Theology as Community Endeavor: A brief introduction to an upcoming sermon series

Theology is best done in community.

I know that this might be a strange thought given how we have become accustomed to thinking of the theologian as the one who sits in the ivory tower with their loads of books writing for the educated few. And though I think that there is a place for this solitary figure in our tradition and life, I still must insist that ‘theology is best done in community.’

But, let me even push this a little further: ‘Theology is best done in communities at prayer.’ Many years ago, while still a postdoc at Notre Dame, and after spending many hours reading some of the greatest minds of the Christian tradition going all the way back to the second century, I became convinced that the theologian is the one who prays. This idea I actually borrowed from a theologian named Evagrius who wrote, “the theologian is the one that prays, and the one who prays is a theologian.” At this point I happily concede, that though I may have advanced degrees in theology and the history of our tradition, that many if not most of you all, are far more theological than I. I often am overwhelmed by so many of you at St Paul’s who dedicate your time to praying; and praying together with others. You see, the idea is that, theology is a relational activity, not exclusively an academic one. Sure we can learn about God through the reading of texts, but the object of theology is to become more in the image and likeness of the one who we study; namely God. Prayer, our conversations with God, are then the best way to know and have a relationship with the things that we want to know more about. And when we pray and think together  like we do at St Paul’s on Sunday mornings, we are doing deep and meaningful theology. We are in the presence of the one we are seeking, not only in the growing love that we have with each other as a community, but in the eucharist where Christ says he is present to us in the breaking of the break.

A few weeks ago I was away at a diocesan conference. The guest speaker made a comment that really struck me. He said, “Do we and our congregation really know what we are claiming and committing ourselves to when we recite the baptismal covenant?” I found this question very challenging. Through bible studies and book studies, sermons and conversations, I think that we at St Paul’s probably have a better sense than most about what we are doing/saying in our baptismal covenants. But even still, I wonder if we couldn’t go deeper into the very details of our covenant.

It is with this in mind, that over the summer and into fall, I am going to attempt to do a sermon series on the specific portions of our baptismal covenant (which starts on page 304 of the BCP). What this means, however, is that in covering these deep theological topics, like the ‘Fatherhood of God’, ‘the catholicity of the church’, and ‘respecting the dignity of every human person,’ we are going to get into some potentially sticky topics. I am going to give you my reflections on these doctrines and topics with the hope that we both learn in the process. If there is something that I say that you might have trouble with I hope, I pray, that you feel comfortable enough to come talk with me about it. I hope that I have shown you all over the last (almost) four years that I am amiable in conversation, and open to changing my own mind. But, I also hope that you all can have the same spirit of openmindedness and intellectual humility to hear me out as well. Theology is best done in community. So, as we pray together, and learn together over the next few months, I hope that we can be theologians together and engage each other in the spirit of inquiry and love, which the church is supposed to exemplify in the world.

This Sunday we will start with the first three words of the Creed:

“I Believe”

I look forward to learning with you over the next few months as we lean into our tradition, attempt a deeper understanding of what it means to be a baptized people, and what it means to be the church in the world.