CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter
Still going through old folders, this one full of articles I wrote for the Illinois Times newspaper of Springfield, in the late 1980s. There was a note from Gayle Worland, the young asst. editor. She said they were determined to have me write more for them, because they were getting more letters in response to my articles than to anything else in the paper. That was probably better for their circulation than it was for mine.
The editor, Bud Farrar, was married to a minister of The Brethren Church. She had read my articles in “The Christian Century” and other religious periodicals and told him that I had a particular style that would go well in Ill Times. I was on sabbatical then, so I had time to write, and Helen and I enjoyed running around the state, writing about interesting places and events. I had always wanted to be a newspaper reporter, and here was my chance.
I did occasional columns, in my usual sideways manner, and articles about social matters, like the “County Fair of County Fairs.” That was when the heads of county fairs from all over IL came to Springfield to look at acts they might book for entertainment—clowns, acrobats, race cars and horses, bands, singers, lawyers… well, lawyers were not booked as lawyers. One of the interesting things I learned was that many lawyers moonlighted on the fair circuit to supplement their incomes, mostly as clowns. That was quite fascinating.
What got responses, though, were articles that hit at the points where people had their emotions invested, three in particular…
1] A Sandi Patty concert. She claimed as she went along that it was a worship service, and that it was all about God. It was clear, at least to me, that it was not a worship service. How could it be? It was a concert, presented no differently from a Pink Floyd concert, for several thousand people in an arena, with no religious symbols. Also, it was clear that it was all about Sandi Patty rather than God. For a guy who likes to be liked, those were not good points to mention! Sandi has a very rabid following, which has not been diminished much by the revelation that during the time of that concert, she was having an affair. Religious entertainers know how to play the forgiveness card very effectively.
2] A meeting of women pastors of all denominations in the central IL area. Women preachers were fairly new then and sensitive to being accepted. Several women in that meeting declared that women pastors would be the salvation of the church because they were naturally better equipped to be pastors than men, more sensitive and such. I opined that women are probably not any less beset by original sin than men, so just having women clergy wasn’t going to change things much. I thought I could get away with it because I had a reputation as being the most pro women-in-the-ministry of all the men in the state. Didn’t help. Some of those women were sensitive, for sure, but not in a way that was good for the church, or for me.
3] I know there was a third, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was, and I’ve already put the contents of that file into the recycling. It might have been the one about Chief Illiniwek, the sports mascot for the U of Ill "Fighting Illini." Even though considered offensive by real Illini native Americans, fans of the chief are quite passionate. I suggested that the name should be changed to The Fighting Polish, since that is the largest ethnic group in IL, even an Illinois state holiday in that era honoring Casimir Pulaski, the Polish hero of American independence, and since that might help the U of IL actually win some football games, because Notre Dame U has done quite well with the similarly named Fighting Irish. As I’m sure you know, “The Fighting Polish” didn’t catch on.
“The Illinois Times” is still going strong, even without me stimulating readers to write angry letters to the editor. Maybe I could write an article about vaccinations for them… that ought to be good for a few letters…
John Robert McFarland
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