As I look back over the last year — not just here at Pietist Schoolman, but in my posts at The Anxious Bench, various talks and sermons, and other projects — three themes clearly stand out: The Pietist Option in Practice In some ways, it felt like publishing my book with Mark Pattie last October would conclude … More 2018: That Was The Year That Was
I’ve only half-followed the recent Twitter dust-up between historians Thomas Kidd and John Fea and journalist Jonathan Merritt. You can get caught up to speed with this morning’s Anxious Bench post from John Turner. Throw in editor John Wilson (who rose to the historians’ defense), and you’ve got several of my favorite Johns/Jonathans sparring over what it meant … More I’m a Historian, Not an Expert
Not this weekend, but the next two Sundays in November, I’ll be teaching an adult Kairos class on The Pietist Option at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview, Minnesota. Here’s the course description: In the history of Lutheranism few renewal movements have been as successful as Pietism. This led to revivals everywhere from 17th century Germany to 18th … More The Pietist Option for Lutherans
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
Fifteen years ago this month, I walked into Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton, Minnesota. Save for a sabbatical in Virginia in 2016, I’ve been at Salem ever since. Not surprisingly, that congregation and its larger denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church, have been regular topics here at The Pietist Schoolman. So I think I ought to … More Why My Family Is Changing Churches (and Denominations)
Yesterday Mennonite World Review reported that Fresno Pacific University (FPU) in California had removed the president of its seminary, Terry Brensinger, and announced that pastors Greg Boyd, Brian Zahnd, and Bruxy Cavey would no longer teach in the seminary’s M.A. program in ministry, leadership, and culture. According to MWR reporter Tim Huber, several students have complained to … More Open Theism, Evangelicalism, and Anabaptism (and Pietism)
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
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
I’m now halfway through my four-week Pietist Option for Baptists class at Central Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Besides reconnecting with senior pastor (and former Bethel Seminary professor) Joel Lawrence, one of the chief pleasures of the class is that I have a chance to delve more deeply into chapters of The Pietist Option that I … More How Pietists Read the Bible
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
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