Global Christian History

SUBMITTED TO BAKKE GRADUATE UNIVERSITY OF MINISTRY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE REQUIREMENTS OF A

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

HST 721/GLOBAL CHRISTIAN HISTORY & PRAXIS

MAY 20-24, 2010

BYBRYAN MCCABE

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

1

BOOK REVIEWS 4

The Story of Christianity........................................................................................5

A World History of Christianity.............................................................................6

2 JOURNAL 7

Day 1: May 20, 2010..............................................................................................7

Day 2: May 21, 2010..............................................................................................9

Day 3: May 22, 2010 ……………………………………………………………12

Day 4: May 23, 2010………………………………………………………...…..14

Day 5: May 24, 2010...…………………………………………………………..17

3 PITTSBURGH'S MISSION TRAIL 20

First Century.........................................................................................................21

Second Century…………………………………………………………………..23

Third Century…………………………………………………………………….25

Fourth Century…………………………………………………………………...27

Fifth Century……………………………………………………………………..30

Sixth Century…………………………………………………………………….32

Seventh Century………………………………………………………………….34

iii

Eighth Century…………………………………………………………………...36

Ninth Century…………………………………………………………………….38

Tenth Century……………………………………………………………………40

Eleventh Century………………………………………………………………...41

Twelfth Century…………………………………………………………………43

Thirteenth Century……………………………………………………………….45

Fourteenth Century………………………………………………………………47

Fifteenth Century.………………………………………………………………..49

Sixteenth Century..……………………………………………………………….51

Seventeenth Century.…………………………………………………………….53

Eighteenth Century………………………………………………………………55

Nineteenth Century………………………………………………………………57

Twentieth Century……………………………………………………………….59

Twenty-first Century……………………………………………………………..61

4 EVALUATION 64

BIBLIOGRAPHY 67

iii

CHAPTER 1

BOOK REVIEWS

I verify that the following list represents all of the books I have read for this course, the page on which you will find my book review, and the number of pages read for each book.

Boo

k

Tit

le

Pag

e #

of b

ook

re

view

# of

p

ages

re

ad

The Story of Christianity 5 843A World History of Christianity 6 594

TOTAL PAGES READ 1437

4

5

The Story of Christianityby Justo GonzalezHarperCollins Publishers (1985)

In The Story of Christianity, Justo Gonzalez covers 2,000 years of global Christian history. The Cuban author, who happens to be the youngest PhD graduate from Yale since 1701, does a tremendous job of comprehensively describing history through the use of facts and stories. This is no ordinary history text book, though. Gonzalez presents history from a unique and, yet, balanced perspective. He ignores the temptation to favor one religious movement over another, and he takes the same careful approach when describing the differences between the Eastern Church, the Western Church, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, and the many denominations within those broad categories. A significant strength in the book lies in the focus on famous Christians who lived throughout the course of history. By extensively outlining the details of the lives of influential Christian leaders throughout the centuries, Gonzalez personalizes the story of Christianity in a way that is lacking from many history books. He establishes the foundation that God has clearly worked through many different types of people over many years. While some historians may tend to have a bias toward one culture or another throughout history, or some may tend to overlook marginalized groups such as women or minority populations, Gonzalez is able to bring many different points of view into historical content.

A strong point in the book is the massive amount of information gathered and presented about the early Christian church. From the humble beginnings of the early followers of The Way to the rise of the imperial church under Constantine, this collection presents the foundations of the faith and the events behind what modern Christians have come to believe over time. The chapters and sections of reading were easy to follow, and many stories were given to expand on historical facts. As far as a weakness to this book, Gonzalez could have gone further to describe the global missionary efforts over the past four or five hundred years of Christian history. I found this to be especially true of this book after reading A World History of Christianity, a presentation of Christian history that had a much stronger emphasis on missions and global movements of Christianity. In comparing the two books, though, I do think that Gonzalez’ history is much stronger in the areas of philosophy, theological doctrine, and in describing the great breakthroughs and challenges that have characterized the expansion of Christianity around the world for the past 2,000 years.

The most obvious application of this book is that the history informs me as a modern Christian leader. I have developed a broader foundation for understanding why much of modern Christianity is the way it is. Now that I know where the Christian church has been, I have become more empowered and equipped to provide direction for where the church should be going. Many of the issues that the early church wrestled with are still being wrestled with by Christians today. For instance, Christians who live in countries where they are persecuted for their faith can learn a lot from the early church about how to embrace suffering and have God work through those situations. In the same way, modern Western Christians can learn a lot about how the church made up of influential people and powerful cultures can either flourish or decline over time based on the history of the original imperial church structures. The history of global Christianity still informs the church today.

6

A World History of Christianityby Adrian HastingsEerdmans (1999)

A World History of Christianity breaks through the western mindset that informs most historical books about Christianity. The global perspectives are refreshing. The first few chapters of the book describe much of what happened in the early church and the Mediterranean Basin, but unlike many books written from a western perspective, it moves forward rather quickly beyond those launching points. Beyond the story of the church in the West, entire chapters are devoted to the original missionary efforts and spread of Christianity in India, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, China and its neighbors, Asia and the Pacific. This lens on history is significant for modern Christians because Christianity is currently experiencing explosive growth in many of those places while it is declining in the West.

Hastings pulls together a view of history with several strengths. First, this book is highly missional. While many Christian books look introspectively on the church, the content here is heavily weighted toward God’s mission to redeem the world. Second, the focus of the material is global in nature. God has moved in many different places throughout the world over the course of the last 2,000 years of history, which is a fact even if those movements have not been documented by historians who often possess a western, white, male lens for viewing the world. A weakness of this book is that it is not quite as comprehensive or exhaustive as other text books on the history of Christianity. Perhaps that is intentional, because that type of Christian historical content has been done before. This perspective on Christian history is in a field that still has much content to be researched, discovered, and shared with the universal body of Christ.

This book can be applied by most modern Christians to inform a wide variety of topics. Over the past century Christianity has gradually shifted from the global North to the global South. Christian leaders who do not possess a deep understanding of how Christianity first emerged and developed throughout the centuries in places like Asia, Africa, and Latin America will be utterly disoriented and unequipped during the twenty-first century where Christianity is growing exponentially in those places. The development of a global perspective on Christian history informs such issues as immigration, international relations, reconciliation, and globalization for Christians living all over the world. The failure to understand the global perspective on Christian history and the current shifts in Christianity could lead to the decline of the church in places that lag behind. This is an important book.

CHAPTER 2

JOURNAL

Day 1: May 20, 2010

Julie and I started our day today by visiting a unique ministry near Tacoma,

Washington called Friends and Servants. The organization impacts hundreds of teens

each year through a drop-in center and a farm that is utilized for agricultural education

and youth empowerment. We are hoping to apply several components of their

organizational model to our work with kids through L.A.M.P. in Pittsburgh. Following

our visit with Friends and Servants we drove up the Pacific coast right past Seattle and

through the rural Northwest until we arrived at beautiful Bakken. When we arrived at our

destination we were greeted by classmates who were from Africa, India, and many

different parts of the United States. I love the diversity of Bakke Graduate University!

Ray Bakke greeted us and took us all on a walk for a little while before dinner.

The Bakken residence is an amazing place. I was captivated by an eagle that was on the

prowl for its dinner, and a gentle rain gave way to an incredible rainbow which almost

landed right down in the middle of the great room where we were all watching God’s

display. God is romancing us urban leaders with the beauty of this retreat in nature. This

trip will be a much needed reprieve after a long stretch of intense urban ministry in

Pittsburgh.

We ate dinner with a pastor and his wife who live in the area and are auditing the

course. We found out that he grew up in the north hills of Pittsburgh just as I did, and

7

8

they are friends with the senior pastor at our church in Pittsburgh, Dr. Jay Passavant. We

really enjoyed sharing life stories and common experiences with one another. After

dinner, Corean Bakke played a wonderful concert for us all. Then, we each had the

chance to introduce ourselves to the group and say a little something about where we are

from and some information about our theological backgrounds. Ray spoke briefly to us

about his history and also the importance of modern Christians understanding the global

history of Christianity from many points of view other than just white, male American

perspectives.

Bakken is proving to be an effective learning environment. I was encouraged by

the diversity of the group, and I cannot wait to see what the next few days have in store

for us. Although we are hear to study, and we have prepared with much reading, we are

also hear to have fun, be creative, and build relationships. I am hoping to build some

relationships that will last for a long time. I am also fascinated by the learning that will

take place from so many different perspectives. Ray’s outlook on history will assuredly

differ from the author of our text book, Justo Gonzalez, who comes from a Latin

American background. I am also anxious to hear from my classmates. I know my

worldview will be stretched as it often is in these BGU courses.

I am looking forward to spending time with Ray because he has been such a big

influence on me with his books and lectures. I always come away from my time with

him with many different applications to life and leadership. The incarnational leadership

style that Julie and I are applying in Homewood is directly tied to many of his concepts

and role modeling in that area. I know that we will be encouraged in our work by this

time at Bakken.

9

One of my classmates runs a sports outreach to inner city kids in Phoenix,

Arizona. I am hoping to spend some time with him to learn more about his work there so

that I can be more effective as a leader with the kids in Pittsburgh. Sports outreach is one

of the best ways I know to connect with kids, and it can be a powerful onramp to life

lessons and relational growth. Perhaps I will come back to Pittsburgh equipped with new

ideas for reaching the kids in Homewood.

We are staying at a house with an African pastor who oversees over 400 churches

in the United States and Canada. I am looking forward to learning more about the

phenomenon currently happening in America where missionaries from places like Africa

and Asia are coming here to bring the gospel message to us. It is interesting that many

Western Christians are still stuck on the old model of sending Western missionaries and

resources to foreign countries, when Christianity has exploded in the global South and

those countries are now sending people to us because Christianity has experienced such a

drastic decline here. I know I will learn a lot from my new African pastor friend.

Day 2: May 21, 2010

This morning I had coffee with Ray Bakke and several local residents at the Acme

General Store. I enjoyed the interaction with some interesting characters, including the

self-described “mayor of Acme” who knew everyone and everything that was going on in

the area. I have always pictured Ray as Mr. Urban, so it was interesting to be with him in

this type of context. I think I paid a quarter for the coffee. Now that’s money well spent!

