The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1982, Page 36

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SUMMER, 1982
couver, and the well-known Winnipeg Ice-
landers, Dr. Sigurdur Jul. Johannesson, and
the Rev. Dr. B. B. Jonsson.
I was usually a member of the committee
preparing for these Peace Arch meetings,
and it often became my lot to meet and
entertain these visiting speakers. This
always included a boat trip on Puget Sound,
or a trip up to Mt. Baker and the scenic
wonderland of its environment. The visitors
from the prairies were particularly im-
pressed with the mountain and coastal
scenery.
It was in connection with one of those
Blaine Summer Festivals that I became per-
sonally acquainted with Dr. B. B. Jonsson,
Pastor of the First Lutheran Church in Win-
nipeg, and Ingiridur, his wife. Some months
after his return home he wrote me one of the
most surprising letters that I ever received.
He wanted to know whether I would con-
sider coming to Winnipeg, and working
with him as an assistant pastor. Dr. Jonsson
was, at this time, approaching the age of
three score and ten, and his health was fail-
ing. He had been the pastor of this large city
church for almost twenty years. He had also
been the president of the Icelandic Synod for
a number of years and the editor of its offi-
cial publication, the Sameiningin. He was
considered an outstanding intellectual and
an eloquent and influential preacher. The
First Lutheran Church in Winnipeg was the
leading church among the Icelanders in the
western world, and was considered a sort of
a cathedral of the denomination in Canada. I
was, at this time, aware of the fact that some
of the pastors of the Synod were lifting their
longing eyes toward Winnipeg; some of
these had a host of friends in the congrega-
tion, others had long since attained promi-
nence in other congregations of the Synod.
None of those men would, of course, con-
sider becoming assistants to Dr. Jonsson;
indeed, such a position might not be advan-
tageous if and when the congregation faced
an election of a pastor. I was, of course,
impressed with the confidence this dis-
tinguished pastor placed in me by this re-
quest. I also thought of the benefits a young
pastor might derive from being associated
with a pastor of Dr. Jonsson’s stature. At
this initial approach I did not commit myself
one way or another, but told him I certainly
would consider the matter if there should be
any further developments along this line.
We kept on corresponding about the matter
for a couple of years. The First Lutheran
Church did not feel that they could afford an
assistant, unless Dr. Jonsson turned over a
considerable amount of his salary, but this
he could not do.
In the course of time the Selkirk Lutheran
Church became vacant, and this resulted in
the congregations in Selkirk and Winnipeg
issuing me a joint call. Under the terms of
this call I was the pastor of the Selkirk con-
gregation with residence in that city, but
was to assist at the First Lutheran in Win-
nipeg by preaching there twice a month, and
taking care of the work among the young
people, visitations, etc. I realized that there
was no future for me as pastor on the Pacific
Coast. My family was growing in numbers
and needs, but my income was not increas-
ing at all. This joint call from Manitoba was
not attractive at all, and it involved con-
siderable risk. The First Lutheran had so
adjusted her sails in the terms of this joint
call, that she could throw me off the boat at
any time after one year. Evidently they did
not want to tie themselves to a long time
contract in case their situation should
change. After considerable corres-
pondence, I decided to go to Manitoba and
serve the congregations in Selkirk and Win-
nipeg for a period of three months. This
would be a trial period for all concerned at
the close of which a final decision would be
made.