I’ll come back to our Pietism studies colloquium later today or tomorrow with a concluding set of reflections, but let me interrupt that series briefly to encourage its readers to look at something Jay Phelan wrote yesterday on his blog, Additional Markings. His post begins: I had reason again this week to be thankful that … More Pietism vs. the “Imperial Church”
Last Friday Bethel hosted its inaugural Colloquium on Pietism Studies. I’ve earlier posted summaries of Scot McKnight’s keynote address (on Anabaptism, Pietism, and evangelicalism) and Jon Sensbach’s post-lunch talk (on Afro-Moravian Christianity in the mid-18th century). This afternoon: a few highlights from the roundtable discussion that I moderated. In 2009, we hosted a research conference … More Pietism Colloquium Recap: Roundtable on Pietism’s “Usable Past”
In a couple of places recently, I’ve come across this question: “Where did you come of age spiritually?” Not exactly, “When did you become a Christian?” or “What church did you grow up in?” But “Where did you come of age?” I’ve struggled mightily to answer it. My own faith journey has been so gradual … More My Churches: A Spiritual Travelogue (part 1)
3/5/12 – Nice to see some national attention for Alaska Christian College, a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church in that state. It’s the first of five unique schools featured in this month’s issue of Christianity Today, where writer Jocelyn Green observes that “ACC provides its primarily Alaskan student body something they weren’t getting elsewhere: … More Alaska Christian College
Earlier this week I got a nice comment from Jeff Hochstetler, a student at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, who asked a great question: Do you think that for a Pietistic vision to be successful, it must be rooted in institutional expressions, as the Anabaptist vision was/is? Jeff had been reading my summer 2011 series on … More Where Would a Pietist Vision Come From?
A brief update on planning for our colloquium on Pietism at Bethel University, taking place April 20, 2012. In addition to talks by Scot McKnight and Jon Sensbach, we’ll have a roundtable discussion asking whether Pietism provides a “usable past” for churches today. In some ways, this is a reprise of a session at our … More Pietism, Churches, and a “Usable Past”
We’ve been floating this news for a little while now, but for those who haven’t yet heard… Please mark your calendars: Bethel University will be hosting a colloquium on Pietism on Friday, April 20, 2012. Coordinated by Christian Collins Winn and myself, it will be a kind of sequel to the 2009 research conference that … More Save the Date: Pietism Colloquium at Bethel
12/14/11 – Earlier this fall I had the honor of being invited to write a brief appreciation of longtime Covenant pastor and editor Jim Hawkinson for the newsletter Pietisten. That piece appears on p. 15 of the Fall/Winter 2011 issue, now available (not online, but you can find out how to get that and earlier … More Article in Pietisten
12/7/11 – Looking for a Christmas present for the hymn-loving Pietist near and dear to you? Order a copy of Glen Wiberg’s new book, Singing the Story: Sightings in Christian Music. If you’re not already familiar with Glen (he helped edit the last two hymnals of the Evangelical Covenant Church and writes a regular column … More Singing the Story
Last week I mentioned that I was preparing to preach a sermon for the first time, at Salem Covenant Church of New Brighton, MN on All Saints’ Sunday. Despite my fears, it seemed to go well yesterday, and I thought I’d post my text in case anyone who wasn’t there was interested in reading it. … More A Stretched People
The Pietist Schoolman 