A Light That Lingers

John Weborg was gifted with a brilliant mind and always faithful to the rigorous study of an accomplished academic. With a Montblanc pen in hand and a yellow legal pad on his desk, John wrote sermons, lectures, articles, and books to challenge the mind and soften the heart. To students, he was a professor in the classroom, spiritual director in his office.

“Life is messy,” he would often say. As spiritual director, he listened to complicated life stories, realizing that rules and formulas rarely healed the heart. He chose instead to hold people with grace. John called these “spiritual conversations,” which became the core ministry in an expanding vision for students at North Park Theological Seminary. Together with Fran Anderson, Richard Carlson, and Jane Koonce, he and this team created a spiritual formation curriculum unique among Protestant seminaries. In time, their efforts expanded to include the C. John Weborg Center for Spiritual Direction.

John loved the Bible, often saying, “Read the Book,” or “It’s in the Book.” He both studied Scripture professionally and savored it privately. His ministry as a spiritual director was laced with words and examples, and stories from the texts. The God of history was alive to him. His quiet, fierce trust in God was authentic. Perhaps it came in part from his life with polio. He knew bodily pain and physical limitations, yet he trusted. He believed this for others differently abled in society, once again expanding his vision for ministry into the health care fields.

John loved words. In academia, where position and rank matter (which he respected), to John, everyone was a “colleague.” With one carefully chosen word, everyone was equal.

John’s light has gone out, yet he skillfully passed on God’s work to many others. His influence lingers long into the second and third generations of his significant spiritual heritage. Peace to his memory.