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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Why Church Plants Fail
I came across an interesting article the other day that pertains to the work I do. A Vineyard church planter confesses that one of his church plants failed to thrive because he did not center his work in prayer and attention to the gospel. Check out this autopsy of a church.
The Prayer of Jesus by Jacek Andrzej Rossakiewicz
I remember going to the church office the day after I was ordained, sitting down at my big new desk, and wondering what in the world I was supposed to do now. Sure, there was always a sermon to work on, the next worship service to plan, people to call and see. I needed to learn how dire our financial situation was.
But I sensed that the responsibility of my call I felt laid on me the day before would need more than my own efforts.
So I spent the whole day in prayer. I went to the sanctuary and sat in each pew, praying for the church and those who normally sat in that area during worship. I prayed for the community, for those who would come asking for help, for future visitors. I read the Bible. I sang. I thanked God for the faithful ancestors of the past who'd built the church. I prayed for my own discernment and faithfulness. I didn't really know what else to do, to be honest, so I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed.
By some people's estimation, I was wasting precious time. Looking back, it was one of the wisest things I've ever done because the Lord did speak, and I was still enough to listen.
If you'd like to be encouraged to be more engaged in prayer and attentiveness to scripture, consider becoming a part of the Company of Pastors. Check out a Presbyterian pastoral rule.
But first, just pray, study, praise. Finances have a way of working out when we attend to the most crucial things. Not to insult anyone, but to borrow from an old election slogan, it's not the economy, stupid. It's God.
August 21, 2012
Back to School
The Eucharist is a school of gratitude. We gather at the Lord’s table to give thanks and praise for all the good and gracious things God has done—especially in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in so doing, we come to learn the rhythm of grace and gratitude that marks all of Christian life and liturgy.- Posted at 6:00 a.m.
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August 16, 2012
Love is All You Need
Love is always patient and kind, it is never jealous, love is never boastful nor conceited, it is never rude or selfish, it does not take offense, and is not resentful...- Posted at 2:32 p.m.
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August 9, 2012
And the Word of the Lord Happened or Discernment among Camel Jewelry, Goats, and Dish Towels
We have daily prayer here at the Center. At noon, we gather, catch up on prayer concerns we know about, consider the requests before us on our prayer request board. Then we start. It’s nothing elaborate. We pray or sing the morning psalm, read one of the lections, talk about the scripture’s insights, enter into intercessory prayer. Sometimes it’s just two of us who are gathered. Such was this day. Someone looking in on the two of us there in the chapel who knew both of us might have assumed that each of us comes from a different theological place. …- Posted at 6:29 p.m.
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August 8, 2012
Stewards of the Mysteries
Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. (I Cor. 4:1) If you receive the Font and Table enews (which is what this originally appeared as), you hear a lot about Invitation to Christ from us. Well, it’s in the process of being extended to other Reformed bodies as well. The Association for Reformed and Liturgical Worship (AR&LW) has requested permission to make the original PCUSA Invitation to Christ more broadly Reformed in order to extend the Invitation to other Reformed bodies. This has been granted and is in the process of …- Posted at 2:34 p.m.
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