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Retired Whitworth professor has written 13 books since 2015
In May, Mt. Zion Ridge Press released “Saving St. Savior’s,” Gordon Jackson’s 25th book.
By Cindy Hval | FāVS News Reporter
Some retirees devote their time to golfing, traveling or exploring new hobbies.
Not Gordon Jackson.
The professor emeritus of Communication Studies at Whitworth University taught journalism at the University for 32 years. Since his 2015 retirement, he’s published 13 books.
From devotionals to collected quotes to satirical fiction, Jackson’s lifelong love affair with words remains unabated.
“I spend my time writing,” he said.
Genesis of faith and writing
Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, Jackson was an avid reader.
“While my schoolmates were swimming and sunbathing, I was reading,” he recalled.
At 12, he won a prize in a writing contest.
“That led to a sense of affirmation that I could write,” Jackson said. “Writing was always inside me.”
Also within him — a hunger for genuine faith.
The same year he won the writing prize, he attended a Youth for Christ meeting.
“I was moved by the message,” he said. “I hadn’t connected with the gospel before.”
Jackson immersed himself in the writings of C.S. Lewis and got involved with the youth group at the Congregational Church.
“My teens and early 20s were formative for my faith.”
From South Africa to Spokane
After earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town, Jackson set his sights on the U.S.
Growing up under the apartheid government, which restricted free expression and censored media, made him long to study in a place where ideas could be exchanged freely.
“Thanks to TIME and Newsweek magazines, I had a real hankering to study abroad in the States,” he said. “I was drawn by the country’s history of freedom of speech.”
And he was intrigued by the idea of a credible faith-based college.
“In South Africa, that was unheard of,” he said.
So, he travelled to Illinois to attend Wheaton College, where he earned a master’s in communication.
Jackson returned to South Africa, settling in Johannesburg, where he worked as an editor and reporter at a news magazine.
But when the tentacles of apartheid showed up in the form of the government gobbling up news outlets to bolster its image in the wake of boycotts, Jackson resigned in 1979.
He returned to the U.S. to complete his doctorate in Mass Communication at Indiana University.
In 1983, he arrived at Whitworth University to teach journalism.
“I taught pretty much everything in the journalism department,” he said. “Whitworth was an excellent place to live out my faith and my Christian life.”
And he wrote, publishing 12 books during his tenure. Retirement gave him the luxury of time to continue to pursue his passion.
‘Saving St. Savior’s’
In Jackson’s latest satirical novel, “Saving St. Savior’s,” an unorthodox ultraliberal pastor comes to serve at a staid, aging downtown church.
Chaos ensues in the form of a broken organ, church relocation plans, an unwarranted accusation of sexual harassment, a gun range and romance.
Jackson found inspiration in a quote from Peter Vries’ satirical novel “The Mackerel Plaza.”
“It is the final proof of God’s omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us.”
“That quote has always stuck with me,” said Jackson.
He set out to craft a modern story of a pastor (John McGovern) with very “squishy” theology whose call to ministry is equally vague.
“He doesn’t even like the word ‘church.’ He’s charming and bright with a great heart, and he really wants to help hurting people,” explained Jackson. “He never received a calling — it’s just something he thought he’d be good at.”
McGovern decides to relocate the downtown church to a campsite on a river. It turns out there’s a gun range on the property that a conservative church is reopening.
“Things get complicated,” Jackson said. “It’s all about the journey. In the end, he comes to a genuine faith.”
‘A grace-filled evangelical’
Jackson describes his target audience as “Christians who are secure enough in their faith that they can laugh at their fellow Christians and themselves.”
We live in divisive times, and the author believes that humor and introspection can diffuse heated rhetoric and foster understanding.
In “Saving St. Savior’s,” a female character describes herself as aspiring to be a grace-filled evangelical. It’s a sentiment that resonates with Jackson.
“I’m an equal opportunity skewerer — I skewer both conservative and liberal pastors,” he said. “My satire is never meant to be cruel — it’s meant to be corrective and restorative.”
Jackson still has plenty of stories to tell.
“To a degree, I don’t know what else to do,” he said. “I’m always thinking of possibilities.”
“Saving St. Savior’s is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Saving-St-Saviors-Gordon-Jackson/dp/1968693386
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