The Week in Preview

9/9/11 – Coming up next week at The Pietist Schoolman… More on the “unusable” past and Pietist colleges, 20th century revivals led by African Christians, one of my favorite beginnings to a memoir, and Christianity and sports history.

The Unusable Past: Pietism and Christian Colleges (part 1)

In the second (full) post in this briefly interrupted series, I went through the rather lengthy list of American denominations founded by Pietists, and the colleges and universities those churches went on to establish. Having said nothing in two weeks to develop that history (except to provide a few quick facts about those schools in … More The Unusable Past: Pietism and Christian Colleges (part 1)

Ahead of Its Time

9/6/11 – Fascinating story in the Detroit Free Press about Covert Township, MI, which has had racially integrated schools since African-American settlers first arrived, the year after the end of the Civil War. (H/T to my friend Mark Totten.) Not nearly as remarkable, but kind of fun: we stopped in Covert during our vacation in … More Ahead of Its Time

My Four Favorite Sounds

One of my favorite things about the church we attend is its music ministry. Even for a church of our size, it’s remarkable that we have enough musically gifted members (some of them professional musicians, most talented amateurs) to support multiple adult, youth, and children’s choirs, a contemporary worship band, bell choirs, a wind ensemble, … More My Four Favorite Sounds

Labor Day Silences

9/5/11 – How is Labor Day observed, or not observed? Nathan Gilmour asks about churches; John Fea about colleges and schools (Bethel is off, for the record); and Will McDonald has a long, excellent piece lamenting that Major League Baseball pays so little attention to this holiday, unlike Memorial Day or Independence Day (H/T Craig … More Labor Day Silences

This Week in History

Labor Day Edition September 5, 1882 – New York City hosts America’s first Labor Day parade Here’s how the New York Times began its report on the proceedings: The parade of the working men yesterday, although not so large as its organizers had predicted, was conducted in an orderly and pleasant manner. Those who rode … More This Week in History