I believe...

Over the centuries the Church has made confessions of faith, some of which most members of the Church sign up to and others where they have meaning only to a certain group. The churches of the Reformed tradition are very good at writing and re-writing such statements. As we find ourselves in a new time and place, some of us write a new statement of faith. But what do these statements mean? What are their purpose? These are questions that I'm beginning to ponder as I start work on my essay for my Reformed tradition paper, however, they are based in a small piece of work I had to do at the end of term: the writing of my own confession of faith.

Originally, I had no intention of publishing this on my blog. But if a confession of faith in the reformed-sense is a statement of where one is today with God or with one's understanding of God, then actually it is something that should be publishing. Especially as this blog is about my journey to ordination. So after two and half years at theological college, this is where I currently stand. Not to say this is where I will be at the point of ordination, or 10 or 20 years into ministry, for I am reformed and faith is evolutionary! But for today this my confession: 

I believe in the one, true and living God, who is creator and sustainer of all. The one in whom, through whom and for whom all has come in to being. It is, therefore, in God my faith has found its home.

I believe in the trinity of God, through which the mercy and grace of God is given to all:

The one who is the source and Jesus called Father. The parental figure of creation, even when the concept of parenthood is difficult to comprehend;

The one who is the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ. The demonstrator of what it means to truly live a holy life, and to live in unity with and in God. Who conquered death so that moments of unholy living are not deemed irredeemable;

The one who is the inspirer—the Holy Spirit. Who has the power to break open even that which is most tightly closed. Who sustains faith from its strongest to its weakest points.

I believe in the holy catholic Church that continues to live out the life of discipleship, first asked of those who Jesus physically called to follow. As the body of Christ, I recognised we are a body of many and varied members, all of whom which have an equal part to play in the glorification of God; not only today, but yesterday, and tomorrow.

God calls the world to be holy as the Godself is holy. It is through and in the trinity of God, that holiness is brought to fruition and to whom I offer praise and supplication as I strive to lead the life to which I am called. 

Glory be to God, creator and sustainer; the one who was, and is, and is to come.

Liturgy: theologically or historically-based? Discuss

I really should learn to think before I speak some days, especially when it comes to theology. I seem to have this ability to make one line statements that although there is grounding for them within my head, that grounding isn't expressed in the any shape or form in my statement, or in any supporting argument I try to cobble together afterwards. In the past few weeks, I have done this twice when in conversations regarding liturgy.

So let's take yesterday's one-liner: "None of our liturgy is theologically-based!"
Really!!! What was I thinking? Not what came out of my mouth, that's for sure! Of course there is theological basis to liturgy, if there wasn't why are we still arguing over the words that are said in the Eucharist and the meaning they express. In my dissertation I have written that within my own tradition the way we teach doctrine to the masses is primarily through our liturgy. Liturgists and hymn-writers over the centuries have wrestled with theology in an attempt to lead the people of God in worship that gives glory to God and will edify them. So why did I come out with such a throw away statement?

Someone raised the question of the 'Lord's Prayer' and why we think it is an important element to be included in our liturgy. None of us present really had an answer other than saying that it was the prayer that Jesus taught us so it must be important. But it hasn't always been there religiously in our liturgical structure and for the person who raised the question, in the church tradition they had grown up in it had never been or perceived to be an essential part of their liturgy.

My only answer is history. Now, I could be making this response because my dissertation, which just happens to focus on liturgy, is heavily weighted on the side of Church History. But as I have looked at and mapped the change in the liturgy of my own tradition since the Reformation, there have been moments during our history where we have thrown most of what we would call liturgy out of the window as we have rebelled against the establishment. It has been events that have happened in the church local, national, and universal that have driven liturgical change. I'm not discounting theology's role in this, because engagement with Scripture and theology has happen which have caused liturgical movement. But how often to we actually theologically question what is in the basic liturgical structure that many of our churches follow? How often is our response to the question "why do we say one type of prayer here and another type there", "just because-that's how we've always done it".

I am finding myself riling these days when I hear people using the response 'it's because I'm a non-conformist' to why they do or do not do something. Yes, maybe the non-conformist movement does has the feel at times like 'throwing the baby out with the bath water' because we can, but there were theological reasons behind it initially. People took time to theologically reflect on the situation before they made their response.

So I guess that is where my one-liner came from. To me there is a sense that we don't always theological think through our liturgy anymore, we just do it this way because that is how it has been done for generations. Our liturgy has become more historically-based, although it has its roots in theology, just theology that is forgotten.