After coffee we headed back up to Bakken for breakfast and our first full day of

learning in this Global Christian History course. Ray started the morning by speaking to

10

us about the importance of history in general. He shared about the global shift in

Christianity over the past 100 years, including how about 80 percent of the world’s

Christians now live outside the West. Christianity is no longer a Western religion, which

it was for over 1,000 years. Western missionary strategies worked, but now it seems as

though God is moving globally in different ways. He then continued to build the

foundation for this course by explaining about the various splits in church history

between the East and the West involving many different doctrinal issues. The theme of

tension regarding theological issues is found throughout early church history, the

medieval era, the reformation, and the modern era.

In the mid-morning we started sharing about the twenty saints who make up our

spiritual DNA. I am so amazed by the different perspectives that are being brought into

this course from such a diverse group of classmates. I truly enjoyed the unique

perspectives from around the country and around the world. I had not heard of several of

the saints that my classmates mentioned, but I also had picked many of the same saints as

them.

Ray then lectured for a while about how God works through history. Christians

should read history as though what we are reading is not the final act. There is a spiritual

choreography going on in the world. We also learned today about Jesus’ scandalous

bloodlines found in Matthew. From Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheeba we learn that

God works through foreigners, refugees, sinners, welfare moms, and many other different

types of people. God wants us to look at history in order to inform our theology.

Several other themes emerged throughout the day. Mission is essential to

theology. Heresies often help Christians to understand more clearly what they believe.

11

History does not repeat itself, but patterns do. Grace and truth are still issues that

Christians are dealing with today. Evangelicals have lost a theology of place. Many

interesting statements and new ways of thinking emerged from Ray’s lectures and from

the discussion with the group.

It was amazing to hear the amount of comprehensive information about history

that Ray presented. I appreciated how he tied almost all of it into how it affects

contemporary issues in our world. Also, since my worldview comes from a white, male,

middle class, American perspective, it was very refreshing to learn about how many other

people in history who do not fall into that category have made significant impact in the

world. I did not have a global perspective before taking these courses at BGU, but now I

can say that I am truly moving in that direction. One of the best parts of that process is

that I am expanding my worldview through relationships with people who are different

than me.

Ray’s take on the immigration issue in America today was something that really

resonated with me. I am passionate about this issue, but I have not been able to develop a

theological perspective on the issue very well. Christians should begin to address the

immigration issue in America out of a biblical foundation of love. Jesus was an

undocumented refugee when he was a child, and Jesus also modeled for all Christians

how to treat foreigners with love and understanding. I am building a new foundation for

which to address difficult issues facing the modern church in America. As a point of

application, I intend to start more dialogues with friends in Pittsburgh about the subject of

immigration which is currently such a hot topic in America. Christians should be on the

cutting edge of figuring out solutions to immigration issues in America.

12

Day 3: May 22, 2010

Corean spoke for a while this morning. I really enjoyed the information that she

shared with us. The story in Christianity is different than any other religion. For

instance, Buddhists and Hindus do not have hymns. You need stories to inspire poetry

and music. The Christian story has evolved into a big structure. She covered the

significance of the Sabbath, important dates on the Christian calendar, festivals that help

us share the story of Christianity, colors that people can identify with, and the power of

hymns in communicating the gospel message. The whole morning was an extensive

learning experience for me.

After lunch and a prayer walk with Julie around the mission trail, Ray started into

a lecture about heresies in the church over the years. He also discussed his perspective

on women in leadership in the church and the feminine attributes of God. He pointed out

that Evangelicals often have a functional Unitarianism. They just care about the second

member of the Trinity and simply getting people saved. Balance is critical. We need to

keep the Trinity as the centerpiece of doctrine because old heresies keep appearing in our

modern context. The two natures are together in Christ without confusion, change,

separation, and division. In 787 the Western church added one little word to its Trinity

doctrine that meant “in the Son.” This caused a major split between East and West

because the East objected. The Eastern church thought that the doctrine was tritheism,

and the East knew the Muslims would reject it. It made real a fracture that had been

growing steadily over time. It festered until 1054 when the East and West churches

excommunicated each other.

13

We discussed church reform at length today. Education, evangelization, structure,

Anabaptist, government, and mission were all reform techniques used by Luther and

Calvin. There is no one way to go about reform. Ray loves reform, but it sometimes

brings about side effects that we might not like. If you study where revival happens,

usually cults break out. Reform (big church) doesn’t always bring the intended

consequences of the reforms. Revivalism (small church) is a narrow view, and it often

has a unique theology. The reformers themselves all wanted to bring about reform in the

liturgy and worship. Luther did not want to destroy images. In fact, he moved the pulpit

to the side because the preacher should not block the cross.

Corean’s lecture was extremely insightful. I have never taken the time to develop

understanding in the content that she covered. I am intrigued by the deep meaning that

can be discovered through the liturgical calendar and in practicing the church year. I also

gained great insight into church history through the many festivals and feasts that she

described. I am still working through how I can implement what I have learned in

Pittsburgh at a large non-denominational church that is not what I would describe as

“traditional.”

At a certain point in Ray’s lectures today he discussed reflective leadership. I

know this type of leadership is crucial for people ministering in an urban environment,

but I have a hard time being reflective sometimes when I am in the fast pace of urban

leadership in Homewood. Many days I end up leading as a manager who puts out fires in

my neighborhood instead of slowing down to reflect in order to be more effective. When

I return to Pittsburgh I am going to continue to work on that part of my leadership skill

set.

14

Ray’s lecture about working with inner city families and public aid moms also hit

home, and I will work hard to apply what I have learned in those areas when I return to

Homewood. There are so many different lessons in the Bible that could resonate with the

people in the neighborhood where I live and work. Jesus spent a considerable amount of

time building relationship with people who were marginalized my mainstream Roman

and Jewish society during his relatively brief ministry career. The early Christian church

grew at a tremendous rate by moving mostly among the poor who were living in

authentic community with one another. Many stories of hope can be found throughout

Christian history that I can share with the people I interact with in my neighborhood.

Another theme that impacted me today was accountability. Ray surrounded

himself in Chicago with leaders who held him accountable. I have done that to a small

degree in Pittsburgh, but I intend to be much more intentional about that when I return

home. That is an essential step in my development as a leader. Often with the way I lead

in Homewood I end up being on a solo mission, and those are usually the times when I

end up burned out and feeling isolated from others. That is no way to make a difference

in an urban environment over a long, sustainable period of time.

Day 4: May 23, 2010

Today is Sunday, and we started our time together by playing wooden instruments

and singing Joy to the World. Ray told us a sixty-year story in five acts from the Book of

Philemon. It was the amazing story of an intercontinental refugee named Onesimus, who

through his acceptance of Christianity was transformed by Christ from an outlawed slave

into the bishop of one of the largest Christian churches in the world. Ray used the

15

opportunity to talk about how God works through many different types of people to

achieve his purposes, and we see time and time again throughout the course of history

how God works through slaves, women, minority groups, refugees, and marginalized

people groups.

Ray’s lecture on Martin Luther was very interesting. Luther achieved many

reforms in the Christian church during his lifetime, and he was also a fascinating person.

He was an intellectual, but he was also popular with the poor people to whom he served

as a pastor. He was brilliant, but he was also very social and fun to be around. Luther

was a slob, but that was only because he thought that he had better things to do with his

time than bathe or take care of himself. He and his wife, Katherine, invented Protestant

marriage. His work has impacted millions of Christians for centuries.

Today, Ray also described the various different missionary movements that

impacted the New World. These included the French, Puritans, Russian Orthodox, and

Spanish. Each group had a different way of interacting with the Native Indian

population, and often the results of those interactions were devastating for the native

population. The French saw the natives as equal, and in the French-Canadian context

they intermarried with them. This treatment was not too rough on the Indian population.

The Spanish, influenced by Aristotle, came to exploit the continent for gold and land.

They ruled the native population through the sacraments, or missions, to keep the Indians

in the shadow of the church where they could treat them like children. As a result, 95

million Indians died within 100 years of Columbus’ arrival. The Orthodox Mission

treated natives with enormous respect. Their method was: You teach us what God has

been teaching you, and we’ll teach you based on that. That method was very effective,

16

and led to more respectable treatment of the native population. The Puritans, or the

dominant American ideal, is the city on a hill. Their theology believed “God hath given

me this plantation. We are the covenant people. We are Israel. God has gifted us this

land.” From the Puritan perspective, the native population represented the Hittites or

Moabites in Canaan. As such, the Puritans believed that they should not kill the Native

Americans. They just needed to get them out of their land. This philosophy has

tragically defined relations between Native Americans and Puritans (and the following

generations of white European settlers) for centuries.

Mission has consequences, and the anthropology of the people I minister to has

consequences. I need to pay careful attention to the context of my work in Homewood.

Just as I learned in the lectures today, I could do much more harm in my work than good

if I am not careful. This is why it is so important for me to be a life long learner, and to

pay attention to what has happened throughout the course of Christian history. I can

learn from both the breakthroughs and the mistakes of the Christians who have gone

before me.

I was moved today by the consequences of the different missionary movements in

the New World beginning in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that still have profound

ramifications today. These issues deeply impact the immigration issue in America.

These issues deeply impact the make up of the church in America. No wonder Sunday

morning is such a segregated time! Many racial and ethnic tensions run deep, and they

are often tied to harm that was once done in the name of the advancement of Christianity.

Day 5: May 24, 2010

17

It’s hard to believe that this is our last day at Bakken. Julie and I have had such a

great time meeting new people, learning new concepts, and experiencing so many unique

activities in such a short amount of time. I will remember this trip for a long time, and I

am really looking forward to working on my course project in Pittsburgh.

Ray lectured for a while this morning. He talked a lot about justice in America.

In our current environment, the two groups of people competing for federal funds are the

elderly and disabled or sick children. For some reason, funding always gets cut for those

two groups of people. It is hard to get a bill through Congress to help the elderly or sick

children without representatives of middle class or affluent people groups in society

trying to get as much money as they can out of the bill as well. A great deal of the

resources in America and around the world that are intended for marginalized people

eventually end up in the hands of middle class and affluent people. The problem may be

more magnified in poor countries around the world, but it also happens often in America.

Ray finished the morning by describing how Christians can work toward

transformation in society by understanding where break downs occur in systems. He

answered the many questions of our group of classmates, who were interested in answers

to many of the problems that impact complex urban environments. He finished by

pointing out that the global Christian history that we had learned about over the past five

days should inform our leadership actions when we return home to our urban

environments. Today our culture is shouting at one another when we should be

dialoguing. We just react to each other, emotionally, and then we walk away. Instead,

we should be dialoguing. We need to have civility in the midst of a world that is

screaming at each other. We need to treat people respectfully. In a world of human need,

18

we cannot just do our own thing. Many changes are going on in the world of

Christianity, and we need to come together to figure out innovative solutions to complex

issues.

