CHAMPAIGN, IL (November 22, 2015) — The newly published book The Swedish Pietists: A Reader gives modern Covenanters the opportunity to be inspired by the writings of two of the most influential leaders in the nineteenth century Scandinavian revival, during which the denomination’s ethos was first formed.

Mark Safstrom, a Covenant scholar who is a lecturer in Swedish and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, has translated excerpts from devotionals as well as sermons of C.O. Rosenius (1816–1868) and P. P. Waldenström (1838–1917). Rosenius and Waldenström became household names through their popular devotional Pietisten, which was read throughout Scandinavia and among immigrants to the United States.

Safstrom, together with several members of First Covenant Church in Seattle, also translated Squire Adamsson: Or, Where Do You Live? The allegorical tale helped launch Waldenström to prominence within the religious revivals sweeping across Scandinavia.

First Covenant church members who helped translate the work were Sandy Nelson, Jeff Hans Petersen, Karl Nelson, Stephanie Johnson Blomgren, and David Nelson.