An Arcadian Vision

Giving Form to Faith

by John W. Ekstedt


Formats

Softcover
£12.95
Hardcover
£23.99
Softcover
£12.95

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 01/12/2011

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 244
ISBN : 9781467097819
Format : Hardcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 244
ISBN : 9781467097802

About the Book

An Arcadian Vision is about spirituality and faith. Author John W. Ekstedt presents faith as something enhanced through the exercise of the spirit. Faith is imagined as a real quality of life that can be acquired and improved upon through spiritual growth.

Faith, as a gift of God and as an attribute of human beings, exists in time and space. People carry it with them wherever they are and exhibit it in the way they present themselves or in the actions they take. It is made better with practice, and many people go to specific places for the purpose of growing in it. An Arcadian Vision was written in such a place.

The original Arcadia was a retreat in the Peloponnese Mountains of ancient Greece. It was considered a place of great beauty and pastoral repose. Over time the word Arcadia has come to refer to an ideal “suitable for writing in poetry or prose”. To be Arcadian is to be a pleasing presence in an imperfect world.

An Arcadian Vision is prose emerging from a place for spiritual exercise in the northern Rocky Mountains of Canada. It is about church as a means by which people improve their faith. It examines how people do the exercises that give form to their faith.


About the Author

John W. Ekstedt's vocational life has been a curious mix of religious and secular experiences. John grew up in the United States and served in the U.S. Coast Guard. He attended Seattle Pacific University completing degrees in microbiology and public health, and Concordia College and Seminary acquiring degrees in liberal arts and theology.

John’s early training included positions at several hospitals working in medical microbiology and medical technology, as well as internships in education, mental health and penology.

In 1965, he was called to serve a large mission parish in north central Alberta, Canada. Following this assignment, he helped coordinate projects involving aboriginal people and public school teachers in the province of Manitoba. During this time, he served a church in the city of Brandon, Manitoba.

John and his family moved to British Columbia where he worked with young offenders and assisted with the chaplaincy program at the University of British Columbia. He worked in correctional administration and was eventually appointed deputy minister with the Attorney General. He began teaching at Simon Fraser University where he achieved the rank of full professor and served two terms as associate dean. John has taught at the University of Western Australia and was awarded a fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.

John and his wife Kay currently live in New Westminster, British Columbia. They have four children and five grandchildren. They have worked as volunteers with the Canadian Executive Service Organization including an assignment in the Philippines. Their most recent volunteer commitment was to serve in the pastorate at one of the churches in the mission parish to which they were originally called when they first came to Canada.