I was pleased with the amount of content that was covered overall in this course,

and I was pleasantly surprised that today we were able to go into some transformational

leadership principles for global urban environments. I had heard some of that material

during my Overture I course in Seattle, but I had not really heard the examples that he

gave of people who are living those strategies out in cities all over the world. The

examples that Ray gave were so encouraging! Also, Ray has done city consultations in

Pittsburgh before, so during side conversations over the past few days he has been able to

give me some concrete examples of effective urban ministry principles within the context

of Pittsburgh. Ray continues to give himself away to Christian urban leaders, and he

does not seem to be slowing down. We celebrated his 72nd birthday during this class.

In terms of application, Ray’s lectures today encouraged me in my work in the

Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Since the mentoring program I coordinate

receives government funding, I realized a little over a year ago that I was one of those

middle class people who filtered money away from the community that it was intended

for. By living in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, I was spending the money from my salary on

things like housing, taxes, and shopping in my suburban neighborhood. So, essentially,

money that was intended to help the people in Homewood was actually helping the

residents and business owners in Pine Township (the suburb of Pittsburgh that I lived in

at the time). That seemed like an ethical dilemma to me, so my family and I moved to

Homewood. I now know that with my lifestyle, I can be pretty sure that the government

19

funding intended to help children in Homewood is now all going to help children in

Homewood. I’m sure there are still many other areas like this that I can continue to

develop in my work in Pittsburgh, and I plan to continue to advocate for the kids in

Homewood for as long as I can.

Another application point was Ray’s suggestion to bring focus to urban ministry.

We cannot help everyone. It is impossible. This is a great suggestion because in

Homewood we impact many children, but we also are concerned for the single moms,

elderly residents, prostitutes, and addicts in our neighborhood. It is sometimes hard to

say no, or to watch people suffering and not be able to do anything about it. I can have

confidence in the calling that God has given us, though, to focus on reaching the kids in

Homewood. I am looking forward to jumping back into that work when I arrive home

from this class.

CHAPTER 3

PITTSBURGH’S MISSION TRAIL: A GLOBAL CHRISTIAN HISTORY

History is important to Christianity. Without having a solid grasp of what has

happened throughout the course of human history, modern Christians will not be able to

effectively navigate through the complex issues that impact our contemporary world and

the modern church. We can learn from studying the Bible that God is in control of what

goes on in the world. History is not just a big cycle, or mere chance, or a giant

conspiracy. All of history is moving towards God’s redemption of mankind. Everything

that people experience, both good and bad, happens according to God’s providential

purposes. To demonstrate this, I have selected two lenses from which to examine global

Christian history. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and I currently reside in the city of

Pittsburgh. Therefore, the first lens involves 21 churches in various neighborhoods

throughout the city of Pittsburgh. Many of the church buildings hold congregations

dating back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when Pittsburgh exploded from a

tiny town of 250 people at the intersection of three rivers on the western frontier of

America to a modern city of 2.5 million people living in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

As a second lens, I have identified a “saint,” or famous Christian, for each century of

over 2,000 years of global Christian history. Each saint has some sort of tie to one of the

21 Pittsburgh churches that were selected for this project. Some of the connections are

obvious. Some of the connections are subtle. From a practical perspective, the

Pittsburgh churches will be used to teach a global Christian history course by walking the

streets of Pittsburgh and teaching church history to people inside and outside of the

20

21

church buildings. The Christians selected from each century will be explained as

practical examples of what was going on during that particular century of church history.

I believe that learning should not happen solely in school or church classrooms. Learning

can also occur within the context of the streets and in the urban laboratory of Pittsburgh’s

neighborhoods. Welcome to Pittsburgh’s mission trail… a learning experience in global

Christian history!

First Century

During the first century, Jews had been spread out all over the Mediterranean

basin in what is called the Diaspora. This contributed heavily to the growth of the early

Christian Church. Also, the Pax Romana was a significant factor in the growth of

Christianity. It is now apparent in looking back on the history of Christianity that God

had orchestrated much during the so-called “silent years” before Jesus’ arrival. The early

church was made up mostly of slaves, artisans, and the poor. Although Paul often

receives much of the credit for advancing the gospel message during the first century, the

message was actually advanced rapidly around the world by many other poor and

unknown (to us) ordinary people. The followers of The Way began to experience a great

deal of persecution in this century, especially under the Roman Emperors Nero and

Domitian in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The first Christians were martyred, including Paul,

one of the most important figures to the Christian faith.

22

St. Paul’s Cathedral (Oakland, 1906)

The original St. Paul’s Cathedral was built downtown on Grant Street in 1851. At

that particular time in Pittsburgh, “There were more churches than banks, and some of

them rivaled the banks in architectural splendor; St. Paul’s, at Fifth and Grant, was said to

be second in size only to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.”1 The current building,

which happens to be the third St. Paul’s in Pittsburgh, was built in Oakland in 1906. At

the time, industrialist Andrew Carnegie donated a lot of money and also an expensive

organ to the church. The church currently has about 3,000 Roman Catholic members.

Catholics have a long history in Pittsburgh, beginning as early as 1754. Statues on the

exterior of the church depict many apostles and evangelists in both the Eastern and

Western church. Its construction cost $1.1 million, and it currently serves as the mother

church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, which represents over 250,000

people in the region. Images of a first century saint named Ignatius are located in St.

Paul’s Cathedral.

Ignatius of Antioch (35 to 107)

Ignatius was the bishop of a famous, ancient church in Antioch. He was martyred

for his Christian faith in order to provide amusement for the Romans. “On his way to

martyrdom, he wrote seven letters that are among the most valuable documents for our

knowledge of early Christianity.”2 His life and letters influenced many Christian leaders

in the first century, including Bishop Onesimus from Ephesus and Bishop Polycarp from

the church in Smyrna. I admire him because he finished life well, and he held up

1 Stefan Lorant, Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh: Esselmont Books, 1999), 129.

2 Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), 41.

23

strongly in the face of his impending death. His life is a model for how to live out a solid

faith in Christ.

Second Century

Christianity did not advance during the second century out of images of success.

Instead, the gospel message advanced because early Christians sought out the sick and

marginalized people of society. By the end of the second century, Christians had

penetrated into every level of society in just about every part of the known world. The

power of the Christian movement was in how people lived out authentic community with

one another. They loved one another well, and they cared for the poor and the sick. This

was a radical way of living at the time. The modern church can learn much from the

second century Christians. Today, many Christians in the West have lost sight of what it

means to be in genuine community with one another. In many instances, we have lost

sight of the transformational message of the gospel which penetrates into all levels of

society. This is a great example of why it is so important for modern Christians to study

their Christian heritage beyond just reading the Bible. St. Mary’s in Pittsburgh is an

example of a church that experienced growth through poor Christians who lived counter-

culturally.

St. Mary of Mercy Roman Catholic Church (Downtown, 1935)

The original parish of St. Mary was established at the point in Pittsburgh in 1868

by Irish immigrants. Many of the early Irish immigrants arrived in Pittsburgh to work in

the mills, and they really had a difficult time adjusting to their new surroundings and

24

intense labor. At the time, they did not really have a close place of worship designed to

meet their needs. Out of those needs emerged the congregation of St. Mary of Mercy

Church. It is the only remaining church in the point park area of downtown Pittsburgh.

The current building was built in 1935, and at one time it had around 850 members.

Today the church has few members but many visitors. As seen in this Roman Catholic

Church, it is obvious to modern Christians that the Romans must have accepted

Christianity at some point in history. However, the second century was not that time.

Second century Christians were still often persecuted and martyred at the hands of the

Romans. Justin was one of those martyrs.

Justin the Martyr (103 to 165)

Justin was a famous scholar and apologist in the second century who lost his life

for the sake of Christ. He provided a great example for Christians on how we do not

need to depart from the “secular” world when we become a Christian. “On becoming a

Christian, Justin did not cease being a philosopher, but rather took upon himself the task

of doing ‘Christian philosophy’; and a major part of that task as he saw it was to show

and explain the connection between Christianity and classical wisdom… But this does

not mean the he was willing to compromise his faith or that he was lacking in conviction,

for when the time came for him to stand up for his faith he did so with courage, and is

therefore known as Justin Martyr.”3 He was able to find the good in classical pagan

cultures, even though several of his peers opposed that type of philosophy. He was a risk

taker, and he was a bridge builder. Modern Christians should all learn to be bridge

3 Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1 (New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1984), 54.

25

builders between their culture and ancient culture. Christians can find good in things that

do not meet our modern definition of what it means to be “Christian.”

Third Century

Christians experienced tremendous persecution during the third century,

particularly in the years 250 and 258 as Christians refused to acknowledge Caesar as

Lord. Exponential growth in many different parts of the Roman Empire had led to a very

multicultural body of believers. Many Christians embraced joy in suffering and some

became martyrs, while other Christians went into hiding or fled the persecution. These

actions were the seeds of the first major splits in Christianity. Once the persecution

eventually subsided, fundamentalist Christians wanted to punish those who had fled by

excluding them from rejoining the church. Liberal Christians were open to forgiveness

considering the circumstances, and they advocated for including those who had fled back

into the church. The church eventually self-destructed in northern Africa along those

lines of tension. Today in America, we experience that same type of tension between

exclusive fundamentalists and inclusive liberals. Meanwhile, the church in America may

continue to self-destruct like the church in northern Africa once did unless we can

somehow figure out how to figure these types of issues out. I would suggest that the

strongest voices on the far right and the far left in America are only fanning the flames

which could lead to the continued decline of Christianity in America. By the time of the

third century, Christianity had spread to a part of the world known as Armenia. Those

early Christians laid the foundation for Armenia to be the first nation to establish

Christianity as the official state religion at the turn of the fourth century.

26

Cathedral of Learning (Oakland, 1934)

The Cathedral of Learning is central to the campus of the University of

Pittsburgh. It is not a church, but it is designed in the style of the late Gothic Revival. It

is the tallest educational building in the Western hemisphere, and the building was

completed in 1934. The building contains 27 nationality rooms, which are classrooms

that each has a different ethnic emphasis influenced by various countries around the

world. An Armenian classroom is one of the 27. The classroom was built to represent

the monastery of Sanahin in Armenia, which still exists today and is owned by the

Armenian Apostolic Church. Located in the classroom are the thumbprints of five people

from the Armenian Diaspora living in Pittsburgh, and one handprint of an infant of

Armenian descent. This is one example of how Christians in Pittsburgh can trace their

spiritual roots back centuries simply by learning more about buildings used by churches

and universities in the region.

