Authors Martha and Charles were members of the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship staff from 2000-2003 and 1997-2017, respectively.
As reported in the Outlook on November 21, the Unification Commission recently eliminated 12 staff positions in the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) as part of their effort to unify these two agencies. One of the effects of this restructuring is the closing of the Office of Theology and Worship. Other offices too have been affected — most notably, the dissolution of the Peacemaking Program.
As former members of the Office of Theology and Worship staff, we have both witnessed multiple reorganizations of the PC(USA) offices, and we will not second-guess specific decisions. All efforts to challenge such decisions upend the lives of affected staff. The General Assembly gave the Unification Commission a mandate to reduce expenses of the unified agency by $5 million. Therefore, it was inevitable that beloved programs and staff persons would be affected. Yet, as witnesses to the significant work the Office of Theology and Worship has done since 1989, we do grieve.
As witnesses to the significant work the Office of Theology and Worship has done since 1989, we do grieve.
The history of the Office of Theology and Worship
In the 1970s, prior to 1983 reunion of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA (UPCUSA) and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), the two denominations shared a Joint Office of Worship. This staff was deeply engaged in ecumenical liturgical renewal and who developed significant worship resources shared by the denominations. With reunion, the office was folded into the new Theology and Worship Ministry Unit in the new General Assembly Council. Formed in 1989, the new unit had a strong cast of professional staff including Joseph Small, who remained in the office until his retirement in 2010. The genius of this pairing was the conviction that how we pray shapes what we believe and what we think shapes how we pray. To use the oft-quoted Latin phrase, “lex orandi, lex credenda”: the law of praying is the law of believing. This was the commitment that shaped the next nearly 40 years of generative work of the office.
The genius of this pairing was the conviction that how we pray shapes what we believe and what we think shapes how we pray.
The initial staff structure only lasted five years before the first reorganization of the reunited PC(USA) resulted in a much-reduced Office of Theology and Worship. Over the years, however, Small rebuilt the staff, who generated many new programs to support the liturgical and theological reflection of the church. Some of the work of the office included:
- Production of the landmark 1993 Book of Common Worship, edited by Harold Daniels
- Development and support of the 1998 Study Catechism and accompanying materials
- Numerous studies in Reformed theology and worship, many of them focused on guiding and enriching conversations about the confessions, on everything from church discipline to the shape of pastoral ministry to social witness. Several cooperative projects with the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, including the book series Foundations of Christian Faith, Conversations with the Confessions and Fire and Wind: The Holy Spirit in the Church Today, which grew out of the first of three national conferences on the Nicene Creed.
- “Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ” (2002), a Christological statement developed to help the church during a moment of crisis, to affirm the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit” in a way that extends that life-giving hope to all
- 2013 Glory to God hymnal, in cooperation with Presbyterian Publishing Corporation and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians
- 2017 revision to the Directory for Worship
- 2018 revision of the Book of Common Worship
Part of the Office of Theology and Worship’s ability to thrive grew from grant funds from the Lilly Endowment, which enabled substantive work even as the resources of the denomination itself were shrinking. Over the years, the office attracted $7.5 million in grant money from Lilly, which generated about $9 million in total funds that enabled much of the work. Many of these programs focused on the theological vocation of pastors, including the Pastor-Theologian program, the Company of Pastors, and the Company of New Pastors.
Thanks to the departing staff
In any reorganization, it is critical to recognize the human cost. We want to especially thank the four dismissed staff for their service. We do not have permission to list their names, but the four staff persons have served long and faithfully and deserve all our thanks.
Looking forward: Valuing Theology & Worship
In the wake of the sunsetting of the Office of Theology and Worship, we have some substantive concerns. The staff who work primarily in worship have been retained, although specific organizational structures of the national offices are changing. Denominational staff have assured us that there will be a “place” for the theology work, but where that will be lodged is uncertain. Uncertainty is to be expected at this juncture, but we do want to raise some vital issues.
Denominational staff have assured us that there will be a “place” for the theology work, but where that will be lodged is uncertain.
We are pleased that leadership recognizes the importance of theology and worship. However, we are concerned that by separating the two and speaking of “worship work” and “theology work,” they have missed what made the Office of Theology and Worship so important for 40 years. The genius of pairing theology and worship was the conviction that how we pray shapes what we believe and what we think shapes how we pray. The long and deep influence of the Office of Theology and Worship on the PC(USA) was grounded in working out of the interplay of worship, theology and ethics. For instance,
- The “Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ” (2002) statement made its doctrinal case using the language and rhythms of liturgy.
- “Transforming Families,” a paper from the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy in 2005, was made effective after the theological section was re-written using baptism as the framework.
- Call to Worship, a journal of worship and the arts, regularly features theological reflection.
- Invitation to Christ: A Guide to Sacramental Practices (2006) emerged as a substantive response to overtures requesting a change to the Book of Order to permit non-baptized people to receive communion. Rather than responding with a narrow polity decision, the Office of Theology and Worship oversaw a multi-year study involving people from across the church, reflecting on sacramental history, theology and practice, eventually producing a call for sacramental renewal in the church, together with this substantive resource.
- An entire generation of new pastors was formed through the Company of New Pastors, a program that featured theological reflection, community and daily prayer at its center.
All of this work reflected a unity, the Office of Theology and Worship, not the pairing of two separate things, an office of theology and an office of worship. The Reformed tradition has two particular weaknesses: a tendency toward theological abstraction and an overfocus on procedure and legalities. In addition, worship in the Reformed tradition can descend into an exercise in aesthetics or individual preferences. The integrated relationship of theology and worship was a hedge against all these weaknesses. Pulling the theological work away from the worship life of gathered communities and placing it, as seems inevitable, with the legal and polity side of our structures has the danger of seeing theology as an instrument in service of our polity, rather than a vivifying force within worshiping communities.
The integrated relationship of theology and worship was a hedge against the Reformed weaknesses of theological abstraction and an overfocus on legality.
While we do not hold out hope that the Office of Theology and Worship will be restored in the new structure, it is our deep hope that theology and worship, woven together, will continue to be a shaping influence on the life of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
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