“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
–John 3:16 (NRSV)
PRE-PRELUDE & SLIDE
Music by Axiom Brass
PRELUDE
WELCOME
OBITUARY
Audrey Ruth Hodgkinson was born October 27, 1933 to Henry and Sadie Mouthaan in Grant Michigan. She and her brothers and sisters, Bob, Paul, Mae-Rita, Virginia, and Emily grew up on the farm, where she developed a strong work ethic. It was here that she discovered that weeding onions and farming were not her occupation of choice.
In 1951 she moved to Chicago, Illinois where she attended Swedish Covenant Hospital School of Nursing. After graduating in 1954, she worked as a surgical nurse at Swedish Covenant Hospital. She was on the surgical team for the first open-heart surgery at Swedish Covenant.
On Easter Sunday 1955, she went to a sunrise service sponsored by Ravenswood Covenant Church. There she met a man who eventually asked her to go see the U5 submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry. She accepted that date from Walter “Bud” Hodgkinson and the rest was history.
They were married five months later on October 1, 1955. Their love story had God as its center, and was filled with unconditional acceptance and freedom to be themselves.
In October of 2020 they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary . They were always seen holding hands, a symbol of their oneness. They were blessed with three children: Lisa, Donald, and Philip.
After working at Swedish Covenant Hospital she began working at Booth Hospital, the Salvation Army’s home for unwed mothers. During that time she found what ended up to be her passion: helping young moms who needed a little extra loving care. She was on the board of the Covenant Children’s Home in Princeton, Illinois which at the time was for troubled teens. Later, when Ravenswood Covenant Church was approached by the city of Chicago to establish a daycare for teen moms that would allow them to finish high school, Audrey was all in, working with a church family who shared the same vision. Audrey and Bud spearheaded the effort to obtain the proper credentials, grants, and funding for what is now known as RC4. Audrey was a board member for RC4 for ten years. She was also a board member for Parenting Progress, an offshoot mentoring program of RC4 that helped teach teen parents skills for life.
Bud and Audrey also had a vision to help North Park University grow and develop into the beautiful campus it is today. They secured land and buildings by themselves and with others in and around North Park for potential growth.
Serving others was Audrey’s focus. Whether it was taking the high school group from Ravenswood Covenant Church to help others in Virginia, being a camp nurse at Covenant Harbor, bringing dinners to new parents, making banners for the church, greeting newcomers, and including them in after-church coffee.
She was also an active member of the Women’s Board at Swedish Covenant Hospital and helped orchestrate many of their benefit dinners.
Audrey loved quilting, antiquing, shopping, traveling, walking the beach, and sitting in the sun in Fort Pierce, Florida, where she had some wonderful friends. She loved her Bible study and the friends she developed over the 50 years they met together.
Her greatest joy was being grandma to her nine grandchildren and her four great-grandchildren. Their successes were her successes.
In her final days Audrey heard Brady, the oldest great-grandchild, sing “Jesus Loves Me”, and she was overjoyed. She was close to her extended family as well. She often hosted family holidays, particularly Christmas, that included over 50 people.
On January 14, 2021, she was taken in the arms of Jesus into Heaven as her family sang “How Great Thou Art”. It was a true send-off for the woman that we know was welcomed into heaven with the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
She is survived by the love of her life, her husband, Walter ”Bud” Hodgkinson; her children Lisa Kindstrom, Donald (and his wife Leslie), Philip (and his wife Martha); grandchildren Timothy Kindstrom, Peter Kindstrom (and his fianceé Ali), Christopher Kindstrom, Meghan DeJong (and her husband Brad), Kelsey Hoffman (and her husband Eric), Cameron Hodgkinson, Abby Hodgkinson, Amy Hodgkinson (and her fiancé Mark), and Callie Hodgkinson; great-grandchildren Brady DeJong, Luke DeJong, Addison Hoffman, and Clark Hoffman; beloved brother- and sister-in-laws; many special nieces and nephews; and dear friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents Henry and Sadie Mouthaan, her sisters MaeRita Tibbe, Virginia Shook, Emily Brummell, brothers Robert and Paul Mouthaan, and son-in-law Richard Kindstrom.
Peace be to the Memory of
Audrey Ruth Hodgkinson
HOW GREAT THOU ART
verses 1, 3 & 5
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, “My God, ho great thou art.”
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
Covenant Hymnal, #8
CALL TO WORSHIP
INVOCATION
OLD TESTAMENT LESSONS
Phil Hodgkinson
From Isaiah 46:3-4
3“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born.
