My speaking schedule for the second half of 2015 is starting to fill up rapidly! Starting on Sunday, August 9th, when I preach/teach at Zion Covenant Church in Ellsworth, Wisconsin (9:00 and 10:45). Thanks to Pastor Dave Hugare for inviting me back to a church that I used to visit every summer during stays on my grandparents’ farm!
At the end of June I had the chance to spend a few days at Rathbun Lake in southern Iowa, joining my wife’s extended family for a reunion. Of course, even on vacation I couldn’t escape my research. In a part of Iowa most famous in religious history for being part of the Mormon Trail, I turned … More Pietism as Instincts, or It’s More Than Old Churches in Rural Iowa
In the wake of Friday’s landmark ruling from the Supreme Court, affirming that the right to marriage extends to same-sex couples, there’s already been much speculation about what’s next for evangelicals — who constitute something like a quarter of this country’s population but, according to opinion polls, are markedly less likely than their fellow Americans to support … More Evangelicalism after Obergefell: Reformed and Always Reforming
6/1/15 – Readers in the Twin Cities metro area: you can hear me at Calvary Church in Roseville this coming Sunday, June 7, in their 10am elective hour. I’ll be speaking on the history of Pietism, particularly as it has shaped the Baptist General Conference (and its university) and my own denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church. Hope to … More Hear Me Speak on Pietism This Coming Sunday
I suspect that even before they found this blog or the books I’ve edited, most of my readers were already familiar with the German Pietists who started the movement known as Pietism: Philipp Spener, August Francke, Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, perhaps even Johanna Petersen, Gottfried Arnold, Alexander Mack, and other Radical Pietists. But if we consider why a Pietist ethos is … More The Swedish Pietists: A New Book from Mark Safstrom
Ever since I entered the world of Christian higher education, I’ve been bumping into people connected to Messiah College. And that pattern has only amplified since I started researching Pietism. So it was perhaps inevitable that I would find my way to Grantham, PA… It was a rich, full day yesterday at Messiah. Let me just share … More My Visit to Messiah College
The church is never more the church than at a funeral. Or so I decided last week, as the members and friends of Salem Covenant joined five families in paying final respects to five saints of the church. I didn’t know all five well, but I am glad that I was able to attend last Friday’s memorial service for Alyce Hawkinson … More Alyce’s Song: Reflections on a Funeral
I seem to have this thing for organizations that can be described as “best kept secrets.” At my most sanguine, that’s how I feel about my employer — perhaps our forthcoming book will boost Bethel’s profile a bit. It’s no doubt true about my denomination, which I can’t help trying to explain to the tens of millions of American Christians who … More Non-Covenanters, Meet John Weborg
From this past June: my three-part attempt to explain my little-known, fast-growing denomination, and why it’s so distinctive. This past June I flew from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Chicago, where I represented my congregation at Gather ’14, the annual meeting of our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church. “What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?” at least one person just asked. … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?
In my day job as a history professor, I’ve spent a lot of time in the past week investigating the experience of immigrants during World War I. And since most of the faculty and students at Bethel in 1917-18 were either born in Sweden themselves or the children or grandchildren of such immigrants, I’ve also been thinking about my own … More What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church? “An Immigrant Church”
The Pietist Schoolman 