The women's breakfast in Karlstad was well attended. We showed up about 15 minutes before the doors opened and there were already several people waiting in line. I was able to interview a few people waiting outside. I asked them about the program itself and their expectations of the morning.
Britt-Marie and Liv were waiting outside next to us and they gave me a clue about how the women's breakfast works. They have been to many of these events previously. There are two a year - one in the Spring and one in the Fall. You get some breakfast then listen to a speaker or singer later. Liv thinks it's a nice program because you get to hang out with each other and have some peace and quiet for a little while. Britt-Marie hoped to find some encouragement.
I met Elisabet while standing in line as well. She is part of the congregation and I asked her about the church itself. She said the Pentecostal church is open and lively. There is a lot of happy music and nice people. She said the Swedish church is more traditional and more quiet compared to the Pentecostal church. Elisabet has also visited more than one women's breakfast at the church. She looks forward to the good food and good entertainment.
Jessi, Anja, and I were able to say hello to Jenny and Jakob before the breakfast and concert. We then ate breakfast and then found a seat for the performance.
As people were being seated before the performance, I asked around a bit more:
A woman named Monika also attends the church and has been to every breakfast. She always tries to bring other people with her to the programs. She enjoys being in church and calls it her second home. She hadn't heard much about Jenny, except that she was in a music group and had written a book.
I also spoke with Lena just before the lecture began. She was invited to the breakfast by a friend who is a member of the congregation. She heard that Jenny Berggren was going to speak. Lena heard that Jenny has been through a lot of traumatic things in life and was going to talk about it and how someone moves forward after such things. Lena thought it sounded like an interesting thing to hear how people make it through difficult things and how they move on afterwards.
Lena knew Jenny is about to release a new album. She also thinks that it can be difficult to be a mega celebrity and later be known for something else. She thinks it can take time before previous connections fade.
This concert and lectu
re contained similar points to the previous two performances, yet the mix of stories and songs were slightly different. This concert felt slightly different as well. The tone felt more serious than the other two, despite the jovial entrance on stage from Jenny, where she was joking with the audience about drawing numbers for a book giveaway. She spent a lot more time on the details and explaining more in depth today compared to the previous concerts.
Once the performance was over, I asked a few people what they thought:
Helena and Lena became a part of the lecture when Jenny gave a visual presentation of what fame is like. They were invited onstage to play the famous one and the shy fan.
Lena is on the right playing the famous one and Helena is on the left playing the shy fan.
Lena thought it was totally fantastic and Jenny did a good job of explaining her faith and the meaning of it. Helena commented that Jenny's description was genuine and that is what Jenny tries to be - natural and real. And Jenny succeeds with that. Helena appreciates the fact that Jenny shares her life and herself with the audience and does it in a very professional manner.
Lena commented on the strength of Jakob's piano skills and the combination of Jenny and Jakob working together. She thought the two were very strong together.
Both ladies agreed that Give Me the Faith was the strongest song. It tied together everything Jenny talked about into one song with excellent lyrics.
Fredrika and Lena (a different Lena than the other two) came from 30 km away to see the show. Fredrika was trying to decide which song was the best during the concert. She thought all the songs were very good and it was hard to choose just one. She finally decided on Give Me the Faith, the one where Jenny wrote the lyrics and Jakob wrote the music. She feels that Jenny is totally worth listening to and everyone should take the opportunity to do so if given the chance.
Lena agreed with Fredrika on Give Me the Faith as being her favorite song. Lena commented that many people have the gift of song, but not many understand it and use it in the right way. She thinks Jenny is one of the few who understands and uses it in the right way.
Anna was sitting with Marin and Marta discussing the concert as I sat down beside them to ask questions.
Anna thought the performance was fantastic. She was really taken aback and said the performance went right to the heart. Anna appreciated Jenny's honesty and liked how she talked about everyday things with problems anyone can relate to. Anna hadn't heard much about Jenny prior to the concert. She heard a few Ace of Base songs every now and then, but that was it. Anna's favorite song was Välsignelsen because there was something special with it. She commented that the words are a part of the closing blessing, but the song itself is so good. It moved her and made her cry when she heard it.
Marin also said the concerts moved her deeply. She didn't know anything about Jenny's life prior to the concerts and she didn't know Jenny was Christian before today.
And finally, M
aria chatted with me for a few minutes as well. Maria enjoyed the performance and was interested in what Jenny had to say. It wasn't boring and difficult not to listen. She thought it was very moving and very inspirational. Maria had heard a little bit about Jenny from the Nyhem conference prior to today. Like many others, her favorite was Give Me the Faith. She thought it was very inspiring to see how much Jenny has given her life to Jesus and God.
Thank you to all the people at the church who agreed to speak with me. If you find any errors or name misspellings, please let me know and I will correct it immediately. Once again, my sincere thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
This morning's breakfast at Allianskyrkan could be described as captivating. This meeting was a pure lecture with a few acapella songs from Jenny, but mostly she was speaking about her life and the audience was transfixed on every word.
This morning's breakfast at Allianskyrkan could be described as captivating. This meeting was a pure lecture with a few acapella songs from Jenny, but mostly she was speaking about her life and the audience was transfixed on every word.