Gregory of Armenia (240 to 332)

“Armenia was a buffer state between Persia and the Roman Empire, and as such

had a turbulent history. The founder of Christianity there was Gregory “the Illuminator,”

who had been converted while in exile in the Roman Empire, and, after many sufferings

and difficulties, converted his relative, King Tiridates III, and baptized him on Epiphany

(January 6), A.D. 303. Thus, the rulers of this nation had become Christians before

Constantine. Eventually, the rest of the population was converted, and the Bible was

27

translated into Armenian.”4 The Armenians changed the face of Christianity forever a

decade before Constantine legalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Many

modern Christians believe that the Romans were the first nation to embrace Christianity,

but it was actually Armenia.

Fourth Century

During the fourth century, Christianity became an imperial religion. Armenia

started the movement, and shortly thereafter the Roman Emperor Constantine began to

endorse Christianity as the Roman Empire’s state religion. Although this served to slow

the tide of persecution in the Christian church, it ushered in a whole new set of problems

for Christianity now that it was the preferred religion of the powerful. The church

became hierarchal, mirroring the ruling systems of the government. Several heresies also

emerged during the fourth century, forcing the church to examine itself. The Ebionites

tried to make Jesus into some sort of Jewish chieftain. Montanists developed a heretical

view of the Holy Spirit. Marcionists purged Judaism out of all New Testament literature.

Arianism struggled with the oneness of God, and Jesus’ role in that. That particular

heresy divided Christians for a couple of centuries. A great deal of Trinity doctrine was

developed because it was triggered by Arianism. Nestorianism did not know what to do

with Jesus, missing the point of how the two natures of Christ fit together. Modalism

believed that one God had three roles. Adoptionists believed that God adopted Jesus.

Many other controversies emerged, and as a result, the heresies eventually strengthened

the church by forcing people to think through what they believed. The council of Nicea

4 Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1 (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), 261.

28

in 325 helped a great deal in that regard. This century would set the stage for how

Christianity would develop differently in the East and West. In the West Ambrose took

on the Western emperor and won, setting the stage for a powerful role of the church in

Western society that still continues to this day. In the East a man named John

Chrysostom took on the emperor and lost, setting the stage for a diminished role of the

church in Eastern power structures that still continues to this day.

St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church (Oakland, 1932)

This church is located in a rugged out-of-the-way part of town just to the side of a

busy freeway. It towers over the tiny homes of the remnant of steel workers living along

the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. Interestingly, the congregation was the family

church of the famous artist Andy Warhol. Warhol often mentioned the religious symbols

and themes from his childhood as influences for his artwork. The church was established

in 1910, and the current building was completed in 1932. Thousands of commuters drive

past this historic church named after a famous fourth century Christian on a daily basis.

John Chrysostom (347 to 407)

John was one of the greatest Christian preachers of all time. “But for John

Chrysostom the pulpit was not simply a podium from which to deliver brilliant pieces of

oratory. It was rather the verbal expression of his entire life, his battlefield against the

powers of evil, and the unavoidable calling that eventually led to exile and to death

itself.”5 He tried to live a monastic life, be he was continually drawn into leadership in


29

the church. At one point, he was actually ordered by the emperor to become the Bishop

of Constantinople and he was forced against his will to take that position. One of my

favorite characteristics of early church leaders is that many of them accepted their

leadership positions reluctantly. Modern Christians often seek to advance themselves

within church leadership structures, and churches sometimes suffer as a result. In the

fourth century the rich and powerful in Constantinople sought to align their faith with

their luxuries, so John spent a great deal of effort teaching against prosperity doctrine.

He sought to root out corruption in the church through both the leadership and the laity.

He gained a tremendous amount of popularity with poor people, and a great deal of

hatred from affluent people. He once passionately preached to an affluent audience, “The

gold bit on your horse, the gold circlet on the wrist of your slave, the gilding on your

shoes, mean that you are robbing the orphan and starving the widow. When you have

passed away, each passer-by who looks upon your great mansion will say, ‘How many

tears did it take to build that mansion; how many orphans were stripped; how many

widows wronged; how many laborers deprived of their honest wages?’ Even death itself

will not deliver you from your accusers.”6 As a result of John’s teaching that challenged

the powerful people at the world’s largest Christian church, St. Sophia, he became the

target for the influential. The empress, who did not like John’s teaching against

indulgence, conspired to have him banished from the city. From the remote region where

he was forced to go, he began writing and his powerful words proved to be very

damaging to the emperor. He was banished to an even further region by the Black Sea,

and he became seriously ill and died from neglect along the journey there. Although he


30

lost his power struggle with the emperor, he is lovingly remembered by many Christians

around the world who celebrate the call that God placed on his life.

Fifth Century

The Council of Chalcedon was a significant event during the fifth century in 451.

That council affirmed the two natures of Christ without confusion, separation, or

division. Once again, heresies served a purpose in the development of a more confident

Christianity because church leaders were forced to examine and clarify Christian

doctrine. Although the majority of the world’s Christians lived in northern Africa at one

time, during this century Christianity in that area of the world started to decline. This

happened for several reasons. The church in northern African failed to equip indigenous

leaders, so they did not empower local people to sustain the church. They never figured

out how to deal with race issues or socioeconomic issues. Also, many Christians in

northern Africa at that time developed an escapist theology. We can learn from all of

these lessons in our modern world. If we fail to empower local leaders, or figure out race

and socioeconomic issues, then the modern church in America will fail. If American

Christians continue to try to escape the world and distance themselves from the issues

impacting society, then Christianity will continue to be marginalized in our country. In

the fifth century, Patrick of Ireland understood the need to empower local leaders,

overcome cultural barriers, and engage the world missionally.

Old Saint Patrick’s Church (Strip District, 1936)

31

St. Patrick’s was Pittsburgh’s first Catholic church, dedicated in 1811. The

current St. Patrick’s Church was built in 1936. Its grounds serve as an oasis in the midst

of a bustling urban environment in the Strip District. A famous pastor named Father

James Cox came to this parish in 1923. He led an initiative to broadcast the church mass

on the radio in 1925. “During the Great Depression, St. Patrick became a center for relief

of the poor, distributing over two million free meals and 500,000 baskets of food,

clothing, and fuel – all under the direction of Fr. James Cox. Shantytowns, or

Hoovervilles, sprung up in the shadow of the church and were populated by jobless men

who constructed a community out of any salvageable material.”7 Cox became know as

the pastor of the poor. He once led a march on Washington with 25,000 unemployed

Pennsylvanians to fight for more social programs for people in America. He even ran for

president at one point in a newly formed party called the Jobless Party. His party

supported government public works and labor unions.

Patrick of Ireland (389 to 461)

Patrick has been attributed with the spread of Christianity to Ireland. “As a young

lad, Patrick had been captured in Great Britain by Irish raiders, and had served as a slave

in Ireland. After an adventurous escape and many other vicissitudes, he had a vision

calling him as a missionary to his former captors. Back in Ireland, he met various perils,

but eventually his success was great, and the inhabitants were baptized in droves. Soon

monasteries were founded, and the learning of antiquity became one of their major

interests.”8 “When he returned to Ireland in 432 and was appointed a bishop, he did not

7 Mary Ann Knochel, Images of America (San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2007), 18.


32

stay in a diocese or live as a leader among Christians. His new calling was to the totally

pagan territories of the north, and later to the wildwest and southeast. He planted

monasteries, most often led by the local elites whom he had won to faith in Christ, and

encouraged scholarship and arts in all of them.”9 Patrick’s work attracted many young

people, and a healthy Celtic mission to many different places was birthed. The

movement was an interesting mix of monasticism and missions.

Sixth Century

During the sixth century, Christians tried to figure out the question, “Who is

man?” As a result of the Synod of Orange in 529, Catholics rejected Augustine’s views

on the subject. Catholics came to believe that man was sick and he needed the

sacraments in order to survive. Also at this time, Western churches resonated more with

Mark’s gospel message and they became more active in the world. Eastern churches

resonated more with John’s gospel, and they became more contemplative. Five great

urban churches were well-known during this century: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria,

Constantinople, and Rome. At the time, Jerusalem served as the mother church. Also

during the sixth century, monasticism really began to take shape led by a man named

Benedict.

The Priory Hotel (North Side, 1852)

Tucked away in a corner of the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh is a

beautiful building with a rich history. The Priory is currently used as a hotel, but it was

9 Ray Bakke, A Surprising Journey (Acme: Bakken Books, 2009), 85.

33

once a Benedictine monastery. Initially the building was a church called St. Mary’s

Parish, and it was built in Italianate classical architecture style (a rarity in Pittsburgh). In

1888 it became a home for Benedictine priests and brothers, the monastic order originally

founded by Saint Benedict around 1500 years earlier.

Benedict of Nursia (480 to 550)

“The main figure of western monasticism in its formative years – in many ways,

its founder – was Benedict, who was born in the small Italian town of Nursia.”10 He

initially lived in a cave as a hermit before founding a monastic movement in a remote

place called Monte Cassino. He became very famous throughout the region. He is most

famous for the establishment of the Rule, a new structure for monastic life back then that

still is utilized today. His work impacted Christianity for centuries. “Monks became

adept at copying both the Bible and other books, and thus preserved them for later

generations. Their houses also became teaching centers, particularly for the many

children that were placed under their care in order to be trained as monks. And many

also served in hospitals and pharmacies, or as hostels where a weary traveler could find

shelter. Eventually, monasteries also had a profound economic impact, for many were

established on marginal lands that were brought into production by the labor of the

monks. Thus, countless acres were added to the agricultural land of Europe.”11 Also

during this time period, “Eastern monasticism placed a higher value on solitude, often

rivaling the institutional church. Western monasticism was more practical and always



34

maintained contact with surrounding communities. The monasteries were not threatening

to the official church until later, when their independence and wealth promoted powerful

abbots, but that was centuries after Benedict.”12

Seventh Century

Islam emerged in the seventh century. Islam is essentially a Christian heresy

which really gathered tremendous strength that continues through today. Muslims

believed there is not god but Allah, and so they rejected the Trinity. In the centuries that

followed, Islam often grew the most in places where Christianity had failed such as

northern Africa. We can see this happening today as well. Islam often moves in when

Christianity declines, and Christianity is declining in Europe and in America. In

England, for instance, there are now more Muslims than Lutherans or Methodists

combined. During the centuries leading up to the seventh century, Christianity lost

Africa but it gained Europe. Also during the seventh century, Eastern and Western

Christians developed different methods of missiology. Western Christians believed that

they had a corner on the Holy Spirit, so that they were bringing the Holy Spirit with them

when they moved into a new community to share the gospel. Eastern Christians believed

that the Holy Spirit could not be controlled, and they found the Spirit already at work

when ever they attempted to spread the gospel message into a new place. These

missionary strategies have continued on throughout the history of Christianity since then.

