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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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May 8, 2014

Unity, Confessions, and the Book of Order

What is the relationship between our confession of faith and our polity?  Why do we have a collection of confessions in our denomination's Constitution?  What role do they (could they) play in shaping our life together?  How can we be faithful to the commitments we've made in the two parts of our Constitution: first The Book of Confessions, and second the Book of Order?

My colleague, Charles Wiley, and I reflected on these questions in a brief statement that was published last fall: Constituting Us: Confessions and Polity in the PC(USA).  In December I was invited to reflect further on the relationship between our confession of faith and our polity as part of Moderator Neal Presa's Second Colloquium on Unity and Diversity.  I built my reflections around Constituting Us.  I added reflections on our Constitution as a lead-in to that document.  Following that document, I also added some brief reflections on how the relationship of the two parts of our Constitution might bear on actions at our upcoming General Assembly, especially as regards our discussion of marriage.  The result is Unity, Confessions, and the Book of Order: the Constitution of the PC(USA) and How It Constitutes Us.

Here's how it starts: "The relationship between the two parts of our Constitution - The Book of Confessions and the Book of Order - is an abiding, persistent problem . . "  Read more.

 

Tags: book of confessions, book of order, confessions, constitution, marriage, polity