Thanks Anita. I appreciate your considered response. I’m still not sure that many who regularly say the creed in worship do it as anything other than a rote reciting of memorised words. As they do with “and also with you” and “thanks be to God” at other places in the liturgy.
Of course, each of those phrases—and the whole creed—can be said thoughtfully and in an engaged manner. How we develop that is the challenge.
People also hear passages of scripture over and over, and nod, smile, and move on (without selling possessions and giving to the poor, without forgiving 70 times 7, without seeking the narrow door and avoiding the wide door, etc …..j
We try to deal with this by including exposition of scripture in each worship service. Even then, people can smile, nod, doze, and choose to ignore …
At any rate, continuing education about the creed might well be a helpful step. Then people might begin to grapple with some of the complexities and conundrums that it encapsulates. (I speak as a rationalist, no doubt!)
I will continue to ponder. My historical-critical sensitivities won’t leave this alone!!!
I am sure that people are not always conscious of what they are participating in, be it worship or anything else; but we are more than our consciousnesses. The variously attributed "Give me a child until they are seven years old, and I will give you the adult" (an inclusive language version) reminds us of that. Our formation occurs across a range of dimensions - conscious, unconscious, formal, informal, affective, intellectual, symbolic/mythological/narrative, rational... For me, "participation in" still remains key to that formational process. I am concerned that laying aside aspects of longstanding Christian tradition takes us into a different formational environment and begins to disconnect us from the broader tradition in unhelpful ways. See, for example, the reflections on the 20th anniversary of Uniting in Worship 2 on the Assembly website. That is not to say that we don't need re-formulations of the tradition for our context; but rather that we need both, and we need them to stand alongside each other in conversation.
And allegiance to co-sovereignty, even a certain queerness!
The deeper you look, the deeper you go!
So helpful. There are surprising elements to re-discover, too. “For our sake” rather than “for our sins” for example.
Indeed!
Thanks Anita. I appreciate your considered response. I’m still not sure that many who regularly say the creed in worship do it as anything other than a rote reciting of memorised words. As they do with “and also with you” and “thanks be to God” at other places in the liturgy.
Of course, each of those phrases—and the whole creed—can be said thoughtfully and in an engaged manner. How we develop that is the challenge.
People also hear passages of scripture over and over, and nod, smile, and move on (without selling possessions and giving to the poor, without forgiving 70 times 7, without seeking the narrow door and avoiding the wide door, etc …..j
We try to deal with this by including exposition of scripture in each worship service. Even then, people can smile, nod, doze, and choose to ignore …
At any rate, continuing education about the creed might well be a helpful step. Then people might begin to grapple with some of the complexities and conundrums that it encapsulates. (I speak as a rationalist, no doubt!)
I will continue to ponder. My historical-critical sensitivities won’t leave this alone!!!
I am sure that people are not always conscious of what they are participating in, be it worship or anything else; but we are more than our consciousnesses. The variously attributed "Give me a child until they are seven years old, and I will give you the adult" (an inclusive language version) reminds us of that. Our formation occurs across a range of dimensions - conscious, unconscious, formal, informal, affective, intellectual, symbolic/mythological/narrative, rational... For me, "participation in" still remains key to that formational process. I am concerned that laying aside aspects of longstanding Christian tradition takes us into a different formational environment and begins to disconnect us from the broader tradition in unhelpful ways. See, for example, the reflections on the 20th anniversary of Uniting in Worship 2 on the Assembly website. That is not to say that we don't need re-formulations of the tradition for our context; but rather that we need both, and we need them to stand alongside each other in conversation.