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not:
As thou has been thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON
From Job 19:23-27
23“Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
SPECIAL MUSIC
Janelle Hollingshed
“My Tribute”
WORDS OF REMEMBRANCE
Abby Hodgkinson
Lisa Kindstrom
READINGS FROM JOHN
Meghan DeJong
EPISTLE LESSON
1st John 4:7-12
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
GOSPEL LESSON
John 17:20-26
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
L: The Word of the Lord,
P: Thanks be to God.
PASTORAL PRAYER
MEDITATION
Pastor Phil Staurseth
WORTHY OF WORSHIP
Worthy of worship, worthy of praise,
Worthy of honor and glory;
Worthy of all the glad songs we can sing,
Worthy of all the off’rings we bring.
You are worthy, Father, Creator.
You are worthy, Savior, Sustainer.
You are worthy, worthy and wonderful;
Worthy of worship and praise.
Worthy of rev’rence, worthy of fear,
Worthy of love and devotion;
Worthy of bowing and bending of knees,
Worthy of all this and added to these-
You are worthy, Father, Creator,
You are worthy, Savior, Sustainer.
You are worthy, worthy and wonderful;
Worthy of worship and praise.
Almighty Father, Master and Lord,
King of all kings and Redeemer,
Wonderful Counselor, Comforter, Friend,
Savior and source of our life without end.
You are worthy, Father, Creator.
You are worthy, Savior, Sustainer.
You are worthy, worthy and wonderful;
Worthy of worship and praise.
Covenant Hymnal, #38
CALL TO CONFESSION
L: Let us now together ask God to cleanse our hearts, to redeem our memories, and to renew our confidence in the goodness of God.
P: Holy God, you see us as we are and know our inmost thoughts. We confess that we are unworthy of your gracious care. We forget that all life comes from you and that to you all life returns. We have not always sought or done your will. We have not lived as your grateful children, nor loved as Christ loved us. Apart from you, we are nothing. Only your grace can sustain us.
Lord, in your mercy, forgive us, heal us, and make us whole. Set us free from our sin, and restore to us the joy of your salvation now and forever. Amen.
L: Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. Know that you are forgiven, and be at peace. Amen!
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
L: Let us affirm our faith together
P: We believe there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; and we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. We are sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING
Let all things now living
A song of thanksgiving
To God the Creator triumphantly raise;
Who fashioned and made us,
Protected and stayed us,
Who guides us and leads to the end of our days.
God’s banners are o’er us
And light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night,
Till shadows have vanished
And darkness is banished,
As forward we travel from light into light.
God’s law he enforces;
The stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains,
The rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing
Our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a song let us raise,
Till all things now living
Unite in thanks-giving:
To God in the highest, hosanna and praise!
CHORAL BENEDICTION
The Lord Bless You and Keep You
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make his face to shine upon you
And be gracious, gracious, gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
And give you, give you, give you peace.
And give you, give you, give you peace.
POSTLUDE
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Piano: Mary Anderson
Trumpet: Dr. Joe Lill
Amazing Grace
Bagpipes: Sam Vetter
AFTERWARDS
Slideshow with music by Axiom Brass
music Audrey loved.
INVITATION
The Hodgkinson family invites you for a time of visitation and refreshments in the fellowship hall. We ask that you socialize throughout the building and outside weather permitting.
MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Memorial contributions may be made to the Audrey R. Hodgkinson Scholarship Fund at North Park University. The income from this fund will provide an annual scholarship to a student in NPU’s nursing program who is a resident of the city of Chicago.
Audrey was a graduate of the Swedish Covenant Hospital School of Nursing, the precursor to NPU’s Bachelor of Nursing program. Audrey’s work at Booth Memorial Hospital, and her dedication to her volunteer work at the Princeton Children’s Home and our own RC4, reflected not only the care and concern she had for others but her desire to share Christ’s love to girls and women from Chicago who often had nowhere to turn. It is fitting that the scholarship in Audrey’s name can be an enduring legacy of her work by allowing a deserving Chicago resident an opportunity to provide nursing care for the people of Chicago.
If you are interested in contributing to the Audrey R. Hodgkinson Scholarship Fund please connect with Lisa, Don or Phil or email Don at dmhodgkinson at sbcglobal.net.
THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone who came today and joined us in this day of worship and memory and celebration of Audrey’s life. A special thank you to everyone at Ravenswood Covenant Church along with all the musicians who did so much to make this day so special.