Future Pastor Making Himself Known As Mr. Twister

CHICAGO, IL (October 30, 2003) - It's not quite Clark Kent bolting into a phone booth and coming out as Superman, but North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) student Reid Olson's transformation into Mr. Twister is pretty interesting nonetheless.

Every Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m., Olson loads a backpack with 400 balloons, a Polaroid camera and an air pump and walks down to the trains station, which drops him off at Joe's Crab Shack in downtown Chicago. Generally a reserved man, Olson turns into a showman for six hours, livening up the trendy restaurant before heading home on the midnight train to the more low key environment at NPTS.

Olson is a Presidential Scholar at NPTS, which means that his seminary tuition is covered by a scholarship. The Pacific Southwest Conference has assisted with Olson's book fees, another financial help. Still, the cost of rent, food, and other essentials for a family of four can add up. Thankfully, Olson's part-time job of balloon twisting has helped pay the bills while providing some "full-blown" ministry opportunities.

Along with the weekend work, Olson has twisted balloons for various Covenant church events. He has used his skills for a children's sermon at Deergrove Covenant in Palatine; a Fall church kickoff event at Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant in Chicago, a spring block party effort at Edgebrook Covenant Church in Chicago and last year's Midwinter Conference. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Olson will lead a balloon-twisting seminar at the seminary's Nyvall Hall.

Eight years ago, some friends convinced Olson to learn about balloon twisting as a way to earn income at restaurants as an entertainer. He worked as an entertainer on the weekends for about six-months before becoming youth pastor at Orange (California) Covenant Church. He now earns as much as $80 per hour during the fall and winter months at Joe's Crab Shack.

Go to Joe's and sit at a table and Olson will craft a dog or a special hat for you while you're waiting for appetizers or a salad. He'll even take your picture with your new balloon creation. Spend a night at the restaurant and chances are good that you'll see a few dozen customers leaving with a smile on their face and some sort of balloon in tow.

"It was just a natural thing," Olson said of his hobby. "I came home after the first time and started twisting balloons like crazy and I fell in love with it. I could see pictures in my head of how to twist balloons and it turned into a (financial) gold mine.

"Business is cyclical in Chicago, but when the weather's bad, people feel cooped up and they go out to eat. When they enter the restaurant there's a crowd and once there's a crowd, you can work your magic.

Olson continued, "I see it (a balloon) as a piece of string, like a shoelace on a table. You have to crease it and fold certain areas and in your mind you follow specific patterns like following an outline. Balloons only have so many technical twists; you only need to know a couple of skills like how to turn the balloon without popping it and where you place the bubbles in the bends and creases. If it's a shorter bubble, it can crease at a tighter angle. If it's a long bubble it has more of an arch shape."

Before coming to Chicago for school, Olson served five years in youth ministry at Orange Covenant. He completed a Master of Arts at Talbot Theological Seminary (Christian Education), but decided to finish his Master of Divinity requirements at NPTS and pursue ordination.

"Moving here has been a great transition," said Olson of his NPTS experience. "The community is an amazingly tight knit group. My wife (Kristin) is president of Partners in Ministry and our two kids have grown up here. And it has allowed my perspective on understanding scripture to change and learn more about fundamental pastoral skills and counseling and spiritual formation. It's a very challenging education and it keeps my eye on the future, of what I want to do in the church."

Once he graduates from NPTS in May 2004, Olson hopes to become an associate pastor at a church. In the future, he would like to become a church planter and, of course, the balloon twisting will be a ministry tool. He can be emailed at pastoreid@hotmail.com and the email address gets plenty of comments when he pulls his business card out.

"You would be amazed at how many people ask me what I really do," said Olson. "When I tell them I'm a student earning a ministry degree, it doesn't fit into their head and I'm able to talk about the school and sometimes share my faith. It just opens up so many doors. The surprise isn't the fact that balloons open doors and intrigue people to start talking. The surprise is when I tell them I'm a pastor and I bring in the faith issue and they stay receptive.

Olson continued, "It's a unique position to have and it allows me to start preaching at a table and using a balloon as an object lesson (God wants to shape us and mold us and twist us into things). If I land a job as a pastor I want to use balloons for ministry, whether it's to draw a c rowd or using it at festivals where I can bring joy and remind them that there's more to life than all of their stress."

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