Books – The Pietist Schoolman

How You Can Participate in an Online Discussion of The Pietist Option

October 25, 2018

Our thanks to Anna Johnson, Reformation church history professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, who is leading an online discussion of The Pietist Option on Tuesday, November 13th at noon (Central time). Here’s how Garrett introduces our book at its webinars page: Pietists are Christianity’s historical behind-the-scenes influencers. They were an important inspiration for John Wesley, the Moravians, … More How You Can Participate in an Online Discussion of The Pietist Option

Maya Rudolph, Ted Danson, D'Arcy Carden in The Good Place

What Am I Trying to Do as a Biographer?

October 16, 2018

I haven’t done a lot of work on my Lindbergh biography this fall after a great summer of research. In part, that’s not by choice: I’d much rather learn about aviation than wrestle with a financial crisis at work. But I have tried to let the project lay fallow for a short season, in order … More What Am I Trying to Do as a Biographer?

Off to the 2018 Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History

October 4, 2018

Just a short post as I prepare to head to the airport: I’m flying to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the Conference on Faith and History is holding its biennial meeting at Calvin College. The undergraduate sessions are already underway, with the professional conference kicking off tonight with Peggy Bendroth’s address on “History and Faith in … More Off to the 2018 Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History

Screen shot of me teaching about The Pietist Option at Central Baptist Church

Watch a Pietist Option Class on YouTube

September 3, 2018

If you’re a member of Central Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN but were traveling part of August… if you were a former student or colleague of G.W. Carlson and want to see me try to channel him a bit… or if your church isn’t able to bring in guest speakers but you’re interested in … More Watch a Pietist Option Class on YouTube

Listen to Me on The 5101 Podcast

August 16, 2018

Thanks to Lars Stromberg for giving me a chance to talk about Pietism and our denomination on the second episode of The 5101 Podcast! Given all we have in common, I’m kind of astonished Lars and I haven’t met in real life yet. He’s a graduate of my department at Bethel (albeit a year or two … More Listen to Me on The 5101 Podcast

The Pietist Option for Baptists

August 2, 2018

This Sunday I’m starting a four-part adult series on The Pietist Option at a church with special meaning for me: Central Baptist, in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. See, Central was the church home of my late friend and mentor, G.W. Carlson, who was the first and most important source of my interest in … More The Pietist Option for Baptists

Lindbergh speech as part of America First panel at USHMM exhibit

Was Charles Lindbergh Anti-Semitic?

June 6, 2018

I’ve written before that “I’ve dreaded the day I’ll finally need to write a chapter or two on [Charles] Lindbergh’s response to the rise of Nazi Germany.” That concern came back to mind yesterday, when I visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and went through the temporary exhibit on “Americans and the Holocaust.” About halfway … More Was Charles Lindbergh Anti-Semitic?

The Pietist Option Hits the Road

June 4, 2018

Greetings from Virginia, where I’m commencing my summer travels on the East Coast! It’s my first big Lindbergh biography research trip: a few days this week at the Library of Congress, then several weeks in the main Lindbergh Papers at Yale University. But while I’m in a different part of the country working on my … More The Pietist Option Hits the Road

Shelton & Emerson, Blacks and Whites in Christian America

The Pietist Option for a Multiethnic Church

May 23, 2018

My denomination has its share of problems, but two things about the Evangelical Covenant Church make me hopeful for its future. First, it has generally done better than any other American church body at living out the “Pietist option” that Covenant pastor Mark Pattie and I sketched last year, in a book by that name … More The Pietist Option for a Multiethnic Church

No, I Don’t Want To Lose My Faculty Office

May 15, 2018

We’re in the middle of a space planning conversation at Bethel, and I’m just hoping that we decide our department’s future location before this piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) has a chance to seep into anyone’s consciousness. I’m afraid some of our planners might be tempted by paragraphs like those below to think they … More No, I Don’t Want To Lose My Faculty Office

The Pietist Schoolman

The website and blog of historian Chris Gehrz

Category: Books