Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
Charles Wiley
Barry Ensign-George
David Gambrell
Christine Hong
Karen Russell
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Grace Poured Out
This was originally sent as an e-news post in Font and Table to those interested in sacramental renewal. It's posted here to enable comment to a broader audience.
One of the suggestions made in Invitation to Christ is that we connect the waters of baptism with the confession of sin by pouring water into the font with the assurance of pardon. Many of us love this ritual action. The outpouring of water signifies God’s overflowing grace and the washing of everything clean.
But lately some good questions have arisen: How do those who aren’t baptized experience this ritual action? Does it suggest that God’s forgiveness only comes through the waters of baptism?
What do you think? What is this action saying theologically? Does it inadvertently miscommunicate that there is no grace for those outside the covenant of baptism? Does it prompt a thirst for baptismal exploration? We’re interested in hearing what you think based upon your ecclesial practices.
It’s not just the action that can be inadvertently exclusionary. “Anyone who is in Christ,” we say in a familiar assurance. This begs the question: is there forgiveness for the non-Christian? If we have many visitors among those gathered for worship, perhaps we need to use another assurance, such as that found in Psalm 103:8–12 or one from our liturgy based on Ezekiel 36:25–27:
Hear God’s promise to you: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you,” says the Lord, “and you shall be clean. A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you. I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of compassion. I will put my spirit within you, and enable you to follow my Way.”
Hopefully, in everything we do we’re issuing God’s invitation to come to the waters (Isaiah 55). We have to do this intentionally in a day when fewer people are churched, so it behooves us to think about offering folks an immersion in an intentional period of inquiry and discipleship like that of the ancient catechumenate.
We are working to put materials on the catechumenate on a new web page, but if you are interested in exploring how to tailor this ancient process of faith formation for your context and for the questions people have, consider attending one of the training events of the North American Association for the Catechumenate. The catechumenal process is one of prayer and Bible reading as well as spiritual companionship and liturgical participation in meaningful ritual that is meant to invite all to live within the lavish grace of Christ.
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- Posted at 4:30 p.m.
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