Education

Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, Missouri; M.Div. 1976

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; M.A. in English Literature, 1968 (All course work and requirements for the Ph.D. completed except the dissertation)

Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Indiana; B.A. 1966

Concordia Junior College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; A.A. 1964

Present Professional Activities [Top]

Professor and occupant of Emil & Elfriede Jochum Chair, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, 1991-present

Speaker, Lutheran Vespers (an International radio show), 1994-present Frequent lecturer at universities and professional conferences

Awards and Professional Organizations [Top]

2000 Helen Keating Ott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children's Literature from the Church and Synagogue Library Association

1994 Wittenberg Award (National Clergy Award) from The Luther Institute

1989 Indiana Better Newspaper Contest winner for Best Column, Hoosier State Press Association, 1989

The Milton Center, Kansas Newman College, Advisory Board, 1988-present

The Chrysostom Society, President, 1996-present; Continuing Committee Member, 1987- 1991

Honorary Doctorate, Valparaiso University, 1986

New Harmony Project, Board of Directors, 1986-1998 (Chairman of the Board, 1993- 1998)

Publications History [Top]

NOVELS:

Saint Julian, HarperSanFrancisco, 2003

The Crying for A Vision, Paraclete Press, 2003 (previously Simon & Schuster, 1994)

Paul: A Novel, Lion UK and Zondervan, 2000 (Gold Medallion Book Award, 2001) Published in 8 languages worldwide

The Book of god the Bible as a Novel, Lion UK and Zondervan, 1996. (Gold Medallion Book Award, 1996; Association of Logos Bookstores Award for Best Book, 1996) Published in 25 languages worldwide

The Book of Sorrows, Zondervan, 1996 (previously Harper & Row, 1985 (Campus Life's Editor's Choice, 1985; Association of Logos Bookstores Book Awards for Best Fiction, 1986)

The Book of the Dun Cow, Harper & Row, 1978 (New York Times' Best Children's Book of the Year; The National Book Award, 1980)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: [Top]

Angels and All Children, Augsburg Fortress, August, 2002

Peter's First Easter, Zondervan, 2000

Water, Come Down, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1999 (Association of Theological Booksellers Best Children's Book,1999)

The Bedtime Rhyme, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998

The Fear Not Angel, Lion UK, 1998.

Mary's First Christmas, Zondervan, 1998.

Probity Jones and the Fear Not Angel, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1996

Branta and the Golden Stone, Simon & Schuster, 1993

Elisabeth and the Water Troll, HarperCollins Children's Books, 1991

In the Beginning There was No Sky, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1997 (previously Thomas Nelson, 1986) (Association of Theological Booksellers Best Children's Book,1998)

Potter, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1994 (previously, David C. Cook, 1985) (Gold Medallion Book Award, 1986; CSIA C.S. Lewis Award, 1986)

Thistle, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995 (previously Harper & Row, 1983)

The Book of God for Children, Zondervan, 1996 (previously THE BIBLE FOR CHILDREN, Checkerboard Press, 1981)

COLLECTIONS OF SHORT STORIES & ESSAYS: [Top]

This Earthly Pilgrimage, Zondervan, 2003

Swallowing the Golden Stone and Other Essays, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2001

In the Days of Angels, Waterbrook Press, 2000

Little Lamb, Who Made Thee, Zondervan, 1993

The Manger is Empty, Harper & Row, 1989

Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace, Harper & Row, 1988

Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, Harper & Row, 1984 (Gold Medallion Book Award, 1985)

PRACTICAL THEOLOGY: [Top]

A Prayer Book for Husbands and Wives, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2000 (written with Ruthanne Wangerin)

Whole Prayer, Zondervan, 1998 (Gold Medallion Book Award, 1999)

Mourning Into Dancing, Zondervan, 1992

As For Me and My House, Crafting a Marriage that Lasts, Thomas Nelson, 1987 (Virtue Magazine Book of the Year, 1987; Gold Medallion Book Award, 1988)

The Orphean Passage, subtitled The Drama of Faith, Zondervan, 1996 (previously Harper & Row, 1986)

DEVOTIONAL: [Top]

Preparing for Jesus, Zondervan, 1999

Measuring the Days, edited by Gail McGrew Eifrig, HarperSanFrancisco, 1993

Reliving the Passion, Zondervan, 1992 (Gold Medallion Book Award, 1993)

POETRY: [Top]

A Miniature Cathedral and Other Poems, Harper & Row, 1987

With Paul Manz-UNA SANCTA: A MASS IN THANKSGIVING FOR THE UNITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST; debuted and toured with the Seminex chorus in 1986 and 1987.

PERIODICALS: [Top]

Book Reviews for The Washington Post Book World

Book Reviews for The New York Times

Articles in numerous periodicals