To this day, many Western Christian missionaries believe that they are bringing the

gospel into dark places that are far from God. Most Eastern Christian missionaries

believe that God is already at work in places, and it is their job to figure out how the Holy


35

Spirit is moving and then help those local residents make the connection between their

local indigenous beliefs and God. Gregory the Great made a huge impact in the sixth

century which carried on into the seventh century.

Calvary Episcopal Church (Shadyside, 1906)

This is an amazing church in an affluent urban neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The

church was organized in 1855, and the current building was completed in 1906. It is the

largest and most influential Episcopal Church in the Pittsburgh area. Charles Connick

designed 70 stained glass windows for the church in the 1920s and 1930s. One

particularly spectacular panel of stained glass depicts Gregory the Great.

Gregory the Great (540 to 604)

Gregory was an amazing man. He was born in Rome during a very tumultuous

time period for that city, where it was in chaos and had suffered from a great deal of

mismanagement. The city had health epidemics, broken systems, and constant danger of

attacks from the Lombards. It appears that Gregory was some sort of Roman

administrative official before becoming a monk, a deacon, an abbot, bishop of Rome, and

eventually Pope. The people elected him to be Pope even though he did not want the

position (the previous Pope, Pelagius, had become ill and died during the work of caring

for the sick and burying the dead). “Since there was nobody else to do it, he organized

the distribution of food among the needy in Rome, and he also took measures to

guarantee the continuing shipments of wheat from Sicily. Likewise, he supervised the

rebuilding of the aqueducts and of the defenses of the city, and the garrison was drilled

36

until morale was restored. Since there was little help to be expected from Constantinople,

he then opened direct negotiations with the Lombards, with whom he secured peace.”13

He was also a gifted preacher and writer with thoughts resonating throughout the course

of the Middle Ages. He demonstrated that Christians can be effective leaders in many

different systems in society even though they may also be strongly involved in church

leadership.

Eighth Century

The Eastern and Western church had a major split in 787, mainly over the

doctrine of the Holy Spirit and also the seemingly controversial words “in the Son.” This

split had been brewing for a long time because the Eastern church and the Western

church had always had significant differences. Today, many Western Christians do not

know much about their Eastern spiritual heritage and the many different types of

churches and Christian movements that exist today because of events that happened

throughout the course of the Eastern Byzantine Empire centuries ago.

Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Church (Oakland, 1960)

This church was formed in 1907, and the current building was built in 1960. The

church originally was formed to serve an immigrant population from Carpatho-Ruthenia

(part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Most of the immigrants came to Pittsburgh to

work in the steel mills and to find economic prosperity. They represent another ethnic


37

group of people that make up the cultural DNA of the broader Pittsburgh region. Many

Pittsburghers can trace their roots back to Eastern Christianity.

Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople (665 to 740)

From what little we know of his childhood, his father, Justinian, was an elite who

was involved in the murder of the emperor Constans II. Constans II’s son defeated the

people involved in the overthrow, however, and as a result of the persecution Germanus

was castrated. He lived in a monastery for a while, became a bishop, and eventually he

was elected to the position of Patriarch of Constantinople. He was a reconciler, working

hard to restore relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church (the oldest Christian state

church dating back to 301 A.D.). He was a defender of the faith against iconoclasts

(many people at the time considered them to be heretics). He clashed with the emperor

Leo III, who had him beaten and thrown out of his position in the church. He lived to be

95 years old, finishing out his days in a monastery. He is considered a saint by both the

Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. He is an example to Christians that we can

have troubled beginnings and overcome obstacles in life in order to continue on to make

a difference for Christ in this world.

Ninth Century

After 600 years of missionary work, the Vikings were converted to Christianity

during the ninth century. Also during the ninth century, Christians made the decision to

start killing Muslims instead of converting them. Universities began to form out of the

38

church. Most modern universities around the Western world have their roots in

Christianity in one way or another. Although many modern American Christians would

think of the ninth century as a dark period on the progress of human history, there were

many progressive movements going on in places all over the world outside of Europe.

We just do not learn about those things in America because most of our history text

books are provided for us from a New England, or European, perspective. One example

of how Christianity advanced during this time period involves the spread of the gospel to

the Slavs.

First Presbyterian Church (Downtown, 1905)

This is one of the oldest Protestant churches west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Originally founded in 1787, the current building was completed in 1905. The church is

famous for its fourteen stained glass windows that were installed by Tiffany. An ancient

burial ground lies on the site where the current church is located. Although American

Presbyterians used the space for burying their dead, Native Americans utilized that land

for burial purposes long before European Protestants arrived on the continent of North

America. The Puritans had a much different approach to impacting the Native American

population in America when they arrived than the Orthodox missionaries who worked

their way down the west coast of America at the time. Many Orthodox missionary

strategies that went on to impact the native population in America were formed during

the ninth century through Cyril and Methodius.

Cyril (826 to 869) and Methodius (826 to 885) of Moravia

39

“In Istanbul, two Thessalonian Greek-speaking brothers, Cyril and Methodius,

were commissioned for a mission to the Slavs. Cyril, the primary translator, created a

Slavic alphabet later known as Cyrillic. Methodius was primarily a preacher, but also an

effective evangelist using biblical art. Between them they created a pan-Slavic

literature.”14 The brothers translated the Bible into the local language of the people.

They worked as if the Holy Spirit was already there when they arrived to share the gospel

message. They empowered the local people, while the Western missionaries working

there imposed their version of Christianity on the local people. Eventually, the Slavs

found a way to observe both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic ways of worshipping

God. An example of this phenomenon in Pittsburgh is the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian

Catholic Church, (covered in the fourth century part of this project). Churches in several

countries around the world contain unique mixtures of Eastern and Western Christian

influences. We all bring cultural biases with us when we share the Gospel cross-

culturally. Modern Western Christians should learn from our Eastern brothers and sisters

in Christ that the Holy Spirit is already at work in all places where we think we are

somehow bringing the presence of God with us. This is crucial for people who work with

marginalized people in troubled urban neighborhoods. We should assume that the Holy

Spirit has been at work there before we arrived.

Tenth Century

The tenth century included a great deal of reform in both the church and monastic

movements. Monks took on power structures within the papal hierarchy. One

monastery, called Cluny, became a center of monastic reform and influence throughout


40

Western Europe for hundreds of years due to a long run of effective abbots. “At the high

point, the reforming zeal of the Cluniacs knew no bounds. After ordering the life of

hundreds of monastic houses, they set their sights on the reformation of the entire church.

This was the darkest hour of the papacy, when pontiffs succeeded one another with

breathtaking frequency, and when popes and bishops had become feudal lords, involved

in every intrigue that was brewing.”15 Also during the tenth century, the Orthodox

Church achieved great missionary results in Russia.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (North Side, 1923)

The Orthodox Church has a solid presence in Pittsburgh. This church was

originally established to serve first generation Greek immigrants to Pittsburgh who had

settled on the north side of the city. Most of the immigrants at the time were extremely

poor, and the church had to be very creative about supporting its mission. Many of the

early priests did not have a salary, so they depended on the community to take care of

them. The church holds a large Greek festival each year. Just as in the history of this

church, the Orthodox missionary movement in Russia during the tenth century was

moved forward by Christians who were very creative.

Olga of Kiev (879 to 969)

Orthodox missionary strategies are unique in their attention to local culture. The

Orthodox missionaries in tenth century Russia focused on the important role of language

in understanding the gospel message. “There can be no doubt that the use of the


41

vernacular language also played a part in the conversion of the princess Olga in Kiev and

her grandson Vladimir, the first Christian ruler of the Rus’, in the middle and late decades

of the ninth century.”16 The conversion of Olga is one of the most significant events in

Christian history. Christianity helped Russians to fend off Muslim influences. Also, “by

1240, when the Mongols invaded Russia and ruled the country for over two centuries,

Christianity was the national bond of unity that allowed Russia to survive as a nation, and

eventually to be rid of the invaders.”17

Eleventh Century

In 1054, the split between East and West fractured even further when churches

actually excommunicated one another. Also, the first crusades began. Pope Urban II

helped to advance a Holy War theology, the idea being that Christians should rid the

world of Muslims by killing them instead of trying to convert them to Christianity.

Today, many Muslims see the Crusades as a holocaust. Also, Christians still struggle

with how to interact with Muslims. During the eleventh century, Anselm of Canterbury

was very active in bridging the gap between intellectualism at universities and

Christianity. Today, the Heinz Chapel on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh is a

unique example of the relationship between higher education and religion.

Heinz Chapel (Oakland, 1938)

16 Adrian Hastings, A World History of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999), 84.


42

In the early 1900s, Henry John Heinz wanted to build a special building at the

University of Pittsburgh in memory of his mother. He died in 1919, but his heirs carried

out his wishes and the Heinz Memorial Chapel was built. It was dedicated in 1938, and

at the ceremony Howard Heinz said, “It is located in a community where my father was

born and lived his life. It is on the campus of a university. As part of that university, it is

dedicated to culture, an understanding response to beauty, and religious worship.” The

chapel does not belong to any one denomination, though it is used heavily throughout the

year for special events, religious services, and weddings.

Anselm of Canterbury (1033 to 1109)

“From 1093 until his death, he was Archbishop of Canterbury, but spent much of

that time in exile from English kings who disputed the power and authority of official

church leaders. While in exile he wrote books that made him famous among emerging

academics in Europe.”18 He is a person of Christian interest because of his writings while

in exile which were very scholarly. He made a tremendous impact on universities among

students who were questioning their belief systems. He is an important figure for modern

Christians who are involved in Christian work on college campuses. Anselm used reason

to communicate the gospel message, thus demonstrating that Christians should not be

afraid to use reason in sharing the gospel message. He is considered to be one of the

greatest theologians of all time, and also a pioneer of scholasticism.

