Being about theology and thinking about life in the church
has a lot of appeal for me.
To me, theology is having a dialogue between
what you are experiencing or doing
and how that relates to who God is and what God is about.
I've done a lot of reading over the years
in many different theological understandings.
Certainly feminist theology was rich and
enhanced the liberation theology I worked with through FLOC.
I do some of my best theology in conversation
rather than preaching or writing.
It is through interaction with other people
that my theological understandings and insights are evoked.
Other activities have also called forth my theological
engagement:
participating in the School of Christian Living,
creating prayers for our worship,
working together in the mission group,
naming what is going on as we develop our community
and placing that in the context of faith.
These have a feminine quality about them for me in
contrast to seeing the context of theological work
as primarily preaching or rational theological study
which may be more of a male style.
Some of the best theological reflections can happen
out of a particular kind of task or focus.
In Celebration Circle, for example,
to create the liturgy,
we all bring in reflection paragraphs on the theme
based on the types of theology that have meaning for us at the time.
Grappling together with the question,
"What is the Gospel message we are trying to convey in its broadest
sense?"
brings forward insights that are very rich.
We all have different angles on how God is present.
Placing these in dialogue
with ourselves, the world around us, and the community,
and allowing them to inform us,
but challenging them as well,
helps us not to be bound by any one system.
It is crucial to explore how the love of God
as expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus
connects to us and our times.
To do that together is the essence of Christian community.