Who’s The Pietist Schoolman?
Hi, my name’s Chris Gehrz (“gairts”). I’m a history professor. For about twenty years now, I’ve been teaching undergraduate students at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) about modern European, military/diplomatic, religious, and sports history.
I’m also an author and editor. My most recent books are Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Aviator (2021) and Faith and History: A Devotional (2020), and I’m currently publishing a guide to college for Christian families right here at Substack. I’ve also published three books about the Christian tradition known as Pietism, and in 2021-2022 acted as the Pietist representative in an online, ecumenical conversation about how different Christians follow Jesus. I’ve been blogging since 2011, and from 2016 to 2022, I served as the editor and Tuesday contributor for The Anxious Bench, a group history blog at Patheos. You can also follow developments in my 2024 sabbatical project, a women’s history of Bethel University, at yet one more blog!
I’m also a speaker who often teaches adult Sunday School classes for churches and gives guest lectures for museums, libraries, and colleges. (I’ve even led a couple of retreats.) You can find recent events and potential topics here. Just email me if you’d like to arrange a class or talk.
And sometimes I’m a tour guide. After leading several groups of students to Europe for a travel course on the First World War, I started taking adults to that continent in 2019. Most recently, we toured Scandinavia, and I’m now exploring a couple of options for the summer of 2026.
What’s The Pietist Schoolman?
The Pietist Schoolman is a newsletter growing out of a blog that I’ve been keeping since 2011 — my ongoing attempt to “think in public” about Christianity, history, and education… and how they intersect with each other.
Expect the eclectic. From October 2024 through June 2025, most weeks will include a new chapter in my College for Christians guide. More often, I’ll reflect on some aspect of faith, history, or both that grows out of my experience teaching college students, speaking to older audiences, or just being a Christian in 21st century America. And here is also where I’ll share updates about future tours of Europe.
Whatever the topic, my goals as a writer are to be thoughtful and thought-provoking, informative and empathetic, principled and nuanced.
Why subscribe?
Paid subscribers get full access to the newsletter and archive (including College for Christians in its entirety), and have the ability to comment on posts. Free subscribers still receive three posts per week, including every Saturday links wrap and Sunday devotional reflection.
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