Twelfth Century

18 Ray Bakke, A Surprising Journey (Acme, Bakken Books, 2009), 119.

43

The Crusades began late in the eleventh century and continued on well into the

twelfth century. “The occasion for the Second Crusade was the fall of Edessa, taken by

the sultan of Aleppo in 1144. Once again, popular preachers arose who called for the

masses to invade the Holy Land. Along the way, some also said, Jews should be

exterminated. The preaching of Bernard of Clairvaux was very different, for it sought

both to organize an army of relief for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and to refute the fiery

preaching of those who advocated a mad rush to Jerusalem.”19 In addition to the

Crusades, many Gothic cathedrals were built throughout Europe during the twelfth

century. Pittsburgh has one such example of that type of architecture.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church (East Liberty, 1935)

The congregation of this church dates back to 1819, and the current church

building was built in 1935. Banker Richard B. Mellon and his wife donated $4,000,000

for the building in memory of their parents. At the time, many people in Pittsburgh

whispered that Mr. Mellon donated the money in order to secure his ticket to heaven.

The church was built in the style of Gothic cathedrals in Europe, a style that was

developed in the twelfth century under the influence of the Cistercian Order. Today this

incredible building serves as an anchor of a large urban community on the east end of the

city that has had over $400 million dollars invested in its development over the past ten to

fifteen years. This church cathedral in East Liberty was influenced by the Cistercian

movement in the twelfth century. That means that Pittsburghers can trace their roots

back to Bernard of Clairvaux.


44

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 to 1153)

“The great figure of the Cistercian movement was Bernard of Clairvaux, who was

twenty-three years old when he presented himself at Citeaux (in 1112 or 1113) in the

company of several relatives and friends, and requested admission to the community.”20

He was a monk who was also a famous preacher, and he intervened in many political and

ecclesiastical disputes. He was very smart, but he also had a strong personality that really

influenced people. He was a tremendous leader and reformer during the monastic

movement in the twelfth century. “But Bernard was not primarily a politician. He was a

mystic in love with Jesus, who sought to bring warmth and devotion to Jesus through

popular Latin hymns still sung in our own time.”21 Bernard is an example for modern

Christians that we can use our gifts and influence to help others, and still maintain an

intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thirteenth Century

During the thirteenth century, universities really began to gather momentum. The

University of Paris became one of the biggest universities in the world. Oxford had

around 3,000 students at the time. There were not formal exams back then. Only the

scholastically fit survived to advance in the world of education. Today, there are

universities throughout the world because of the scholastic expansion that occurred in this

century. A Fourth Crusade was also launched in the thirteenth century. It ended up being



45

almost a complete disaster. Instead of attacking the Muslims in their headquarters in

Egypt, the armies ended up going to Constantinople and taking that city. This action had

devastating consequences for relations between Eastern and Western Christians, even

though in theory the churches were finally united. The Latin Christians were convinced

that God had wanted the church to be in unity, “But the Byzantines did not accept matters

so easily, and continued a long resistance. Finally, in 1261, they retook Constantinople,

and ended the Latin Empire. The net result of the entire episode was that the enmity of

the Greek East toward the Latin West grew.”22

St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church (South Side, 1897)

St. John’s is located minutes from downtown in the South Side. It has eight

Eastern-looking domes, and it is generally considered to be a church that captures well

the ethnic diversity within Pittsburgh neighborhoods. The church has its own Patriarch

and Bishops from Ukraine, but it is Catholic in union with Rome. This is a church that

has both an Eastern and a Western heritage. Many of these types of churches exist

around the world and in cities throughout the United States. Pittsburghers can visit this

church to see yet another example of how church history defines much of what we

believe today. This church still attracts people of many different types of ethnic

backgrounds, and in the thirteenth century Francis of Assisi launched a movement that

took Christianity to many different parts of the world.

Francis of Assisi (1181 to 1226)


46

Francis embraced a life of poverty, giving everything he had to the poor even

though he came from a family with financial means. He gave up his inheritance in order

to live as a hermit. “Then, late in 1209, he heard the reading of the Gospel (Matt. 10:7-

10), where Jesus sent his disciples to preach, taking with them no gold or silver. Until

then, he had been concerned almost exclusively with voluntary poverty and the joy he

found in it. Now he saw the possibility of joining poverty with preaching. His place

would not be quiet solitude, but in the bustle of the cities, wherever people were,

preaching to them, helping the poor and the sick. Now voluntary poverty was not only a

means of self-discipline, but even more, a means to identify with those who were poor

out of necessity.”23 Franciscans went throughout Europe to preach, sing, and beg. The

group was very mission-minded. Francis himself had traveled to Egypt to share Christ

with the leader of that country. By the time Francis died, his order was a global force.

He is inspirational to modern missionaries, especially in urban environments where

Francis modeled for us how to serve the poor and give ourselves away to others.

Fourteenth Century

The fourteenth century was brutal on Europe. The Bubonic plague hit, and almost

one third of Europe died. Much of Europe was at war with one another. For a while,

Christianity did not spread because of the influence of powerful people. It spread

because Christians would actually go into cities where people were dying of the plague

while the powerful people would be making their way out of those cities. They probably

passed each other on the road. Christians went into the cities to care for people who


47

became ill and to bury the dead. Many Christians also became ill and died, and the

gospel message spread throughout Europe as a result. Today, the same phenomenon is

occurring in America. Since the 1950s and 1960s, white Americans have been fleeing

cities at a high rate. Many middle class and affluent minorities have also left cities in

order to settle down in the suburbs. In many urban centers, only poor, minority

populations are left. Christianity is declining in America, and perhaps it has something to

do with middle class and affluent Christians fleeing from the brokenness of city systems

and urban life in order to distance themselves from the problems. This has happened in

Pittsburgh to a large extent, where many Pittsburgh suburbs become more and more

affluent while minority neighborhoods near Pittsburgh’s inner city experience more and

more pain and poverty. What can the suburban church do now, though, to help the

situation? First, suburban Christians can repent for causing so much pain to inner city

Christians. Also, suburban Christians can acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is active in

cities, and join forces through partnership with urban Christians who are making a

difference in cities all across America. Just like the Christians in the fourteenth century

who ministered to people who were hurting in urban centers, modern suburban Christians

have the opportunity to go back in to urban centers to help people in need.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (Oakland, 1923)

The church was originally started with Greek immigrants who came to Pittsburgh

to participate in the many local industries. The building has a great location, within

walking distance of many universities, hospitals, and cultural draws in Pittsburgh. This is

yet another example of a Pittsburgh church that can trace its roots back to the long history

48

between Eastern and Western Christians. During the fourteenth century, John of

Montecorvino was a leader who took a shot at reconciling Eastern and Western

Christians (among many other things he accomplished globally during his lifetime).

John of Montecorvino (1246 to 1328)

Francis’ missional mindset greatly influenced John who was one of his followers.

In 1272, he was commissioned by a Byzantine emperor to reconcile Greek Orthodox and

Roman churches. He traveled to places like Persia, Ethiopia, India, and China during his

lifetime. Thousands of people were converted to Christianity as a result of his work. The

pope made him an archbishop in China, even sending seven other Franciscans to serve

with him there. Four of the people sent by the pope died before they arrived. That is an

example of just how dangerous the work was for John. He is an example for modern

Christians about how we should take risks for the sake of the gospel. He learned

Chinese, preached in that language in the church he built across the street from the

imperial palace, and translated the New Testament and Psalms into Chinese. His mission

in China endured forty years after his death. Eventually, the Chinese rose up to expel the

Mongols and usher in the Ming Dynasty in 1368. All Christians were forced to leave

China during the Ming Dynasty. Another takeaway from John’s life is that as Christian

leaders, we can do our best to build something sustainable but at the end of the day we

need to trust that God is in control of whether or not the work grows after we are gone.

Fifteenth Century

49

The fifteenth century was extremely tumultuous in Europe due to the impact of

The Hundred Years’ War that focused on England and France but influenced just about

every country. Joan of Arc lived during this time period. She was a national heroine in

France, and she was also made a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. The church in

general became caught up in many disputes, and the Great Schism occurred within the

church as a result. In the East, Constantine fell to the Turks in 1453 during a battle in

which the Emperor Constantine XI Paleologus was killed. Constantine’s vision for a new

Rome came to and end that year, and the Moslems have ruled that city every since.

Columbus arrived in the New World during the fifteenth century, and a young man

named Bartolome de Las Casas was born in Spain at about that time.

Trinity Cathedral (Downtown, 1872)

This Episcopalian church was built in English Gothic style. The congregation

experienced a disastrous fire in 1967, and as a result much of the church was modernized.

In 2003, the Cathedral started displaying many flags from all over the world. One of

flags on display is from Spain, the birthplace of Bartolome de Las Casas. In the spirit of

las Casas, this church provides many social services to poor people in Pittsburgh

throughout the course of the week.

Las Casas of Spain (1474 to 1566)

Bartolome de Las Casas was born in Spain, and he settled in Santo Domingo. He

may have been the first priest ever to be ordained in the New World. Early in his career

as a priest he was not really concerned with the plight of Indians. He had a profound

50

change of heart, and fought during his whole lifetime for the rights of the Indian

population who had been enslaved by their Spanish oppressors. He travelled throughout

Latin America, to Venezuela, Santo Domingo, Central America, and Mexico. He

advocated heavily in Spain during many years in his life. He was a prolific author, but

his books were banned in many places that were profiting from the slave labor provided

by Indians. “In 1516, Las Casas, in his zeal for the well-being of the Indians, suggested

that slaves be imported from Africa. He soon recanted, and became a defender of blacks

as well as of Indians.”24 Las Casas had a decades-long debate with his adversary,

Sepulveda, which focused on the treatment of Natives by the Spanish. Sepulveda

believed that the Natives did not have souls based on the philosophies of Aristotle. Las

Casas debated in many prominent circles that the Natives did have souls, and that they

were being abused by the Spanish explorers. Las Casas demonstrated for modern

Christians that we should speak out against injustice in our world. We can use the gifts

that God has given us to make a difference in the world for people who are oppressed.

Sixteenth Century

For Protestants, the sixteenth century is significant because Martin Luther ushered

in the Reformation along with leaders such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli. Three

separate Protestant denominations were launched from those three individuals. Luther

and Calvin had a great deal in common, but they were also very different people. Both

were pastors to the poor, which kept them connected to the people even though they were

highly engaged intellectually and philosophically in the arena of religious thought.


