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Long-time St. Olaf Pastor Clifford Swanson to present Founders Day address

mjc
November 2, 2000

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? The Rev. Clifford Swanson, long-time St. Olaf College pastor and director of college-congregation relations, will be guest speaker at the college?s Founders? Day chapel service Monday, Nov. 6.

Swanson?s talk, free and open to the public, will be at 10:10 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel. He will discuss "On Becoming the Community That We Are."

Swanson was St. Olaf College pastor from 1954 until 1981, when he was named director of college-congregation relations. He served in that position until 1984.

He was a long-time member of the Inter-Luther Commission on Worship, and was its chairperson during preparation of the Lutheran Book of Worship, published in 1978. For two years he lectured, conducted seminars and served as advisor to pastors and educators from several countries as a tutor for the 14th term of the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

He is author of a book, The In-Between Years, published by Augsburg Publishing House.

He graduated from St. Olaf and received his theological training at Luther Seminary in St. Paul and at the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif., as a Danforth grant recipient.

In addition to Swanson?s address, the college will observe its anniversary with a ceremony naming its archives the Shaw-Olson Center for College History. The free, public celebration will be at 3:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room of Buntrock Commons. The name honors college historian Joseph Shaw and long-time archivist Joan Olson.

Founders? Day is an annual event celebrating St. Olaf College?s beginning in 1874. The school was started by a group of pastors, farmers and businessmen as a liberal studies institution that would train young people for business, politics, the clergy and other professions.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty of approximately 256. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in number of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.