Young Pietists: Rediscovering Our Covenant Roots

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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