51

However, Luther was quite a character. He had a great sense of humor, and he was the

kind of person who would have a beer with his friends. Calvin, on the other hand, was

very serious. He was a brilliant reformer, but he was also very moralistic. He wrote the

first Protestant systematic theology. Six different reform movements emerged during the

Reformation, taking shape in the form of education, evangelization, structure,

Anabaptists, government, and mission. All six reform techniques were embraced by

Calvin and Luther. In our modern context, we can learn that there should not be only one

way to bring about change in the church. We must embrace multi-faceted approaches to

complex issues. The Reformation also led to an explosion of lay ministry. Church

leadership was no longer only done by priests or people who were high up in the

hierarchy. Now, anyone could be empowered to lead, whether they were a pastor or not.

As a response to the reformers, Catholics went to war with Protestants over a period of

thirty years. The sixteenth century also included a great deal of exploration. Christian

work was going on in the United States long before the Pilgrims arrived. A church had

been established in Peco, New Mexico by 1550. A Christian mission was established in

Florida in 1555. The Hispanics had built a city in America 65 years before the Pilgrims

arrived. Many modern Americans do not know about these things because history is

written by those who belong to the victorious culture. Pedro Claver was an amazing

Christian leader during the sixteenth century.

St. Anthony Chapel (Troy Hill, 1880)

Suitbert Godfrey Mollinger was a pastor originally from a wealthy family in The

Netherlands who made his way to western Pennsylvania in the 1850s. He became the

52

first pastor of Most Holy Name of Jesus Church in Troy Hill in 1868. He used his

financial means to build a chapel to house all of the relics he had collected from around

the world. The enormous collection of relics is one of the largest in the world, behind

only the collection in Vatican City. Because of that reason, people travel to this chapel in

the Troy Hill neighborhood from all over the world. The vast collection includes a relic

of Pedro Claver.

Pedro Claver (1580 to 1654)

Claver was a Jesuit missionary to the New World. “His superiors thought that he

lacked intelligence, and he was still a novice when he arrived at Cartagena in 1610. He

had ample opportunity to see the suffering of black slaves, and therefore when he was

finally allowed to make his final vows in 1622 he added a further vow to his signature:

Petrus Claver, aethiopum simper servus – Pedro Claver, forever a servant of the blacks.

(Gonzalez 392)”25 Claver ran to meet slave ships when they arrived. He cared for the

sick, he buried the slaves who died from the long journey, and he evangelized to the new

arrivals in their own language by recruiting other slaves to be interpreters. He established

a leprosarium for lepers. He cleaned out the sores of infected blacks who got sick during

three separate outbreaks of smallpox in Cartagena. He constantly served the poor

throughout his entire life. He became struck with a terrible illness toward the end of his

days. “His fellow Jesuits trusted his care to a slave, and Claver had to suffer in his own

flesh the consequences of the evil that his race had inflicted upon the black race, for the

slave treated him cruelly, letting him lie in his own filth and in many other ways


reproducing on his sickbed many of the tortures of the slaves’ Atlantic passage.”26 At the

very end of his life, the elites in his society visited him in his cell and they carried away

many of his relics. Claver is an example for modern Christians that sometimes God calls

us to serve others no matter the cost and no matter what popular culture thinks about us.

God may call us to a countercultural life in order to spread the gospel.

Seventeenth Century

Many great things happened as a result of the Reformation in the sixteenth

century, but missional expansion was not really one of them. That all changed in the

seventeenth century during the Age of Reason which continued on into the eighteenth

century. Human progress became an important metanarrative for people around the

world to live in. Much happened in the seventeenth century involving the expansion of

Western Christianity across the Atlantic Ocean and around the world. Africans were

greatly involved in the expansion of Christianity primarily because they were taken as

slaves to many parts of Europe and the Americas. Today, African-Americans have a rich

cultural heritage in America. Christianity is exploding in Latin America and Africa,

particularly through the Pentecostal movement. However, this is not a new phenomenon.

Christianity has deep roots in Africa. Black Jews have existed since 900 B.C. The

Ethiopian church has deep roots in ancient Judaism and fourth century Christianity.

During the fourth century, 25 percent of the world’s Christian population resided in

northern Africa. God has moved throughout Africa in the course of history, and he

continues to do so today.


53

St. Benedict the Moor (Hill District, 1962)

This is an African-American church in the heart of an African-American

neighborhood in Pittsburgh called the Hill District. It was founded in 1889, and has been

in its current building since 1962. Benedict the Moor, also known as Benedict the Black,

was born near Messina, Italy in 1526. He was the son of African slaves who became

Christians while they were in Italy. He was released from slavery when he was eighteen.

He worked as a day laborer, and gave away his money to the poor. In his down time he

took care of the sick, and he was often ridiculed with racist remarks. He ended up living

with a group of hermits for a while, where he eventually ended up leading them and

helping the group to prosper. His group merged with the Franciscan movement, and at

that point Benedict’s fame grew throughout the country. He was very popular where

ever he went, and God worked through him in amazing ways. He had a profound

understanding of theology, and he also helped many people. Modern Christians can learn

from Benedict the Moor that God can work through us to spread Christianity no matter

what our life circumstances look like. Pedro Paez from the seventeenth century is

another example of God working through a person in might ways even though the start to

the journey may be bumpy.

Father Paez (1564 to 1622)

A missionary’s journey is never predictable. “The Spanish Jesuit, Father Paez,

was captured by pirates and forced to work for a number of years as a galley slave,

54

55

eventually arriving in Ethiopia in 1603.”27 When he was sent to Ethiopia, he was held

captive in Yemen for seven years. During his time in captivity he learned Arabic. He

learned the language and customs of the Ethiopians well, and he eventually converted

two separate Ethiopian rulers to Catholicism. He built a stone church in Ethiopia for his

fellow Jesuits in 1621, and, in fact, many of the churches he designed in Ethiopia during

the seventeenth century are still standing in Ethiopia. Father Paez is a great example for

modern Christians in how to persevere through the trials that often come in spreading

Christianity. God may build lasting results in spite of our human efforts.

Eighteenth Century

The Enlightenment continued to be a large theme in the eighteenth century,

although it was eventually challenged by reasoned apologetics, revolution, and revival.

Jonathan Edwards was one of the greatest minds to emerge in the eighteenth century,

comparable to the likes of Thomas Jefferson. He was a preacher, theologian, and

missionary to Native Americans. The Enlightenment was definitely central to his great

intellect. As a result of his work, the eighteenth century in America was definitely very

Puritan. Global missions also continued to advance during the eighteenth century,

particularly through people like Bartholomaeus Zieganbalg.

First Baptist Church (Oakland, 1912)

In June 1812, Adoniram and Ann Judson set sail for India to become the first

American Baptist missionaries. At that same time, David Jones, an army chaplain and

27 Adrian Hastings, A World History of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999), 199.

56

missionary to the Indians, helped a handful of English glassblowers and their families

organize the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh. This church has always had a global

focus. Throughout the years, their congregation has been active in the abolition of

slavery, racial reconciliation, and campus ministry due to their close proximity to so

many universities in Oakland. Korean and Chinese churches have worshipped here in the

past, and currently a Japanese congregation and a Spanish speaking congregation share

the same building for church services. Modern American churches could learn a lot from

this old church in Pittsburgh about how to develop a global perspective on evangelism,

just as they could learn from Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg.

Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg (1683 to 1719)

Ziegenbalg was the first Protestant missionary to India in 1706. With his friend,

Heinrich Plutschau, they encountered hostility upon arrival in India. Ziegenbalg was

placed in jail for four months when he arrived in India because the governor of the area

thought they might interfere with business. They experienced much persecution initially

in India. However, they persevered on to learn local languages and establish many

schools with which to reach out to children. They established a printing press, and they

collected many ancient oriental manuscripts. Ziegenbalg discipled many local leaders,

and many Indian people accepted Christ. However, an “extremely narrow-minded new

head of the Home Board, Christopher Wendt, sent a devastating letter to the missionaries.

Ziegenbalg – gifted, emotional, sometimes impetuous, but wholly dedicated – was so

deeply wounded that he never recovered. Already in precarious health, he penned a

careful and judicious reply, ‘with his heart’s blood’, while his condition deteriorated: he

57

died early in 1719, at the age of 36. New missionaries, arriving four months later,

delivered another missive heavy with condemnation. Grundler, Ziegenbalg’s close and

competent friend, was so overcome that he too succumbed within a few months. These

fatalities so shocked the home authorities that Wendt, in due course, was dismissed and

his theories abandoned.”28 Even though this story is tragic, Ziegenbalg’s work lived on

because of his high level of scholarly accomplishment during his short lifetime. “He was

the first scholar to complete a Tamir translation of the entire New Testament, a work

which was printed in Tranquebar in 1715.”29 Modern Christians can learn from

Ziegenbalg that as passionate as our life’s work may seem, it can still be destroyed by

well-meaning Christians who are disengaged from the context of our calling. We should

be prepared to respond to that type of adversity at times.

Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century launched several influential cultural movements.

Darwinism was introduced to the world. Karl Marx’s ideas for society entered into the

planning of cultures. Psychology was born in this century. Subjectivity was embraced

over objectivity. Spirituality was suppressed by progressives, but eventually John

Wesley arose in that context. He placed a big emphasis on Pietism, and several national

and international missionary movements were launched as a result. Many German

missionaries emerged out of Lutheran Pietism, and Wesley essentially founded

Methodism. Also, following the Civil War in America, many churches became socially

28 Adrian Hastings, A World History of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 175.


58

active. Architectural evangelism was started, and so was the YMCA in America and the

Salvation Army in England.

First Lutheran Church (Downtown, 1888)

This church was established by pioneers in 1837 as the first English-speaking

Lutheran church west of the Allegheny Mountains. The current building was built in the

heart of downtown Pittsburgh in 1888. The Reverend J.C.F. Heyer was the first pastor of

the congregation. Another pastor, Father Heyer, became the first American Lutheran

pastor to become a missionary. He served in India. Other notable pastors of First

Church’s past were the Reverend Dr. William A. Passavant, founder of the Pittsburgh

Synod of 1845 and father of Lutheran social ministries.

