"No. 4 in a series 'Meet Your Minister'" from the August 23, 1956 Door County Advocate
No. 4 in a Series
'Meet Your Minister'
This is the fourth in a series of articles on Door county ministers written by the Rev. I. Dean Jordan of the First Methodist church of Sturgeon Bay. This week's article is on the Rev. Luther Jacobson, Immanuel Lutheran church, Baileys Harbor.
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Apparently Monday is a day of work for Pastor Jacobson, for when he greeted this Monday caller he had on his "working clothes," a dark suit accentuated by a clerical collar. Thirteen month old daughter Ruth was also at hand to see who was at the door. As we entered the pleasant living room her toys gave evidence that she had been busy playing. Mrs. Jacobson, entering the room, explained the mild disarrangement of the toys by commenting: "Ruth plays outdoors most of the time, but today the grass is too wet to let her out."
Wondering about his "working clothes" I asked when he took time off. Mrs. Jacobson spoke up quickly saying: "Saturday afternoons. When he has his sermon to finish, the bulletins to run off, and other miscellaneous jobs to finish before Sunday morning, I can usually find hint out washing the car or piddling about in the yard. I'm sometimes surprised at how good his sermons are."
"But that's when I do my thinking," Mr. Jacobson replied, coming to his own defense. "When the work piles up in the study the ideas just don't come. If I go outdoors and get busy in something else the ideas come along and get themselves in shape. Then all I have to do is write them down."
"Does Ruth cause you any trouble when you are trying to get your work done?" I asked.
"Well, sometimes she doesn't help," he replied. "When I am doing some routine work like writing a report, or filing, or such I don't mind her. But when I have to think and she is around, I wish I had a study at the church."
"Has she bothered you at a church service yet?"
"Not yet," spoke Mrs. Jacobson. "We had a visiting preacher not long ago. She noticed something was different and stared at him a long time — a minute or two by an adult count. When her daddy is preaching she doesn't pay any attention."
"How long have you been preaching, Pastor?"
"This is my first real church. While I was in seminary I had a little church. You know, during seminary we must spend one year in an internship with an established church and preacher. When I went to my internship the minister told me about a little church a few miles away that was ready to fold up. He told me to go there and preach each Sunday morning for three months. If it folded up, all right, and if it didn't fine. The first Sunday I preached was the first Sunday I had preached anywhere. There was no organ or music, and practically no congregation. Way back in the last pew sat six people—half of the membership!
"My salary was to be $15 a week. They dropped such a small offering in the plate each Sunday, however, that I started giving $10 a week myself so they could pay my salary!"
"Did the church stay open?"
"Yes. I stayed there after my internship until I had finished seminary a little over a year later. When I left the congregation had increased to 85, we had a choir, a Luther League, and a pretty well running organization."
"What led you into the ministry anyway?"
"I can't say exactly. The first thing I remember was when I was in the seventh grade. My mother was working in the kitchen and I told her I was going to be a minister. She didn't say a thing—just went on with her work.
"I thought about doing other things. When I was in the Navy I studied electricity. Although I enjoyed that work there was no real satisfaction in it for me. What I did as an electrician would be only of passing importance. In the church it seemed to me, I would be dealing with things of eternal significance. So I chose the ministry. I like it very much."
"What do you like most about it?"
"I like to see young people grow and develop. You start out with them, and they don't know how to run a meeting. They are afraid to lead in devotions or prayers. Then one day one them will lead the devotion, for instance, and you can see how much he has progressed.
"I like preaching, too. Especially when someone makes a comment about the sermon that shows it really had some value for them."
"Mrs. Jacobson mentioned that you work outdoors for relaxation. What else do you do to relax?"
"As a family we go sightseeing mostly," Gloria answered. "There's not much else you can do without getting a baby-sitter. I would like to go fishing or golfing with Luther, but that means getting someone to take care of Ruthie."
"I like most kinds of sports," continued Pastor Jacobson. "I golf some. I have a pretty good set of fishing tackle. I like to go hunting. I enjoy most, though, doing handcraft things. I have a little workshop in the garage. I haven't been able to get much equipment yet, but I've enjoyed doing some things. I re-upholstered one of our chairs, built an end-table, made a lamp, built some yard toys for Ruth. I am anxious to get more tools so I can make more household furniture."
"I've asked the other ministers about their family devotions. With Ruth so young perhaps you don't have them?"
"Not as a family, for as you say, Ruth is too young. Before I was married I had developed the practice of private devotions. I still follow that practice. When Ruth is older and able to understand them we'll begin having family devotions as a teaching device for her."
Noticing a car drive up in front, and remembering the pastor had on his "working clothes" it seemed proper to leave. As I left Mr. Jacobson commented, as each of the other preachers had in turn:
"I hope what we've said will be interesting."
I assured him that it would.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
[Obituaries for Gloria Jacobson: https://www.swnews4u.com/obituaries/gloria-jacobson/ and https://www.generationsfuneral.com/obituaries/Gloria-F-Jacobson?obId=4490414 ]
Articles by the Rev. I. Dean Jordan
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/ira-dean-jordan
Posts relating to churches
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/churches