Latest Issue: Spring/Summer 2010
Himmel på Prärien – Heaven on the Prairie
by Tom Tredway
This year is the 150th birthday of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod and the 125th of the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant, two of the Swedish-American denominations begun in North America by immigrants. However, the first religious band of Swedes to make its way into the American Midwest in the 19th century was made up of neither Lutherans nor Mission Friends. That distinction belongs to the followers of Erik Jansson, who with their leader/prophet sailed from Sweden to Denmark to New York, made their way by boat up the Hudson, across the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago, and finally by foot to the prairies of Henry County, Illinois. There in 1846 they founded a communal farming colony that they named Bishop Hill, after Biskopskulla, their founder’s home parish in Sweden, near Uppsala.
Parenting Progress
Parenting Progress was founded in 2002 following a series of discussions with community leaders to respond to the needs of our community in Ravenswood. Many teens were getting pregnant and keeping their children, but were then faced with dropping out of high school because they did not have adequate child care. Ravenswood Covenant dedicated the Christian Education wing to open Ravenswood Community Child Care Center (RC4). RC4 provides NAEYC accredited child care to 45 children, ages 6 weeks through preschool. One-third of the child care has been dedicated to children of teen parents with subsidies from the government to cover their tuition. Two-thirds of the child care is filled with professionals in the community.
Pietism
In the initial year of Pietisten in 1842, Rosenius shared his thoughts on Pietism in a two-part article series, as an explanation for the founding of the newspaper. Part one is translated here from the Swedish.
BOOK REVIEW: Angels, Worms and Bogeys: The Christian Ethic of Pietism
by Phil Johnson
This somewhat odd title requires explanation. “Bogey,” for example, is one shot over par in golf. Dr. Clifton-Soderstrom points out that through the years, critics have characterized Pietism as below par with respect to sound Christianity on a number of counts. Our author challenges that notion and shows that Pietism’s performance has been miss-scored. Being a person for whom a bogey is my par, a “double bogey” is needed before I think it bad. After reading Clifton-Soderstrom’s book it is clear that Pietism scores a better than par “birdie” as does her book.