Faith
About this blog
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
Recent posts
- Our Challenging Way: Faithfulness, Sex, Ordination, and Marriage
- Unity, Confessions, and the Book of Order
- Come and See
- Please and Thank You
- Back to Basics on Ash Wednesday
Categories
- Theology (32)
- Worship (26)
- Faith (23)
- Spirituality (13)
- Leadership (11)
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Archives
Big Tent, Big Font
I love the description of the design and construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 25-31 and 35-40. I was thinking about those passages this past Thursday as I watched crews assemble the rigging and backdrop for another "big tent" -- the worship space for the 2011 Big Tent Event in Indianapolis.
One of the highlights of the worship space -- for me and for others I spoke with -- was the huge (three feet in diameter) baptismal font we commissioned for this occasion. (Exodus 30:17-21 has instructions for the basin in the tabernacle, but it doesn't specify how many cubits ...)
Given that the theme for the 2011 Big Tent Event was "Grow Christ's Church Deep and Wide" we wanted to have a deep and wide font as a sign of the source of Christian life and identity: our baptism into the name of the triune God.
The new baptismal bowl came with a nice crate for shipping (although it looks a little like something from Raiders of the Lost Ark) ... so you can expect to see this font again at General Assembly in Pittsburgh in 2012!
June 29, 2011
The Worship Curmudgeon: Call Us to Confession
“Let’s now say together the prayer of confession.” That’s how one ill-trained liturgist called us to confession one Sunday. There was actually no call to confession, just an announcement that said, in effect, “Ok, we’re gonna do this now, folks.” Argh! Apt sinners that we are, we need called (dragged?) to confession. Without a call to confession, we have no idea why we’re saying we’re sorry to God. Without it, a confession of sin feels like we’re going to say I’m sorry because our mother told us we had to apologize to our sister. We mumble the words, …- Posted at 3:28 p.m.
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June 21, 2011
Have I Got a Deal for You
Earlier today, in federal court, an “evangelist” went on trial for defrauding church-goers of more than $700,000 over a period of years by convincing them to invest in gas and oil ventures that promised riches and financial security. State charges are also pending for this man, who stole the life savings of some of his elderly investors. Officials say the con man would pray with people over their investments, compounding the fraud by claiming to be doing the will of God. There’s so much wrong here, it’s hard to know where to begin commenting. False prophets who claim a direct …- Posted at 12:53 p.m.
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June 20, 2011
New Feature
If you look to the right on the top of this page, you will see a listing for some short video pieces from the Office of Theology and Worship. The description reads: Thinking Praying and Living the Faith is at the core of ministry in Theology and Worship. In the following videos hear what thinking, praying and living the faith means to the leadership of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters, and how integrating the Christian faith makes a difference in our lives, and in the places where we live, work and worship. You can click on the …- Posted at 3:05 p.m.
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June 14, 2011
Confessing the Faith on Trinity Sunday
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. How will your congregation confess the faith?- Posted at 3:38 p.m.
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