How You Can Help Us Write a Sequel to The Pietist Option

Posted on by Chris Gehrz

So I’ve had an idea for a brief sequel to The Pietist Option. But Mark and I will need the help of our readers to bring it to fruition. Tentatively, we’re calling it:

Screen shot of title page for "Come Back to Jesus": A Lenten Devotional from the Authors and Readers of The Pietist Option

It’s always seemed appropriate that we’d extend the themes of a book on Pietism through so pietistic a genre of spiritual writing as the daily devotional. (At one point I was hoping to do an Advent devotional spin-off… That didn’t come together in time, but it’s the impetus for me writing devotions for each Sunday of this season.) But I’m especially eager to invite our readers to become our co-authors, as an expansion of a theme we noted in the book’s introduction:

…you’ll notice two rather distinctive voices taking turns [in this book]… One voice will sound more like that of a pastor; the other, a college professor. And we don’t necessarily agree on every point. But every chapter reflects months and years of conversations between us, and hopefully you’ll hear us continuing to speak with each other across these pages.

To us, this approach seems appropriate to a religious ethos that cherishes conversation and insists that not even the preacher’s voice ought to predominate in the life of a congregation. (p. 11)

So if you’d like to join the conversation and contribute to our Pietist Option Lenten devotional, here’s what you should do:

  1. Gehrz & Pattie, The Pietist OptionRead The Pietist Option, if you haven’t had a chance yet to do so. (We don’t expect you to quote it at any length, but we would like to make sure you’re familiar with its themes.)
  2. Sign up for a day using this Google Sheet. Mark and I will each take two or three turns; otherwise, we’d like to leave plenty of space for readers to contribute.
  3. I’ll reserve the right to do some editing, but basically, all you need to do is follow the guidelines in this document, which includes a sample reflection from me to give you a sense of the style, tone, format, etc.
  4. Email me your 200-word devotion no later than January 19th.
  5. Help us to publicize the finished devotional once it’s ready.

We’re going to publish the devotional as a PDF (a free one: so I’m afraid we can only offer our gratitude, in lieu of financial compensation), in order to make it easy to share with friends and family — or even to recommend it for your congregation. I’ll post it here in late January or early February, and reprint daily devotions through my Facebook page and Twitter feed.