Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

While Presbyterians rightly value their intellects in matters of faith, they impoverish their spiritual lives because they tend to neglect their bodies and feelings in the quest to experience the sacred, according to theologian and author the Rev. Marcia Mount Shoop.

“The uniqueness of our faith is that we are an incarnational faith, said Shoop, theologian in residence at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, N.C. “We Christians believe that God took on a body.”

Yet Presbyterians are “uncomfortable in our own skin,” Shoop told the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s National Multicultural Church Conference. The gathering was held in Indianapolis June 30–July 2 as part of the PC(USA)’s Big Tent event.

In her address, Shoop, author of Let the Bones Dance: Embodiment and the Body of Christ, delved into three aspects of embodiment that she said can help define and structure human experience and lead toward a more meaningful faith. She explored rape, pregnancy and motherhood as ways to interpret the common human conditions of tragedy, relationality and ambiguity.

Shoop, a rape survivor, said that rape is a window to understanding human tragedy. “Tragedy changes lives forever,” she said.  “When we are wounded, we’ll never be the same. That doesn’t mean that you won’t be OK. You’ll be different.”

Pregnancy is a prism through which relationality can be viewed, she said. “You are as connected to everything there is as a mother is to her unborn child,” she explained.

Motherhood, Shoop said, is “not a static set of ideals” and therefore it sheds light on life’s ambiguities. Mothers learn to live with contradictions, mystery, anguish and enchantment all at the same time, she said.

“These are not just character traits of our individual bodies but the collective body of Christ,” she said. It’s a body, she said, that is yearning for a deeper faith and spiritual healing.

She said it’s a body that also benefits from diversity. “Where do we find the integrity of the sacrament in a homogenous community?” Shoop asked, adding that she comes to the communion table “hungry for some little taste of the kingdom” that can be best experienced alongside people of diverse backgrounds, races and cultures.

Shoop, a fourth generation Presbyterian minister, said she cherishes the historic Presbyterian emphasis on education and developing the intellect. She warned, however, that “intellectualization” can be used as “a defense against difficult emotions” and to “hold mystery at arm’s length.

Presbyterians and other mainline Protestants could enjoy a more vibrant faith by putting aside their fear of looking incompetent and dropping their reluctance to share their vulnerabilities, Shoop said. “We must acknowledge our woundedness,” she emphasized, “not to have a pity party” but as a way of imitating Jesus “who showed us his wounds.”