Welcome Back to the Blogosphere, Jay Phelan

Having recommended Jared Burkholder’s recently revived The Hermeneutic Circle last week, let me puff one more new-old blog: Jay Phelan’s Additional Markings. Formerly president and dean of North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Jay retired from a faculty position there and settled here in Minnesota, where he is currently serving as a scholar in residence at First Covenant … More Welcome Back to the Blogosphere, Jay Phelan

Humble Leadership and Gentle Persuasion: A Plea to the People of the Covenant Church (Mark Safstrom)

Tonight’s guest-blogger is Mark Safstrom, chief editor of the devotional journal Pietisten and assistant professor of Scandinavian Studies at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. More importantly, Mark is both a friend and a Mission Friend: that is, a fellow member of the Evangelical Covenant Church. What follows is adapted from his piece in next month’s issue … More Humble Leadership and Gentle Persuasion: A Plea to the People of the Covenant Church (Mark Safstrom)

Moravian Bethlehem

Over the weekend I took the long way from Washington, DC to New Haven, CT in order to spend an hour in an 18th century outpost of Pietism in America. In 1741 Moravian emigrants came to the North American colony of Pennsylvania. It had been almost twenty years since Moravian refugees had first settled on the … More Moravian Bethlehem

If I Ever Led a Trip to Germany on the History of Pietism…

This spring I’ve had the pleasure of teaching a group of adults who are planning a trip to Germany this fall. We started with a 90-minute tour of the Reformation last week and will conclude next Sunday with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but for the middle of our three-Sunday course, they were kind enough to let me … More If I Ever Led a Trip to Germany on the History of Pietism…

Coming This Sunday… Two Pietists, Two First Covenant Churches

Within our denomination, one of my favorite theologians and writers is Jay Phelan, former president, dean, and professor at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. I’m happy to claim him as a fellow Covenanter — and a fellow Pietist. His longstanding column in Pietisten is called “A Pietist’s Bookshelf,” and Pietism comes up often in his regular contributions to … More Coming This Sunday… Two Pietists, Two First Covenant Churches

What’s Next for The Pietist Option?

Hard to believe, but today marks exactly six months since The Pietist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity, my book with Mark Pattie, officially came out. In that half-year, The Pietist Option has sold far more copies than the other books I’ve been part of, been reviewed by Christianity Today (very positively) and The Gospel Coalition (less so), been given … More What’s Next for The Pietist Option?