Pietisten

17/03/2022

The year 2022 marks the 150th anniversary of Rev. Paul Peter Waldenström’s sermon on reconciliation (1872), which set in motion events that led to the formation of the Covenant Churches in Sweden (1878) and North America (1885) and left an indelible mark on Covenant preaching, mission, and ecclesiology. Join four scholars and church leaders as they share how this crucial aspect of Covenant history remains relevant today to the church’s calling to restorative justice, racial righteousness, global mission, preaching, and congregational life. Co-sponsored by the Commission on Covenant History and North Park Theological Seminary. This event is free and open to the public but requires registration here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlfuurrDsvGtfqxhY0gbxJZBzPs0O_Uf0h

30/11/2021

Pietisten has received a challenge grant of $25,000 from an anonymous donor who invites other Pietisten readers to match this gift. We've launched a fundraising campaign to create an endowed fund to help support the ongoing publication ventures of Pietisten. You can give online at:
https://donorbox.org/donate-to-pietisten

08/08/2021

New book from Covenant PublicationsㅡFrom Head to Heart: A Compendium of the Theology of Philipp Jakob Spener, edited by K. James Stein
Drawn from the extensive and largely untranslated writings of Philipp Jakob Spener, this important volume presents a perspective which is both theological in depth and pastoral in relevance. Spener, a prolific writer known for the publication of Pia Desideria (Pious Desires) in 1675, is considered the father of Pietism, but many of his writings have only been available in the original German. In translating these works, K. James Stein offers insight and access to a rich treasure of theological, ethical, and devotional thought.
Read a review of this book in the Covenant Companion online at https://covenantcompanion.com/2021/05/13/the-pastoral-pietist/ .
The book may be purchased online at Covenant Bookstore https://covbooks.com/products/from-head-to-heart as well as Stein’s biography, Philipp Jakob Spener: Pietist Patriarch https://covbooks.com/products/philipp-jakob-spener?_pos=1&_sid=1dc43b32c&_ss=r .

Mark Safstrom reviews "From Head to Heart: A Compendium of the Theology of Philipp Jakob Spener."

13/12/2020

Happy Saint Lucia Day! The students at Augustana College in Illinois presented their annual Lucia procession this morning. Get out your pepparkakor and sing along with them...from home!

Annual Sankta Lucia program performed by the Swedish language students at Augustana College. St. Lucia is performed by Abby Berry and Alex Hart. Pianist: Ch...

05/12/2020

Our friends at Seattle First Covenant Church are holding a virtual Julfest on Sunday, December 6. The video will be posted at http://www.julfest.net/ at 4pm (Pacific).

If you know of other virtual Advent celebrations, let us know in the comments.

01/11/2020

New book of essays honors Prof. Philip J. Anderson—"Sacred Migrations: Borderlands of Community & Faith."

This book discusses various cultural and religious aspects of life in Swedish America, the intersections of faith and wilderness, and Lutheran Pietist and Evangelical Covenant Church history—all research areas of Philip. J. Anderson, retired professor of church history at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, and president of the Swedish-American Historical Society for the past thirty years. Authors and contributors include: James Amadon, William Beckstrand, David Bjorlin, Dag Blanck, Ann Boaden, Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, Rune W. Dahlén, Scott Erickson, Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey, Joy Lintelman, Carol M. Norén, Anita Olson Gustafson, Hauna Ondrey, Glenn Palmberg, John E. Phelan Jr., Kevin Proescholdt, Mark Safstrom, Stephen Spencer, Mark Tao, Thomas Tredway, and C. John Weborg.

Available now through the Swedish-American Historical Society.
https://www.swedishamericanhist.org/product/sacred-migrations-borderlands-of-community-and-faith-essays-in-honor-of-philip-j-anderson/

27/10/2020

From Joel Halldorf of Stockholm School of Theology, "A Tale of Two Evangelicalisms."

"I left Sweden for the United States in the summer of 2000, and arrived in the middle of a captivating election cycle: the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. I was a young Pentecostal, and my newfound friends mostly belonged to the evangelical camp. We shared theology, and the globalization of evangelicalism had made sure that we sang the same songs and read the same spiritual writers. But politically, we were worlds apart. [...]

This is a riddle I have been trying to solve for decades: How can those whose theology and spirituality are so similar hold such widely different political opinions? There is a sense, especially among theologians, that differences between churches ought to have theological explanations. That is, after all, what should guide churches as well as individual Christians. But in this case it is not enough to explain the differences. Instead, we must look for the answer in the histories that shaped, and continues to shape, evangelicalism in Sweden and the United States. [...]"

https://breakingground.us/a-tale-of-two-evangelicalisms/

How can those whose theology and spirituality are so similar hold such widely different political opinions? Swedish public theologian Joel Halldorf compares and contrasts the history of faith and politics in the United States and Sweden.

17/10/2020

Marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of the opera singer Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale, the Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble of Augustana College presented a short online concert yesterday. The concert features music associated with Lind, including a new arrangement of Oscar Ahnfelt's tune "Day by day." Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syd8KSCZB5A

Concert by the Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble of Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, directed by Dr. Michael Zemek with accompaniment by Gail Baldwin. This ...

13/05/2020

(From the Covenant Companion)
"KICY radio has played an important role in connecting Alaska villages this year during the COVID-19 pandemic...The Nome-based station...serves native Alaskan villages throughout the Seward Peninsula, Yukon and Kuskokwim Deltas, and the Russian regions of Chukotka, Kamchatka, and Siberia."

“At a time when people are stuck in their homes, we’re playing an important role in helping people stay connected, and we’re taking that responsibility seriously...”

https://covenantcompanion.com/2020/05/04/kicy-radio-even-more-important-to-alaska-bush-during-crisis/

KICY radio has played an important role in connecting Alaska villages [...]

01/05/2020

Hey Kids! Join the staff at Covenant Point Bible Camp in Michigan for the first of three Friday nature programs, called "Rockin' Robins."
Listen to bird calls, go on a scavenger hunt, and build a bird feeder.
Welcome Spring!

30/04/2020

Glad Valborg! Happy Valborg!
If you've never welcomed Spring with a bonfire...on a raft...in a moat...by a castle, while a choir sings, and a Salvation Army brass band plays "Shine, Jesus, shine"...now's your chance!
(Örebro Castle, Sweden)
Happy Spring, and here's to brighter days ahead!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh1E-OtNlFs

Traditionsenligt hölls det Valborgsfirande vid slottet i Örebro med brasa, Körsång och fyrverkerier. 2017.04.30

29/04/2020

(From The Christian Century) "Are we really 'at war' with the coronavirus?" by Jason Mahn, professor of Religion, Augustana College.

"The language of war mostly carries out its mission in garnering collective resolve and justifying the moral righteousness of those engaged in battle. But sometimes it carries out other missions too..."

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/are-we-really-war-coronavirus

The language of war garners collective resolve. But that’s not all it does.