The subject of this week's In the Foreground article is among the Swedish-American pastors who have been unusually active, and have attracted much attention within their respective denominations.

Erik Sjostrand, pastor of the Bethel Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago, has been a leader among the Swedish Baptists for the last eighteen years, and during that time he has won recognition as pastor and preacher, newspaperman and author. It may be said that it is chiefly as a writer that he has won his reputation, not only within his own denomination but among Swedish-Americans all over the country.

Sjostrand was born in Dalecarlia, Sweden, January 22, 1869. From 1893 to 1897 he attended the Bethel Seminarium in Stockholm, and a year following his graduation he came to America. Soon after his arrival here he entered the Newton Theological Institute, from which he graduated in 1903. Immediately afterwards he went to work for the newspaper Nya Wecko-Posten (The New Weekly Post), a Swedish-American Baptist paper. Some time later he became editor of Baneret (The Banner), a Minneapolis weekly. In 1907 he began publication of Ungdoms-Stjarnan (The Star of Youth), which in 1911 became a Swedish-American Baptist organ under the name Standaret (The Standard). Sjostrand served as editor of this paper for six years, and during part of that time he also edited the periodical Sondagsskolan Och Hemmet (The Sunday-School and the Home).

From 1909 to 1911 he worked as a missionary in Sunday schools and among young people of the Baptist church in Sweden. It was from this post that he was called back to America to become editor of Standaret.

In addition to his activities as a newspaperman, Sjostrand has also found time to write and have published several pamphlets and books, as well as some fine collections of poetry. He has written extensively on religious questions.

The pastor has traveled much, especially on the West coast, from the Mexican border to Alaska, in search for material for his literary work. He is very much interested in the problems of our times. This is evident in many of the poems which he has contributed to this newspaper from time to time.

At the present time Sjostrand is serving as temporary editor of Standaret, while the regular editor, Waldemar Skoglund is away on his vacation. We should not forget to mention that the pastor is much in demand as a speaker, and is known for his ability to speak interestingly and instructively on almost any topic.

He has been pastor of the Bethel congregation for about one year.