Theology is in all of our worship. Most obviously it is in how the Bible readings are unpacked in a church service, or fellowship/study group, or even just in discussions between friends; looking at what that reading says about God and what that might mean, is doing theology. It is also present in the prayers we pray - referring to God as 'Loving' or 'Creator' or 'Saviour' are all ways of exploring who God is and what that means to us.
One of the ways perhaps not used quite so widely in a lot of our churches or groups is reading a creed. A creed is a statement of belief and read together can be quite powerful reminding us of the bare-bone structure, to some degree, of the shared beliefs we, as Christians, hold. Another way, which as you know I am very interested in at the moment, is in art and architecture. This had a HUGE place in the past, and though it may not be used to quite an extravagant extent now-a-days we certainly still see this in our churches and homes today. For example, something as simple as what people see when they come to worship can bring theology into that - flowers speaking of a wonderful creation, a stained-glass window reimagining a Bible story, a wall hanging, a cross, or a lighted candle; all saying something about the human response to God. This message may even be more powerful and subliminal than a similar spoken message. A way I haven't really considered theology being done before is in action, rituals and practices. These enable us to actually embody our convictions about God and Christ and the Spirit. Like how a Christening of a baby proclaims God's sure love for them even before she/he can speak for themselves. Or in sharing the 'sign of peace' we say something about God's love that became present in Jesus bringing reconciliation and peace to the world, or in carrying forward the offering plate, how we express our offering of ourselves in response to God's self-giving to us. This list could be longer; including actions Christians do in the community and discussion/reflection groups in the wake of challenging circumstances and so on. Worship is a setting in which the aim of a worship leader is to enable people to meet with and experience God, or put another way: "to make a space for encounter with God". We should thus be bringing more theology into our worship; purposefully and intentionally (using the many diverse ways we can!) speaking of God through all that we do and say and are.
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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April 2020
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