Doing Theology, No. 26 August 2008
A bi-monthly theological reflection from the
School of Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina

 Substance 

This is the first in a series of three reflections on life-long Christian formation as the Dean has applied these topics to
the work of the School of Ministry. The second will be on Process and the third, on Answers.

I doubt if many of us would argue that biblical literacy is all that it might be in the Episcopal Church. A lot of us just don’t know our way around the Bible. If we attend worship regularly, we hear a lot: three passages plus a psalm, usually. But regular individual Bible reading or group Bible study… well, that’s a different matter, at least for many of us. Even locating a passage can be a challenge. Is Ephesians really after Galatians, or maybe earlier (or later?), after Paul has had his go at the Corinthians? And heaven help us if we want ‘justice rolling down like the waters’ – was that Amos, or Hosea? And where are they anyway?

When I became Dean of the School of Ministry four years ago, some folk in our diocese told me they wanted to ‘do Bible study’ in their congregations. More power to them, I said to myself (and to a few others). But I was convinced, and still am, that there is an abundance of riches in resources for Bible study, and there is immense talent, often unrecognized, in our congregations to lead these studies. We didn’t need a School of Ministry to do what congregations were already able to do, if they but decided that they wanted to do it, or if they decided they wanted to strengthen what they were already doing.

True, the School did choose to take advantage of the gifts that are among us, and we published Fred Horton’s study of the Gospel of Mark, and essays by our bishops on themes in the Gospel of Luke. Soon we’ll add a DVD on the Gospel of Matthew. But we decided to put our emphasis elsewhere, on God’s mission, our communal ministry, and our individual call. How do we understand mission? we asked in our Millennium Development Goals resource. What, ultimately, characterizes us as Anglicans, and what does that say about ministry? we posed in our Anglican identity resource. What do the practical tasks facing our wardens have to do with call? we asked at our annual wardens’ retreat. And on and on, in our variety of diocesan and regional programs and in our parish study resources: Mission, Ministry, and Call.

Without Scripture – containing ‘all things necessary to salvation’ – study and reflection and action about mission and ministry and call will not take us very far. But neither will Bible study that does not urge discernment of ministry and call. My vision for the School of Ministry has been that it should nurture and encourage and challenge us to apply our faith to our lives, grounded upon a foundation of biblical understanding secured most appropriately from within our congregations, and within our own spiritual disciplines.

Yours faithfully,
Leon Spencer