September 27, 2006
Rev Jim Lokken, founding member of Lutherans Concerned, dies at 73
Jim Lokken, a founding member of Lutherans Concerned / North America (LC/NA), former Assistant Pastor of St Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco, gay man, counselor and mentor, inveterate story teller, music lover, and patient advocate for full-inclusion, died on Friday of a heart attack at age 73.
Funeral services for Jim will be held at St Francis, 152 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94114, at 11:00 am on October 14th.
Jim's pastoral roots go back to the old Evangelical Lutheran Church. His parents were married at Bethany Lutheran Church (now RIC) in Minneapolis in the 1920s, and subsequently moved to Pasadena, California, where they raised Jim and his brother, Stan.
Jim graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, in 1955 and then Luther Seminary in St Paul, where he was ordained in 1959, a member of the last class before the merger that created the American Lutheran Church.
His first call was as a three-point pastor of Our Savior's, Immanuel and Lincoln Lutheran churches in Barrett, Minnesota. Subsequently, he served as assistant pastor of First Lutheran church in Brookings, South Dakota, before moving to New York City.
In New York, he took a position as Assistant Editor, Lutheran Forum magazine, New York, 1966–1968. He continued his editing and writing ministry as part of the editorial staff of The Liturgical Conference, Washington, DC, 1968–1972; in the Information Department, American Bible Society, New York, 1973–1975; as Editor of The Lutheran New Yorker, 1975–1976; and as Production Director for The Liturgical Conference, Washington, DC in 1976–1978.
In 1974, he responded to an invitation from the Rev Jim Siefkes to gather in Minneapolis with a handful of other gay and lesbian Lutherans. At that meeting Jim became one of the founding members of LC/NA.
Emily Eastwood, Executive Director of LC/NA, said of him, "If it were not for Jim Lokken and Howard Erickson, their efforts to keep LC/NA going during the early years, and their dedication to communication with members, we might not have an LC/NA today. Howard and Jim were largely responsible for the Gay Lutheran, the predecessor to the Concord. In later years Jim was a consistent and frequent participant in the online LC/NA discussion group. His last direct email to me urged frequent and substantive communication with our members, true to a theme to the last."
Late in the 1970s, Jim moved to California, joining St Francis when John Rollefson was pastor. In 1982, when Jim DeLange was pastor of St Francis, Jim Lokken was called as a non-stipendiary assistant pastor, a position he held until his retirement in 1996. In retirement, he was a participant and a highly regarded presence in Internet discussion groups on LutherLink.
Jeannine Janson, co-chair of LC/NA, remembers that Jim included the "promises of the Gospel" in every sermon. Jim was known for his patient persistence and pastoral response to all in his advocacy for LGBT people. Wise in his knowledge of people, Jim knew how to engage them in a process of personal change and acceptance leading to a transformation. He was ever non-confrontational.
A man who loved music (he even named his dog E Power Biggs), he is remembered for the clarity and loveliness of his singing voice.
Of him, Jim DeLange says, "He always dealt with people in a pastoral way. A faithful church person, he loved to tell stories, sometimes over and over again. It is hard to accept the fact that he is gone. He was one of those people whom you assumed would always be here."
Jim Lokken will be missed indeed.