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)
- View all categories →
Archives
There's an App for That!
Hey, There’s an App for That!
Well, not quite, but soon.
We’re currently in the late stages of development of a smart phone app for daily prayer and scripture reading. Really. For many people, this news is years overdue. For others, it may signal the imminent arrival of four horsemen. But however you view our growing reliance on smartphones, the ability to carry around a huge amount of information in your pocket is mind boggling and provides opportunities we’ve not seen before. To have the ability to access daily scripture readings and an outline for prayer at any time or place may be soul boggling. Or at least it should be.
For those of you who are skeptical, I understand. I am one of those people that loves the heft of a book in my hand, especially when reading scripture or leading worship. Holding my Bible while reading scripture has a kind of muscle memory that imparts a sense of gravitas – it physically tells me that what I’m doing is important. I have to admit I wonder if my phone will convey that same sense of importance. But my excitement over the possibilities outstrips that concern. Besides, it’s not as if this app is going to replace my Book of Common Worship or my Bible. Rest assured – the readings will not be edited so that “Sara LOL’d” upon hearing the news she would bear a child. What it will do is increase the possibility of me (and hopefully others!) engaging the scripture at new times and places.
Daily prayer and daily scripture reading are the cornerstone practices of the Company of Pastors and Company of New Pastors. The daily lectionary is already available in several electronic formats, including full text documents on the Company of Pastors member site. But this smart phone app puts the tools in our hands in a new way.
I have this daydream of morning prayer breaking out in places where people now sit and text each other across the room. Or a flash mob of scripture reading. Maybe even a full worship service, including music, led entirely from phones. (I can supply leads to some dandy musical instrument apps if you’re interested.)
Anything that helps us pray more, read more scripture or any combination of the two can’t be a bad thing. Four horsemen notwithstanding.
If you’d like to know when the Daily Prayer app is ready, send me an e mail and I’ll let you know when it’s ready.
June 6, 2012
Sharing Christ
People gathering in a "sanctuary" (or safe place) to share the word, to share "common food," and then being sent to share Christ with others—it sounds an awful lot like "doing what the church does" when we gather in the presence of Christ around Word and Table.- Posted at 11:30 a.m.
- Permalink
May 25, 2012
How do I form a community of theological friendship?
A community of theological friendship sounds like a great thing to be part of. So how does one go about forming a community of theological friendship?- Posted at 9:19 a.m.
- Permalink
May 16, 2012
Elward Ellis: “Into the glorious company of the saints in light.”
Elward Ellis, a member of the Re-Forming Ministry Core Cluster, has completed his baptism in death. We are honored to stand with those who bear witness to Elward’s love of and faithfulness to Jesus Christ.- Posted at 11:06 a.m.
- Permalink
May 4, 2012
Freedom of Licking Shaved Ice in Honolulu
In April I had the opportunity to lead a Korean American Pastor Theologian Consultation in Honolulu, Hawaii (I know… someone has to suffer for the gospel). There were twenty one participants representing both genders and multi-generations. We were the recipients of fabulous Hawaiian hospitality from Pastor Mary Paik, her husband Dwight Morita, along with the congregation members of Nu’uanu Congregational Church. The event was sponsored by the General Assembly Mission Council and was a follow up consultation to the first one that was held in October 2010 in Colorado Springs. You can read more about the Pastor Theologian consultations and …- Posted at 11:36 a.m.
- Permalink