John Clifford Helt is a retired United Church of Christ pastor living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He currently serves on the Creation Care Team and the Historical Committee of the Wisconsin Conference, United Church of Christ, sings in and serves on the board of the Lutheran A Cappella Choir of Milwaukee, and coaches new pastors. He has taught theology and history as an adjunct instructor at Chicago Theological Seminary, Elmhurst University (Illinois) and Lakeland University (Wisconsin). He studied at Edinburgh University New College (UK), Elmhurst University, Eden Theological Seminary, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Northwestern University (Illinois).
"""John Helt brings the life and ministry of Lydia Hosto Niebuhr out of the shadows. This biography of her great influence both in her family and in the church is told with vivid examples. Anyone who is interested in the theological contributions of her sons and daughter should read this book and see how the seeds were planted within her family and nurtured with her tender and fierce care."" --Elizabeth Caldwell, author of A Mysterious Mantle: The Biography of Hulda Niebuhr ""This beautifully written and timely book brings to light the life of a 'reverent spirit' and servant of the gospel who helped shape the faith of several generations as one in whom, as Saint Jerome once put it, 'the lips, the heart, and the hands agree.'"" --Frederick Trost, author of The Evangelical Catechism: A New Translation for the 21st Century ""John Helt is himself a wise and discerning son of the German Evangelical Pietistic tradition of which he writes. Here he narrates the centrality of Lydia Niebuhr, mother of Reinhold and Richard, as a key force in the nurture of that Evangelical tradition in the United States. Helt invites appreciation and gratitude for this strong woman of faith who bore lifelong energetic witness to the life-giving force of the gospel."" --Walter Brueggemann, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary"