Fifty Years of Faith: The De Wiksten Years
Northaven Remembers the Years
1977-1983
Northaven will celebrate the ministry of DeForrest
Wiksten on July 16
as we remember his six years of devotion to our
community. De served as pastor from 1977 to 1983. He served as Counseling
Minister of the Central and North Texas Conferences prior to his appointment to
Northaven and had taught Pastoral Care and Counseling at Perkins.
One of the characteristics of De’s ministry was great emphasis placed on children and family, with many special picnics and retreats to strengthen those ties. New programs were implemented, including the Brown Bag Retired Men’s Group (which met for lunch), Women’s Book Study (which met every month and soon expanded into an evening group), and the Northaven Players, a drama group featuring members of the congregation. Many new ideas were flying around during this time. An intergenerational Sunday school for the month of August was begun. Alternative Christmas giving was discussed and put into action. A group from Georgia called Koinonia visited Northaven to share their philosophy of living a Christian life. The Care Corps was started in June 1978 in an attempt to reach out to the entire congregation and to respond in time of personal crisis or distress.
Janet Wiksten was consecrated as a diaconal minister in Christian education in 1979 and was appointed to the position of Director of Children’s Education in the church. Jan introduced the children’s sermon time at Northaven.
A committee with the strange name of ARAC (Ambience Renewal Action Committee) began looking at designs for renovation of the buildings. Northaven’s education building had been built as a stand-alone structure, with an open breezeway joining it to the sanctuary. ARAC evaluated improvements to the sanctuary and the education building and presented a final plan. In 1981 a “Begin with Goodbye Sanctuary Supper” was held as Northaven services moved to Temple Shalom for six weeks while the sanctuary was renovated and the breezeway was enclosed to form the atrium. An area outside the atrium was designated as a memorial garden for cremated remains. The move back to the sanctuary occurred on Palm Sunday, led by a new standing banner made from bells and ribbons donated by the Sunday school children.
It is likely that De was the first Northaven minister to focus on the sexuality issue when Northaven hosted a conference on homosexuality in 1978. Four other local congregations and the Dallas Gay Political Caucus helped with planning and direction of the conference. In his opening remarks, De said “Some people have indicated that we were getting into deep water with an event like this. Our reply is…yes, it is deep water. But we feel that the waters of baptism are often deep, sometimes muddy and often turbulent”.
De, Janet and their children moved from Northaven to First UMC in Wichita Falls in 1983 and then to Plymouth Park UMC in Irving. When De retired from the ministry, he returned to Perkins as Director of Admissions. He and Janet joined the McElvaneys as retired pastors and spouses associated with Northaven.
One of the characteristics of De’s ministry was great emphasis placed on children and family, with many special picnics and retreats to strengthen those ties. New programs were implemented, including the Brown Bag Retired Men’s Group (which met for lunch), Women’s Book Study (which met every month and soon expanded into an evening group), and the Northaven Players, a drama group featuring members of the congregation. Many new ideas were flying around during this time. An intergenerational Sunday school for the month of August was begun. Alternative Christmas giving was discussed and put into action. A group from Georgia called Koinonia visited Northaven to share their philosophy of living a Christian life. The Care Corps was started in June 1978 in an attempt to reach out to the entire congregation and to respond in time of personal crisis or distress.
Janet Wiksten was consecrated as a diaconal minister in Christian education in 1979 and was appointed to the position of Director of Children’s Education in the church. Jan introduced the children’s sermon time at Northaven.
A committee with the strange name of ARAC (Ambience Renewal Action Committee) began looking at designs for renovation of the buildings. Northaven’s education building had been built as a stand-alone structure, with an open breezeway joining it to the sanctuary. ARAC evaluated improvements to the sanctuary and the education building and presented a final plan. In 1981 a “Begin with Goodbye Sanctuary Supper” was held as Northaven services moved to Temple Shalom for six weeks while the sanctuary was renovated and the breezeway was enclosed to form the atrium. An area outside the atrium was designated as a memorial garden for cremated remains. The move back to the sanctuary occurred on Palm Sunday, led by a new standing banner made from bells and ribbons donated by the Sunday school children.
It is likely that De was the first Northaven minister to focus on the sexuality issue when Northaven hosted a conference on homosexuality in 1978. Four other local congregations and the Dallas Gay Political Caucus helped with planning and direction of the conference. In his opening remarks, De said “Some people have indicated that we were getting into deep water with an event like this. Our reply is…yes, it is deep water. But we feel that the waters of baptism are often deep, sometimes muddy and often turbulent”.
De, Janet and their children moved from Northaven to First UMC in Wichita Falls in 1983 and then to Plymouth Park UMC in Irving. When De retired from the ministry, he returned to Perkins as Director of Admissions. He and Janet joined the McElvaneys as retired pastors and spouses associated with Northaven.
Posted: Monday - July 03, 2006 at 03:31 PM |
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