Post Edited (PotOnWheel) : 1/27/2010 5:58:55 PM (GMT-6)

Eugene Johnson selected the distinguished maroon bricks that adorn the main building on the campus of Bethel University in Arden Hills. He also played a role in the design of the building, which features four connected wings, spacious conversational areas and wide hallways.

Johnson was serving as director of campus planning in 1972 when Bethel moved from cramped quarters near the State Fairgrounds to its current location, and many of his ideas shaped the layout of the campus and nearby seminary, said his daughter Conny Spann of Kenmore, Wash.

But he's remembered most as the school's first art teacher, who in 1948 founded its Art Department in the basement of a seminary building on Snelling Avenue at a time when many didn't see the arts and Christianity fitting together.

"Eugene is a spiritual and artistic patriarch for the arts among people of faith in this country and in our university," said Wayne Roosa, current art department chairman. "His creative vision laid the groundwork for the richness of the art department at Bethel."

Johnson died last Sunday at an assisted living center near Green Valley, Ariz., a month after he had hip surgery. He was 88.

He had plans to enter the ministry, so he earned a bachelor of divinity degree at Bethel and a bachelor's degree in philosophy at the University of Southern California. From 1946 to 1948, Johnson served as a pastor in the Los Angeles area before he was invited to teach Bible classes at Bethel. But stemming from his high school days in Fergus Falls, Minn., where he designed store windows for a clothing shop, Johnson was an artist at heart and asked to teach art instead, his daughter said.

"He believed that Christian artists needed a place to study consistent with Christian beliefs," Spann said. "Bethel was his mission."

He earned his master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1948, and founded Bethel's Art Department that year.

EUGENE L. JOHNSON  (a life shared)

1.    Our father had a sense of…wonder…with regard to the potential, or talents, or attributes of people his life brought him in contact with.

·       “And how can they preach unless they are sent?”  [Romans 10:15] 

2.    Our father had a sense of…curiosity… about the possibilities inherent in someone else’s opportunity:  whether that be in a colleague’s undeveloped lot that they planned to build on—where he encouraged them to look beyond the run-of-the mill; or whether it be a son looking for a place to serve as a teacher—where he presented the need for employment in a tight job market as an opportunity for selecting between choices of where to live, who to work with, or what to do. His challenges were thought provoking and empowering.

·       “Be fruitful and multiply.”  [Genesis 1:28]

3.    Our father had a sense of…duty… to do things well, and to not leave things unexamined.

·       “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me."”   [Isaiah 6:8]

4.    Our father had a sense of… ambition… – exemplified in the common potter’s adage that his best pot his next one, the one not yet made.

·       “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…" [Ecclesiastes 9:10] 

·        "Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men.." – [Colossians 3:23] 

5.    Our father had a sense of… humility…, noticing that some of the best art, the most noticeable organizations, and the most beneficial contributions are as much a product of his just being there, pitching in, and working together – recognizing the good that presented itself before him.

·       “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”   [1 Corinthians 3:6]

Dad and Mom made very clear that their greatest joy was found in the relationship God has with us, and our response in faith and action to that:

No matter the timetable,

No matter the patience and persistence necessary,

No mater the choices that have to be rejected,

No matter the cost in sharing,

and the humility that will be called for.

Ultimately we cast down our crowns that we earned in life and that we can’t bring with us into eternity. But the illumined view our parents knew and taught is that God is excellent in using those crowns to sharpen or refine or polish us, and those we are in community with, or just cross paths with.

Lord, remember Eugene Laurel Johnson in your Kingdom.

Give rest to the soul of your servant, where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting. For You are the resurrection and the life.

"All way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?"
(Fanny Crosby)
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/t/altheway.htm

The Sunday of the Last Judgment

February 06, 2010 Length: 29:15

Fr. Tom reflects upon Matthew 25:31 - 46, the Parable of the Last Judgment

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