Doing Theology,No. 27 October 2008
A bi-monthly theological reflection from the
School of Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina
Process
This is the second 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 first was on Substance and the third will be on Answers.
We know a good lecture when we hear one. We also recognize a bad discussion when we’re trapped in one. Lecture vs. discussion – that’s usually what comes to mind when we talk about how to do adult Christian education, and the quality of experience with one or the other defines our preference. Process, the way we get from wherever we are to new knowledge and insight about a theological topic, is often reduced to that debate, lecture vs. discussion. But it’s more than that.
Issues of process come up all the time. In Christian social ethics, there are choices between ends and means; teleological approaches focus on ends and consequences of an action, deontological, on the duty to act, to ‘do the right thing,’ whatever the consequences may be. In that sense both are really concerned about process. We find issues of process, too, in how we lead a congregation or preside over a meeting. If we are clear about the action we want, and have the authority to decide on it, why waste our time with the process, talking it through, making sure everyone is heard? Why not claim our authority, and get on with it?
So, too, with Christian formation. If as leaders in the church – lay or ordained – we are convinced that our folk need to understand, say, the doctrine of grace, why don’t we just sit them down and tell them, ‘this is the way it is’? If instead we decide to discuss it, someone will doubtless mention John Newton’s Amazing Grace and the first time they heard it, another will wander off into the slave issue, and there’s no telling when we’ll get back on track. Far better, again, to claim our authority as teacher, and set out what needs to be known.
My convictions are twofold: One, we as adults have a sense of what we need to know, and when we are permitted to enter into discourse with others, we together define our needs and hopes for any program in Christian formation. Two, God speaks to us all, and we are called to share our insights with the community of faith, and to hear others speak of God revealed to them in their lives. Put in those terms, process matters a great deal. The community, gathered to study and reflect together, not as consumers of information but as partners in shared discernment, benefitting from the theological expertise of those with formal study, but recognizing that such expertise only takes on meaning when offered for shared reflection within community – that’s a process critical to our being formed in the faith, critical to our being God’s people, together.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Spencer
