Rev. John I. Samsvick
John Samsvick was an ordained minister for over fifty years in the United Church of Christ Conference (UCC) in Connecticut. He studied at Northwestern Bible School in St. Paul, MN, finishing his BA at The King’s College, NYC and an MDIV at Yale Divinity School in 1961, studying under renowned professors H. Richard Niebuhr, Brevard Childs, and Roland Bainton. He spent fifty-five years in pastoral ministry, twenty-five of those at the Windsor Locks Congregational Church in Windsor Locks, CT, and the remaining years as interim pastor at several area churches. In retirement he cared for his wife until her death from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. Subsequently, he focused his time and energy sharing his passion for the theological insights of James Denney, D.D. as a “way forward for the Church’s understanding of the true meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ as displayed in his atonement on the cross.” He died on December 4, 2024, shortly before his 99th birthday in January. His family dedicates this website and blog to his memory and to all those who “abandon themselves to Christ and share in the world’s experience of being redeemed.”