John Krahn, a pastor in Syosset, wasn’t always going to be a writer. In fact, the thought of becoming an author didn’t occur to him until he was going to school for a degree to support his career as a pastor. Krahn found his calling to write after presenting a psychology paper as part of working toward a two-year masters at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Although he said that through his academic career he never achieved more than a ‘B’ on anything he’d written, everything changed when he took a course on moral theology.
With Krahn’s background in psychology, he took to studying preschoolers and their concept of morality. One five-page paper later, Krahn received a call over Christmas break.
“This guy was the head of the department of education in this seminary,” Krahn said. “He said, ‘Hope you don’t mind, but I really like your paper. I sent it in to the head of the lead religious education journal in the nation and he’s going to publish it.’”
After being published in a prestigious journal, Krahn realized he could have a future in writing.
“I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I have some writing talent.’ You know, sometimes you’re just a late bloomer in these things,” he said.
With his newly embraced passion, Krahn went on to write plays, poetry and a handful of books. His most recent book, Living a Happier Life at Every Age, was self-published in 2017. The non-fiction, religion-based book addresses happiness in every facet of life. Choosing to be happy, learning how to forgive and exploring the possibilities of finding eternal happiness in heaven are just a few of the things Krahn’s latest publication addresses.
“It’s written from a religious perspective, but I would say this book is just about for anyone,” Krahn explained. “It’s very anecdotal because I think that’s what people remember.”
Along with being a published author, Krahn, who currently lives in Dix Hills, has been a pastor for nearly 50 years. He grew up in Maryland, but moved to New York when he was 13 to attend a prep school in Bronxville that would later allow him to have the vigor of a college seminary.
“It’s interesting. [Becoming a pastor] was nowhere on my radar,” he said. “We had to go to two years of confirmation classes and I asked a lot of questions. [Our pastor] said, ‘Why don’t you consider becoming a clergy?’ I prayed about it and I felt God push me into doing that. God was good and it’s been something that I’ve been very happy about.”
Krahn, who received a Doctorate of Divinity from the New York Theological Seminary, has served as a pastor for a multitude of churches, including Trinity Lutheran Church in Hicksville—the largest Lutheran church in New York. He says his current church, Faith Lutheran Church in Syosset, is “a small church with a big heart.”
Aside from giving sermons during church services, Krahn works as a church consultant in areas of evangelism and church growth. After seeing the growth of Faith Lutheran during his time there, he wrote a book called, From Surviving to Thriving: A Practical Guide to Revitalize Your Church.
“I was here [at Faith Lutheran] a couple of years ago and this church really turned around very, very quickly by God’s goodness,” he said. “[There’s] a great group of people and I’m really happy to be here and serving them.”
Krahn, who recently gave sermons on joy and happiness, said people have an innate desire to be happy. He said that since we only have a finite amount of days, we shouldn’t waste them being unhappy.
“We are called to joy, we’re called to happiness, and as people we have a spiritual dynamic,” he said. “To find that and to participate in that will give one a greater degree of peace and happiness.”
Living a Happier Life at Every Age, along with Krahn’s other published books, can be purchased on Amazon.
