RICHMOND, July 1 - A staff member of the San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) spoke Wednesday night about the need for Presbyterians to see that their spiritual practices and disciplines are rooted in the Reformed theological tradition.

That was the message the Rev. Elizabeth Nordquist shared during the annual General Assembly dinner sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Office of Spiritual Formation.

Nordquist, now director of student services and an associate professor of spirituality at SFTS, served as a pastor at several parishes in the Presbytery of the Pacific from 1983 to 1997. She also talked of a need for contemporary Christians to find new ways of expressing their spirituality.

"I'm going to offer you some thoughts about deepening our roots and spreading our branches of spirituality for Presbyterians," she said.

The Office of Spiritual Formation helps Presbyterians develop lives of spiritual discipline that "shape us into the image of Christ for lives of service in God's church," said Kris Haig, the denomination's associate for spiritual formation.

Nordquist said it saddens her that believers in the Reformed tradition, who have a profound, Biblical, theological heritage of confessions and systems of beliefs "have done an inadequate job in communicating and connecting two wrestling hearts: Our own, and the people whom God calls us to love and serve."

She said Presbyterians continue confirming and acting on the conviction that theology matters, but where "we have often been less effective, in my view, for many people in the pew and for many of us who fill the pulpits is in creating connections between heart and minds; between our theology and practice."

She said spiritual practices allow Presbyterians' roots to go deep into theological affirmation.

"God wants us to give voice to the voiceless," she said. "Our branches, our spiritual practice can allow ourselves to first see the vision and then imagine how God's intended rule could transform that voicelessness.