOU signing
with Iceland, Manitoba will
continue to pursue a hydrogen
fuel cell transit bus project,
investigate the establishment
of a Hydrogen Research Cen-
tre of Expertise, investigate a
stationary fuel cell demonstra-
tion project and implement a
commercial electrolysis unit
at the Manitoba Hydro Dorsey
converter station.
These initiatives and the
Preliminary Hydrogen Oppor-
tunities Report will be dis-
cussed at meetings coinciding
with the signing ceremonies.
The trip will connect with
meetings arranged by Power-
ing the Plains, a public-pri-
vate, regional and bi-national
initiative dedicated to devel-
oping energy and agricultural
policies that add value to their
region’s economy and reduce
the risk of climate change and
other environmental concerns.
Top government officials,
industry and agriculture exec-
utives, and renewable energy
and sustainable agriculture
advocates from Iowa, Min-
nesota, North and South
Dakota and Manitoba are
meeting in four leading energy
countries, the Netherlands,
Germany, Denmark and Ice-
land. They are seeking energy
solutions that will position
their jurisdictions to prosper
over the next several decades
and beyond.
The delegation is focusing
on the broad themes of climate
change mitigation, renewable
energy development and tran-
sition steps toward a hydrogen
economy, meeting with key
policy and business leaders in
each host country. In addition,
the members of the delegation
hope to build relationships
and lay a foundation for
potential partnerships between
their govemments and private
institutions and their counter-
parts abroad, and apply the
lessons learned from their vis-
it to their region.
Press release courtesy
of Tom Oleson
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