Formation -- Part 2
Before I began my time as a student at The Virginia Theological Seminary (http://www.vts.edu/), I had to sign a pledge indicating my commitment to do three things as a member of that community:
1. Go to chapel.
2. Go to class.
3. Go to lunch.
These three commitments signified the sort of community I was entering as a seminarian -- a community that was characterized by worship, learning and relationships.
Attending worship wasn't primarily about "being fed" or getting my needs met...it was a disciplined rhythm of daily prayer, daily listening to the words of scripture, frequent sermons and eucharistic celebrations. Did I enjoy every sermon? No. Was I moved by every hymn sung? No. Was every liturgy a transcendant experience? No.
But there were sermons that provided just the word I needed to hear when I needed to hear it. There were enough hymns that set my heart singing on days that I didn't think I would be able to muster even a quarter-note of joy. There were enough liturgies that encapsulated elegance and beauty in ways that drew me closer to the Holy for having attended.
Attending class, reading for class, writing all manner of papers (even the ones I grumbled about!) and talking with my classmates -- before, during and after classes -- instilled in me a sense that the call of all disciples is to be ready to give an answer for the hope within us (cf. 1 Peter 3:15). To be a part of a learning community meant that when we gathered for a discussion with a professor, he or she often participated as a fellow-learner -- prepared to learn from the students present as well as to share the benefit of her/his academic work.
Eating a daily meal together fostered a sense of connection throughout the seminary community as faculty, staff and students shared the stuff of life -- the joys and concerns, the trials and triumphs, agreements and disagreements and everything in between.
This process of being shaped through worship, learning and relationship is, I believe, at the heart of formation. "And they continued in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers," describes the early community of believers in Acts. Whatever else we may do as a local congregation, these practices provide our touchstones as a Christian community. We do not attend to these practices to add numbers to our parish lists, rather we do them to root ourselves into a particular Christian community -- in a peculiarly Christian fashion.
The ways of worship, learning and relationship are not flashy -- sometimes these ways are the very embodiment of the mundane. Yet, these are the ways the "church is the church". If we are attending to our worship, our learning and our relationships, then maybe we'll set down the sort of spiritual roots that will nourish our souls for the rest of our lives -- like trees planted by the water (Psalm 1).
Before I began my time as a student at The Virginia Theological Seminary (http://www.vts.edu/), I had to sign a pledge indicating my commitment to do three things as a member of that community:
1. Go to chapel.
2. Go to class.
3. Go to lunch.
These three commitments signified the sort of community I was entering as a seminarian -- a community that was characterized by worship, learning and relationships.
Attending worship wasn't primarily about "being fed" or getting my needs met...it was a disciplined rhythm of daily prayer, daily listening to the words of scripture, frequent sermons and eucharistic celebrations. Did I enjoy every sermon? No. Was I moved by every hymn sung? No. Was every liturgy a transcendant experience? No.
But there were sermons that provided just the word I needed to hear when I needed to hear it. There were enough hymns that set my heart singing on days that I didn't think I would be able to muster even a quarter-note of joy. There were enough liturgies that encapsulated elegance and beauty in ways that drew me closer to the Holy for having attended.
Attending class, reading for class, writing all manner of papers (even the ones I grumbled about!) and talking with my classmates -- before, during and after classes -- instilled in me a sense that the call of all disciples is to be ready to give an answer for the hope within us (cf. 1 Peter 3:15). To be a part of a learning community meant that when we gathered for a discussion with a professor, he or she often participated as a fellow-learner -- prepared to learn from the students present as well as to share the benefit of her/his academic work.
Eating a daily meal together fostered a sense of connection throughout the seminary community as faculty, staff and students shared the stuff of life -- the joys and concerns, the trials and triumphs, agreements and disagreements and everything in between.
This process of being shaped through worship, learning and relationship is, I believe, at the heart of formation. "And they continued in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers," describes the early community of believers in Acts. Whatever else we may do as a local congregation, these practices provide our touchstones as a Christian community. We do not attend to these practices to add numbers to our parish lists, rather we do them to root ourselves into a particular Christian community -- in a peculiarly Christian fashion.
The ways of worship, learning and relationship are not flashy -- sometimes these ways are the very embodiment of the mundane. Yet, these are the ways the "church is the church". If we are attending to our worship, our learning and our relationships, then maybe we'll set down the sort of spiritual roots that will nourish our souls for the rest of our lives -- like trees planted by the water (Psalm 1).
posted by FrGaryB | 10:31 PM
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