Dr. William Passavant (1821 to 1894)

He was born in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, and he began his ministry career in

Baltimore, Maryland in 1842. He published several journals for the Lutheran church. As

a pastor back in western Pennsylvania, he dedicated himself to the establishment of

several benevolent institutions. In addition, he was involved in bringing four deaconesses

to the United States in 1849 to develop a hospital in Pittsburgh (now called Passavant

Hospital). Thiel College in western Pennsylvania was started as a direct result of a

conversation between Passavant and A. Louis Thiel in 1866. Passavant founded many

other institutions, including hospitals, orphanages, colleges, and seminaries throughout

the country. Today, the church in Pittsburgh where I attend and work, called North Way

Christian Community, was founded by Dr. William Passavant’s great-great grandson, Dr.

59

Jay Passavant. Over 3,000 members of North Way can trace their spiritual roots back to

the First Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh and the German missionaries in the nineteenth

century.

Twentieth Century

Many women played a significant role in the advancement of Christianity

throughout the world during the twentieth century. Dorothy Day made a huge impact on

the streets of New York during the 1920s. Jane Addams practically invented Christian

social ministries in the United States. When male evangelical leaders in America became

threatened by the advancement of women in leadership positions during the 1920s, those

men suppressed the women by denying access to seminary education and closing down

access to leadership opportunities. Throughout the course of Christian history, many

women have been active leaders in the church but their leadership was often ignored by

male-dominated church leadership and church historians throughout the centuries. In

America during the twentieth century, women were forced to go international in order to

serve in leadership. As a result, women like Mother Theresa in India utilized their

leadership skills in distant lands. Many parachurch organizations were launched during

the twentieth century. These types of organizations are very effective at focusing on one

or perhaps two specific problematic issues facing society. The areas of specialization are

what differentiate parachurch organizations from the local church.

Smithfield United Church (Downtown, 1927)

60

The Smithfield congregation, founded in 1782, is the oldest organized church in

the city. The original members of the church were German, and in 1812 the congregation

named itself the German Evangelical Protestant Church, the first such church in the

world. The church joined forces with the Slavonic Congregational Church in 1960 and

was federated with the Smithfield United Methodist Church in 1968. The affiliation with

the United Methodist Church was discontinued in 1994. Today the church is an

extremely diverse and open community in the midst of downtown Pittsburgh. The

current building is the sixth building that the church has used. The church still places a

high value on its German heritage. Many famous Christians, such as Dietrich

Bonhoeffer, have emerged out of Germany over the years.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 to 1945)

Bonhoeffer had many accomplishments in his short life, but he is probably most

remembered for how he bravely stood up to Nazi forces in his home country during

World War II. “After war broke out, and the Confessing Church was forced

underground, a few notable Christian leaders in Germany, in particular Dietrich

Bonhoeffer (1906-45), made clear their absolute opposition to the Nazi regime… After

being imprisoned in Buchenwald in 1943, Bonhoeffer was eventually hanged by the

Gestapo at Flossenburg in 1945.”30 This great preacher and theologian was killed for the

sake of Christ. Before he was killed, he had the opportunity to travel extensively to many

different places. He studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York,

where he met Frank Fisher, a black seminarian who introduced him to a church in Harlem

where he developed a life-long love for the African-American worship experience.


61

During that time, he became sensitive to the gospel of social justice that was being taught

by people like Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. He developed a theology from below, of those

people who are oppressed and marginalized by mainstream society. Modern Christians

can learn from his example that sometimes Christians pay the ultimate price for their

beliefs, and that spending our lives working for justice is a noble cause.

Twenty-first Century

At the start of the twentieth century, 80 percent of the world’s Christians lived in

the global north in places such as Europe and North America. During that century, a

tremendous shift in the geography of Christianity occurred. At the start of the twenty-

first century, 80 percent of the world’s Christians lived in the global south in places like

Latin America, Africa, and Asia. “And the North-South divergence will probably

continue to grow as time goes on. As Southern churches grow and mature, they will

increasingly define their own interests in ways that have little to do with the preferences

and parties of Americans and Europeans.”31 Christianity is no longer a Western religion.

If China is now the second largest Christian nation in the world and 140 million Chinese

live outside China, then it looks like what happened with the Jewish Diaspora in the first

century is about to happen again in Asia in the twenty-first century. For these reasons,

white Christians in America are disoriented. The minority population in America will

soon surpass the white population. Many white American Christians are building

Christian bubbles for themselves. Meanwhile, Christianity in America continues to

decline. Hundreds of churches are closed each year in America. The Church Brew

Works in Pittsburgh is one such example.

31 Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 16.

62

The Church Brew Works (Lawrenceville, 1902)

Heavy industry was booming in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh in

the 1830s. As a result, many churches popped up in this part of town to meet the needs

of the many people working in the area. When Irish and Scottish Catholics settled in the

area, St. John the Baptist Church was built for them. The congregation was founded in

1878, and the current building was built in 1902. During the Great Depression, the

church distributed a tremendous amount of food and supplies to people in the community.

As industry left Lawrenceville beginning in the late 1950s, many people fled the city.

Schools began to close. Churches began to close. In 1993 the Diocese made the decision

to close the parish because of dwindling membership. The building is now used as an

innovative microbrewery and restaurant called The Church Brew Works. It opened in

1996 after a careful restoration job, and many people from all over the city now eat and

drink at the place with the stained glass windows and pipe organ. The pews in the church

building were shortened and used to build the bar. Even though the church is declining in

the West, Christianity is growing in different ways in the global South. Famous

Christians will emerge in the twenty-first century, and most likely they will come from

nations that experience persecution. Nuhu Dawat is one such example.

Nuhu Dawat (present)

The Reverend Nuhu Dawat of the Church of Christ lives in a part of Nigeria

where Christians face a great deal of persecution. On July 17, 2010, a group of Muslims

attacked his village near the city of Jos, killing eight Christians with guns and machetes.

63

Reverend Dawat escaped from the violence with his son, but his wife and two other

children were killed in the attack. The 138 million people in Nigeria are split between

Muslims in the north (50 percent of the country’s population), Christianity in the south

(40 percent), and indigenous beliefs in pockets throughout the country (10 percent).

Christians often face persecution in Nigeria, especially in the north. Modern Christians

should develop an understanding of how God is moving throughout the world so that we

can be effective leaders in both the North and the South.

CHAPTER 4

EVALUATION

I am learning that the courses at BGU are extremely transformational. This

Global Christian History course turned out to be that way. My world view has been

changed in several different ways. First, the reading materials helped me to develop a

more global perspective on Christian history due to the unique insights of Justo Gonzalez

and Adrian Hastings. Second, the time spent at Bakken with the many lectures and

discussions helped me to concretize the themes I had been exposed to in reading the text

books and viewing the DVDs. Third, the Pittsburgh Mission Trail project taught me a

great deal about how to apply what I had learned to my current ministry context. Finally,

this class was fun! I really enjoyed meeting new people from all over America and the

globe. I relaxed and read in the Bakken library. I tried new experiences such as flying

with a missionary bush pilot, visiting a fish hatchery, walking around the Bakken

property, and having coffee with the locals at the Acme General Store. This course

exceeded my expectations.

The first learning outcome for this course was to be able to craft and defend a

theology of history. Through my work on developing Pittsburgh’s mission trail I was

able to craft a theology of history and contextualize it to the Pittsburgh region. I also

believe that I will be able to defend a theology of history by utilizing the Pittsburgh trail

to teach global Christian history to people in Pittsburgh. I know that I will not have the

answers to everyone’s questions as we walk the mission trail, but I will be able to

demonstrate how history informs and guides the direction of present-day Christianity.

64

65

The second learning outcome was to be able to guide a group of people through

the significance of major themes involved in the early church, the medieval era, the

reformation and the modern era. I am looking forward to this opportunity! I have

already started the process of sharing these themes with others through interactions with

my PLC. As time goes by, I hope to be able to influence many Christians at North Way

Christian Community and the broader Pittsburgh region with the insights I have learned

in this course.

The third learning outcome for this course was to identify at least five people in

each of the four sections of global Christian history and share about what I have learned

from them and how they have impacted my world view. I included the 21 saints in the

Pittsburgh mission trail so that I would be able to provide tangible examples of what

Christians experienced during the course of human events in every century. I have

learned a great deal from each of the saints that I selected. I did have to change my list of

saints from the original document I brought to Bakken for the sake of the Pittsburgh

mission trail project, but that process just expanded my base of famous Christians that I

can talk about while providing context for people on the mission trail.

The fourth learning outcome was to begin to grapple with the concept of global

historical thinking, and current missional thinking and how it impacts my world view.

This one may have been my biggest takeaway from the course! The history I learned has

changed the way I think and lead in the twenty-first century. The global perspective

helps to inform me about where to work and how to spend my time. If God is doing a

great work in cities, then I want to continue to get involved in his mission to cities. If

Christianity is declining in America, then my mission to live and work in America may

66

be more significant that moving to a foreign country to participate in global missions.

Still, America is becoming a diverse nation and the global perspective helps to inform my

work in Pittsburgh.

The fifth learning outcome was to identify and affirm the various denominational

families in my own city. The development of the Pittsburgh mission trail helped me to

identify the various denominations in my city. I also want to affirm those denominations,

but right now that is just a theoretical concept for me. I will really be affirming the other

denominations and churches in Pittsburgh when I have built solid relationships with the

Christians in those local congregations and when I am able to successfully honor the

denominations by taking groups of people on the mission trail.

The sixth learning outcome for this course was to gain an appreciation for the

history of liturgical arts used in worship among historic churches around the world, and

also to learn more about the worship practices in Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant

congregations. Corean Bakke’s lecture was eye-opening on this subject, and I realize that

I still have much to learn on this objective. However, it was very helpful to see the

Bakkes modeling how Christians can develop over the course of a lifetime in these areas.

My suggested grade for this course would be an “A” because I completed all of

the reading and book reviews, the course journal, the project, and the evaluation. I also

participated as best as I could during the time at Bakken. Hopefully I was able synthesize

the learning outcomes from this course into a learning experience in Pittsburgh that will

help many other people develop a better understanding of global Christian history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bakke, Ray. A Surprising Journey: From Saxon to Chicago and Back. Acme: Bakken Books, 2009.

Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity. Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1984.

Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity. Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1985.

Hastings, Adrian. A World History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.

Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Knochel, Mary Ann. Images of America: Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.

Lorant, Stefan. Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City. Pittsburgh: Esselmont Books, 1999.

67

Global Christian History

Spiritual

Transcript of Global Christian History