It Happened in Crawford County | Rev. James Barkenquast
Rev. James Barkenquast, born in Toledo, is a son of Jacob and Ruth Harpst Barkenquast. He thinks his forebears made the right decision coming to America — his great grandparents were all born in Germany. They came here to obtain land — they were self-taught, apt learners; hard workers; and independent.
James graduated from Toledo High School in 1949 in a class of 430, he was co-editor of their year book and valedictorian. He made the decision to become a minister in his senior year and it was an easy transition to junior college in Deep Springs, California. James entered Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, receiving a bachelor's of art degree in 1954 Hamma Divinity School. He was ordained May 22, 1957, in Springfield and his pastoral career included Trinity Lutheran in Findlay, graduate study Oberlin, Ohio, and Erlangen University in Germany.
While doing graduate study in 1961 in Germany, he went behind the iron curtain into Czechoslovakia on Palm Sunday to conduct services at the American Embassy. Jim said it set the stage for later when his church sent him to Moscow to serve the American and British community 1965 to 1967. About 10 years earlier he was dating Beverly Barnes of Springfield, but the relationship wasn’t going anywhere. When she read in the newspaper that he was going to Russia, she requested he send her a card. He said “I can do better than a card, I went there to visit and we decided to marry.”
They arranged for a priest of the Church of England who traveled to Moscow occasionally to marry them in 1965. Concerned the priest might be busy in Outer Mongolia, he asked the Catholic priest if he could marry them. The priest wrote the Vatican and they replied “you can do it if it can be done without a scandal.” The U.S. Ambassador gave the bride away. His business in Moscow was fairly routine, alternating between both American and British, geared to satisfy both countries.
Jim recalled Christmas Eve in 1960 and his visit to the Minster Cathedral in Ulm, Germany. The steeple is 528 feet high, more than any other Christian church, even Saint Peter’s Basilica. He was young then and climbed it to the top, the view goes as far as the Alps. The church was Catholic until 1530 when it became Lutheran and survived the World War II bombing. When many buildings were destroyed, the church was barely touched.
The Orthodox calendar follows the Julian calendar for dating Easter, but permits the Western calendar for dating Christmas. One time, with a good friend who was a Russian Orthodox priest, they celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25, 1980, and on Jan. 7 for the Julian calendar.
During the interview, Jim sang a little Russian Christmas ditty – translated to “In a little forest grew a little fir tree, it grew up and bought joy to children.” This Thanksgiving he made the trip to Chicago to visit his daughter Laura Becker and son-in-law in Chicago. He quickly learned that some folks at church spoke with an accent and he started singing a German Christmas carol. They jumped right in and he was pleased he can still speak well enough to fool a native.
Rev. Barkenquast is no stranger to music. He has written about 20 hymns and some are published. He has forgotten most of his Russian but recalls that grandmothers were responsible for the survival of Christianity. Children were a big part of their customs and Christmas caroling within the communities he served were mostly among the American community. The Orthodox do not go out caroling, but celebrate Christmas several days, although it’s not a legal holiday in communist countries. His wife Beverly was a public health nurse and good cook.
Returning home to America, he became the associate field supervisor with the Board of Parish Education, Lutheran Church in America in Philadelphia 1967 to 1969. Things were very different compared to when he left due to the Vietnam War. He resumed his church career as an editor with a board of parish education and was also a computer programmer. He then became a research associate with Board of Parish Education in 1969. His boss and colleagues relied on him to translate Latin, Greek and Hebrew terms as needed. His goal was taking complicated theology terminology and boiling it down to simpler words.
Rev. Barkenquast returned to parish ministry in his mid-career, taking a congregation in Burton, Michigan, in 1978. They came to Saint Paul’s Lutheran in Bucyrus in 1988 until retiring in 1994. He continues his work pastoring with nine interim ministries in and around Crawford County. He was also a Parliamentarian for 30 church conventions, a chaplain in Chaplains Corp naval reserve, with no active duty. His wife passed in 2013 and he is thankful for his daughter, Laura, a social worker, who married a year ago and he had a part in the ceremony.
Readers if you are interested in genealogy or sharing a story email or write Crawford County Genealogy Society, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 Mary Fox email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.