Fall 1995

Volume X, Number 3

In This Issue

• Urban Covenant Churches by Bryce Nelson

  Whatever happened to all the historic urban Covenant churches? Today, but a few large, well-known Covenant congregations continue to occupy their original buildings within city limits.

• Poetry Sweet Baptismal Waters by Arthur Bowman

  Gracious God, our Lord and sure defender / We sing your name, we worship and adore.

• Poetry Rachel by Kari Sandstrom French

  We hold hands walking to the cafeteria, both aware she is a casualty of the reading lesson.

• Books This Side of the River, A Centennial Story: Salem Covenant Church 1888-1988 by Glen V. Wiberg reviewed by Phil Johnson

  Glen Wiberg has written a book that goes beyond the limits of one congregation. He touches on themes that have been and are at the heart of Covenant Church life and thought and beyond that, the church universal.

• Books Dr. Johnson and Mr. Savage by Richard Holmes reviewed by Steve Peterson

  Samuel Johnson and Richard Savage were friends in London for several years in the late 1730s. Holmes seeks to recover a more vivid pre-Boswellian Johnson.

• Get Shorty reviewed by Arthur Mampel

  His moves are cool, deliberate, / Without hesitation. / Chili solicits your attention / By his concentrated stare.

• Books Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris reviewed by Peter Sandstrom

  Among the most satisfying reading I do is the pleasure of finding a book whose paragraphs are so intense and thoughtful that I choose to read the volume only one chapter at a time.

• Waldenstrom's Commentary James 1:16-18 and Waldenstrom’s Commentary translated by Tommy Carlson

  The highest evidence of God’s goodness is that God has created us anew. This spiritual birth from above is the greatest gift that can be given and has its foundation in God’s will.

• Poetry Megan by Fred Cervin

  we have been sitting so long / here on the verandah / high above the sea / watching the changing moods / of the shore

• An Imperfect Traveller by Steve Balogh

  There is a Chinese saying attributed to Lin Yutang which says: “A good traveler is one who does not know where he is going. A perfect traveler does not know where he came from.”

• A Moonwalk Memory by Ed Mampel

  It was Sunday evening, and I was fixing to go shave (what with having a two days growth of beard) and shower, before I went downstairs to the laundry/tv room to do my wash.

• Balanced and Not Wanting by Arthur W. Anderson

  Some things must be done, like it or not. One of them is balancing the checkbook. For as long as I can remember, numbers have been my nemesis.

• Opera Report by Max Carlson

  We went right from the airport to the Metropolitan Opera House to see Aida, a very moving opera with very good singers and sets.

• Sport Prophecy Preseason All NBA Picks by Eric

  The Sport Prophet is back! His preseason All NBA picks: first, second, and All-Rookie teams.

• A.N. Wilson’s Life of Jesus Revisited by Robert T. Sandin

  Like many of his students, I could not begin to calculate my indebtedness to Paul Holmer or to measure my regard for him. I, therefore, was especially attracted to the Holmer interview on A. N. Wilson’s book, Jesus: A Life.

• Practical, Therapeutic, Theological Thought Dear Reader by Penrod

  God has answered my prayer. As usual, it has not been answered as I anticipated.

• Louisa May Alcott’s Father by Elder M. Lindahl

  I recently saw the delightful movie, Little Women, based on Lousia May Alcott’s book of the same title. To an outside observer, A. Bronson Alcott might be thought of as an absentee father.

• Scandinavian Folk High Schools by Paul Swanson

  How does one describe the Folk High Schools of Scandinavia? Recently my wife and I spent three months visiting and observing some of these schools in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

• Tributes Evelyn Lindquist by Phil Johnson

  Evelyn Lindquist was a dear friend to Pietisten. She subscribed faithfully and sent notes of encouragement regularly. We appreciated her very much.

• Pietists and the Popular Culture by Carl Elving

  A parallel might be drawn between the historical debates by our Pietistic forebears over the issue of the language of worship in the church, and the present day uneasiness with the newer worship styles that reflect the cultural changes dividing us today.

• Out and About

  As Navigation Editor I am pleased to report that a wedding reception on the Spirit of Chicago successfully steamed away from Navy Pier out onto beautiful Lake Michigan in late August. A three hour dinner cruise followed.

• Post: Readers Respond

  Your summer issue of Pietisten was the best issue that I’ve read. I especially liked the Bach article, the India Report, Extensive Grace, and of course, the fine story on [the Managing Editor’s] son’s wedding.

• News and Notes

  Karl and Sally Olsson were injured in an automobile accident Thursday, November 30. Conrad Bergendoff celebrated his 100th birthday on December 3.