The Pietist Schoolman

I’ve mentioned pieces of this since after Christmas and there’s a count-down widget on this blog’s home page, but let today’s post serve as a more official announcement:

On Friday, April 20, 2012, Bethel University will host its inaugural Colloquium on Pietism Studies. This coming about three years after we hosted a Lilly Research Conference on The Pietist Impulse in Christianity that drew over 100 participants from the US, Canada, and Europe. Christian Collins Winn and I are coordinating the event, and it’s sponsored by our departments (Biblical and Theological Studies and History, respectively) and the Office of Academic Affairs in Bethel’s College of Arts and Sciences. (Special thanks to two of our deans, Deb Harless and Barrett Fisher, for their support and guidance!)

The whole event is free and open to the public, but we do ask that you register ahead of time. And while lunch is complimentary for our guests from beyond Bethel, we have limited space, so don’t delay!

The schedule and speakers are below; check the colloquium website for maps/directions, parking information, etc.

The Inaugural Bethel Colloquium on Pietism Studies

9:00am – Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor of Religious Studies, North Park University
“Pietism, Anabaptism, and Conversion: Paradigms for the Contemporary Church”
(read more here)

10:20am – Chapel

11:30am – Lunch / Q&A with Scot McKnight

1:15pm – Jon Sensbach, Professor of History, University of Florida
“Rebecca’s Trial: A Story of Pietism and Race in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World”
(read more here)

2:30pm – Roundtable Discussion: “Pietism, Churches, and a ‘Usable Past'” (read more here)
• G.W. Carlson, Professor of History and Political Science, Bethel University
• Ryan Eikenbary-Barber, Senior Pastor, Bethlehem Covenant Church
• Gracia Grindal, Professor of Rhetoric, Luther Seminary
• Devin Manzullo-Thomas, graduate student, Temple University
• Fran Monseth, Dean, Association Free Lutheran Seminary