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Young Pietists: Rediscovering Our Covenant Roots
By Stan Friedman
CHICAGO, IL (July 28, 2005) - A group of individuals within the Evangelical
Covenant Church (ECC) have formed the Young Pietists, seeking to build
on the tradition's emphasis of combining personal piety with commitment
to social action.
Members say they want to use their "heads, hearts and hands" to worship
and serve God as they witness "to biblical justice through holistic and
embodied discipleship." The group draws its name from the religious
movement that began in the mid 16th century and emphasized purity of
heart and charitable action. Covenant history is rooted in the Pietist
movement.
"The Covenant has always been interested in social outreach," says Liz
VerHage, one of the Young Pietists' founding members. "We want to
acknowledge the shoulders we're standing on, and yet have room for
emerging leaders," she adds. "We all grew up in Covenant churches, so we
joke that it is the church's fault that we're the way we are," she adds
with a smile.
Formation of such a group surfaced during a late-night discussion
between Kyle Small and VerHage when they attended Call to Renewal's 2004
Pentecost Conference in Washington D.C. The conference focused on issues
of faith and poverty. Call to Renewal is a national network of churches,
faith-based organizations, and individuals working to overcome poverty
in America. The Evangelical Covenant Church is a member organization.
Others founders attending the conference were Lindsay Small and Rebekah
Eklund.
VerHage is a regional coordinator for Bread for the World; Kyle and
Lindsay Small are associate pastors at Excelsior Covenant Church in
Excelsior, Minnesota; and Eklund is associate pastor at Bethlehem
Covenant Church in Minneapolis. The impetus for forming the group
actually came from an older Pietist – Lindsay's father, who is Steve
Armfield, pastor of Thornapple Covenant Church in Grand Rapids,
Michigan. (The accompanying photo shows some of the Young Pietists,
including, from left, Liz VerHage, Adam Rohler, Kyle Small, Amy Rohler,
Rebekah Eklund, Denise Johnson and Adria Pearson.)
People of any age may participate in the group, but group leaders must
not be older than age 35. The organization has no formal membership;
however, about 30 people participate regularly on an email list-serve.
The Young Pietists are not an official organization of the denomination.
People should not assume what positions the group will take on various
issues, the founders say. The Young Pietists is a mix of different
political and theological positions, Small notes. "We are not a
monolithic group."
The group has decided it wants to focus on what it can advocate rather
than argue what it is against, members say. Members are committed to
introducing at least one resolution at each ECC Annual Meeting.
In 2004, the Young Pietists submitted two resolutions that delegates
approved. One resolution encouraged local churches to become involved
with Bread for the World and Call to Renewal in keeping with the
denomination's participation.
A second resolution sought to have emerging young leaders considered for
participation on boards and committees at all levels of the
denomination. Small says that initiative already has begun with the
election of Mark Eix and Eklund to the ECC Executive Board during the
2005 Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado. Small says he knows it will
take time, but says he hopes that local churches will begin to focus on
developing young leaders.
Delegates to this year's Annual Meeting overwhelmingly approved another
Young Pietists resolution, "Christian Responsibility to Pursue Shalom in
a Violent and War-Torn World." The resolution calls for Covenanters to
"cultivate our own courageous practice of peacemaking," to "engage in
liturgical practices of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation," and
to join in "creative work together toward a world of shalom."
Small says his church already has begun to make changes even in
seemingly minor ways. For example, he says, the church changed from
using regular coffee to fair trade coffee at its gatherings.
The group has published two issues of Narthex, a bi-annual
newsletter that includes artwork and poetry as well as commentary. The
name is resurrected from a journal previously published by North Park
Theological Seminary. The word narthex refers to a common meeting space
outside a sanctuary for conversation.
The group was referenced in different ways during the Annual Meeting.
Speakers often would identify themselves as a "middle-aged Pietist" or
"old Pietist," which pleased members. "I'm just glad that people are
using the word Pietist again," says Adam Phillips, who recently
completed an internship with Bread for the World and has returned to
finish his last year at North Park Theological Seminary.
Pietism has been a misunderstood theological movement for years, some
maintain. The first issue of the Narthex reprinted an article by
the late Prof. Burton Nelson who stated that people often think Pietists
are concerned only about personal spiritual growth with little regard
for social issues, that they exercise spiritual snobbishness and are "so
heavenly minded that they are no earthly good."
Nelson's article recounts a history of Pietism that always has been
concerned with the physical as well as the social well-being of others.
Nelson, who died last year, has been a major inspiration to the founders
of the Young Pietists.
"I think that our Covenant roots in Pietism need to be constantly
remembered, discussed, and affirmed within our church," says member Adam
Rohler. "I am here as a Christian, in the words of (August Hermann)
Francke - for 'God's Glory, Neighbor's Good.'"
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