Scripture, Theology, and Liturgy for the Renewal of the Church: Pastoral Perspectives

If the Church is facing a multifaceted and complex challenge in theology, hermeneutics, and liturgy, what does this challenge look like on the ground in the context of actual and continuing Church ministry? 

Not long ago Greystone Conversations hosted a series of conversations with Drs Mark Garcia, Garry Williams, and Robert Letham about the concerning state of theology and of distinctly Christian practices for reading and interpreting Holy Scripture in churches across the UK. In those conversations, we explored the various causes for what we agreed is an urgent state of affairs threatening the very integrity of Christian orthodoxy in our day and for generations to come, as well as prospects and practices for the renewal of a properly Christian ministry of Word and sacrament. This renewal must include the recovery of theology for ministers in training but also in practice, of a canonical spiritual reading and use of Holy Scripture, and of a self-conscious focus on the liturgical rhythms, practices, and aspects of Church life as they invariably form God's people as his own. In all three respects—theological, hermeneutical, and liturgical—this amounts to a call to courage: the embrace of being perceived as strange and odd. The result of such courage is the cultivation of a Church community which is nothing less than an act of resistance and the joyous proclamation of an alternative to the ways of the world in our day.

In those earlier conversations, we enjoyed the input and reflections of expert scholars in theology and Christian history who have had extensive experience in the service of Church congregations. Today, the conversation continues a bit further, as Dr. Mark Garcia sits down with three ministers who are actively serving the Church in this context: Philip Haines in Cardiff, Andrew Young at Oxford, and Steve Hayhow in London. Cardiff, Oxford, and London are three gleaming gyms on a belt of Greystone's UK presence as we work in all three of these key cities to advance confessional Reformed catholicity in the faith and life of UK churches and institutions.