Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon
There was a story in the New York Times last year about a Lutheran pastor in Wisconsin who pastored a small congregation in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He took social justice seriously and was known in public meetings always ready to battle the religious right. When the Johnson Amendment was relaxed by the Trump Administration in 2025, he decided to publicly endorse NYC congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for President from the pulpit. His denomination said he couldn’t do that, so he decided to resign from the church and the pastoral ministry to give his endorsement. This action sent this local church reeling. It had been struggling for years, and now this. As the bishop came to offer comfort to the church, they wondered aloud who would care for them.
Does the local church matter? That church in Wisconsin was struggling to survive. There are churches everywhere that are ending up closing. Does this matter? Does it matter if there a local church ceases its ministry when there are others down the street? What impact does this have on society?
For Trygve Johnson, this is a problem. He wrote a three-part series on his Substack, the Kingfisher Study, called When the Lights Go Out. In it he talks about what happens when communities lose congregations on a social level AND it loses something even more, the grammar of grace. So today, I’m chatting with Trygve Johnson.
A little about Trygve. Trygve served as the Hinga-Boersma Dean of the Chapel at Hope College, where he oversaw Christian life and formation for the campus of over 3,000 students and 750 employees. His tenure included shepherding generations of students in their Christian faith, as well as leading transformative initiatives such as a nationally-recognized Chapel program, endowing Hope’s Campus Ministry program, hiring a diverse ministry team, constructing a new Campus Ministry house and prayer Chapel. He is currently the executive director of the PreachFor Foundation. Trygve is ordained in the Reformed Church in America. He is is married to Dr. Kristen Deede Johnson, a celebrated writer and theologian, Principal of Wycliffe College in Toronto, Canada, and previously Dean at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich. Together they have two children, Trygve, Jr. and Ella.
Shownotes:
When the Lights Go Out Part One
When the Lights Go Out, Part Two
When the Lights Go Out, Part Three
This podcast is a labor of love. It’s free to everyone, but there are costs associated with making this podcast available. Would you consider becoming a paid subscriber? It’s $5/month or $60/year. Thanks!
