Profile by Jen Blazis "I know I'm no great singer or performer, but I figure, well, the Lord is in it and has has some reason or purpose."

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Send mail to The Voice Carpenter, pastor and family man releases album Mr. Jorgensen never thought her would make a CD when he first started playing the piano. -John Jorgensen, photo When John Jorgensen was 8 years old, he discovered he could pick out a tune on a beat-up piano in his cousin's garage in Greenville, Mich. His par-ents couldn't afford lessons for him at the time. But later, when his sister began lessons, Mr. Jorgensen learned how to play by ear. And when he was 12, he started writing his own songs. Today, 43 years later, Mr. Jorgensen has just produced his first compact disk, "Songs from the Heart." True to traditional country-western music, "Songs from the Heart" is a collection of Mr. Jorgensen's honest discussions with God and stories that reveal biblical truths. "I never thought about publishing or making a CD," Mr. Jorgensen said. "[The music] was just my expression to the Lord." A father, grandfather and a devoted husband and pastor, Mr. Jorgensen, 55, works as a carpentry supervisor at Multnomah Bible College. He is a man's man; he works with his hands. His office was a dusty passageway between two garages in a tin-roofed carpentry shop. Pictures of his children and grandchildren and an 8 by 10 photo of his wife are plastered to the corkboard behind his computer. He met his wife, Audrie, in ninth grade, and they started dating shortly afterward. Audrie, 55, noticed Mr. Jorgensen's musical ability right away when they were dating. "We were very poor and couldn't afford to go out," she said. "So we went to John's house, sat down at his parent's old piano, and he played it for me. What he didn't know, I would hum, and he'd play it. What he has in his head comes out his fingers!" Audrie was the only woman Mr. Jorgensen ever dated. "I think I've loved her forever," he said. The two married when they were 18 and have gone through several old pianos since then. "We always had an old beater piano," Mr. Jorgensen said. "We got one piano with glitter paper all over it out of a bar. Another one fell out of the back of my truck and broke into about 50 pieces, and I glued it all back together. I couldn't believe the silly thing actually played." While working in Michigan for a painter, Mr. Jorgensen met a man who discussed the gospel with him. "He let me mull it over for a few days and then asked if I wanted to receive Christ, and I said yes," Mr. Jorgensen said. "He came home that night and told me he had accepted the Lord," Mrs. Jorgensen said. "After supper he sat down and read the Bible. He was so calm as he explained what had happened to him and that he would like me to be saved. I saw him change right before my eyes and saw his assurance that when he died he would go to heaven. And I wanted that, too." Two weeks later, she accepted Christ. From then on the Jorgensens were devoted to God. During that time, the man who had explained the gospel to Mr. Jorgensen taught him how to play the guitar. Like the pianos in his life, Mr. Jorgensen's guitar was old and beat up. But in 1971, his home church took an offering and bought him a new Gibson guitar that he still uses. Several years after his salvation, Mr. Jorgensen enrolled at Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music and later graduated with a pastoral ministries major. He has since pastored churches in Michigan, Alaska, Florida and Oregon. Mrs. Jorgensen described her husband as "a very kind, loving person, slow to anger. He's humble too. We've been married almost 37 years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him get angry. He's very forgiving to people who harm him. He always gives people the benefit of the doubt." The Jorgensens have four children: Scott, Mary, John and Mindi, and 13 grandchildren. Mr. Jorgensen said that music has always been a part of his family life. Music is often a theme of family get-togethers. "At holidays, we have a 'sing-about,'" he said. "We sit in the living room, and I start hammerin' away on the old piano, and we sing. We were never very good, but we just sang. At times we had Bible college students at our house who didn't have a home to go to at holiday times, and we'd make music with pots and pans or by blowing in a jug or whatever!" For the Jorgensens' 25th wedding anniversary, his music was wrapped neatly in a surprise package for his wife. "He asked me if I'd marry him again," she said. "He actually proposed to me. We did a little service at the Bible college's little chapel on campus. We repeated our vows, and then John picked up his guitar and sang a song he'd written just for me. I had no clue he had been planning this; I never heard him practicing it. It was beautiful. "He's been a great father," she said. "Even now when the children are all married, if there's a crisis in their lives, they want to talk to Dad. They know they'll get biblical advice." The Jorgensen family isn't the only group that gets good biblical advice from Mr. Jorgensen. For the last seven years, he has served as pastor at Cascade Retirement Center and more recently also at Bedford Retirement Center. He and his son, John, teach at the services held inside the retirement centers every Sunday. Mrs. Jorgensen said her husband is affectionate and gentle with his congregation. "People really open up to him," she said. "He loves them, hugs them, holds them and talks to them. They want to know someone really cares, and he does." Mr. Jorgensen's affection and passion for his flock is obvious, and the congregation loves him in return. In fact, a woman from the church was the first to suggest that Mr. Jorgensen produce a CD. He had played a song in church one Sunday after being put on the spot by his son. Afterward, one of the members approached him and said, "Pastor, you are probably one of the least selfish men I've ever known, but you'd be selfish if you kept that song to yourself." The next week, a woman in the congregation stood up to make an announcement and said that the church ought to start a music fund for Mr. Jorgensen's songs. "They had envelopes put out that said, 'Music Fund,' and then a few people outside of the church listened to some demos and gave," Mr. Jorgensen said. "We never asked anybody for money; the Lord just provided it." Michael Davis, a guitar teacher at MBC, helped Mr. Jorgensen record the CD and helped put together a lot of the music. "He was nervous at first, but it didn't take him a long time to get comfortable [in the studio]," Mr. Davis said. "He was very agreeable and open to suggestions." Mr. Jorgensen's musical legacy has impacted many people. He said that music can be a great evangelistic tool, and he hopes his music will be just that. "The Lord is providing the way. I know I'm no great singer or performer, but I figure, well, the Lord is in it and has some reason or purpose. So I'll do it," he said. He is considering producing a second album. Although Mr. Jorgensen built his musical career on old beat up pianos and guitars, his relationships have reflected a faith and devotion that is continually fresh and ongoing. "John's not perfect," Mrs. Jorgensen said. "But compared to a lot of husbands I see in the world today, I'd say he is right next door to perfect." Mrs. Jorgensen knows the heart of the man behind the album, "Songs from the Heart." And for the last 12 years, she has enjoyed hearing him play on a gift she gave him -- his first new piano. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2003 The Voice. 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