McCormick Theological Seminary : 2000 Seminar

So Where Was the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving?
Or
Beyond Being Nice: The Hard Stuff
of Ecumenical Theological Education

Tuesday, around noon, a small conference room. Members of the teaching team for Pilgrimage in Faithfulness (PIF) arrive with bag lunches, a plate of food from the cafeteria, or a soda. The eight members of the faculty represent all four teaching fields (Bible, theology and ethics, history, and ministry). This year there are three women and five men; two African-Americans and six Euro-Americans; six Presbyterians (five of whom are ordained ministers), a Pentecostal minister, and a candidate for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. There are two "educational assistants," senior women students (one African-American and one Chinese-American).

PIF is required of all entering masters-level students. Built around the concepts of the consensus document Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (BEM) of the World Council of Churches, one of the goals of the course is "to find an initial point of integration around call, baptism, communion, and ministry which is open to growth and development." This unique teaching and learning experience is designed to introduce students to theological reflection on faith, to McCormick Seminary's multi-cultural and ecumenical learning context, and to issues of call to ministry and service.

Each class session lasts four hours and consists of four parts: a lecture presentation, worship (planned each week by a different discussion group), a meal, and small group discussion. Groups are selected attempting to provide balance by race, gender, and denomination. Students write four reflection papers based on presentations, readings, and the discussions of their group. Recently, the small groups have used a method called "mutual invitation" (see Eric Law, The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multi-cultural Community) so as to bring all participants into conversation, dialogue, and community. The entire process builds on Paulo Friere's model of education in which dialogue and reflection are at the heart of a transformational model of education.

In PIF, ordained ministers from African-American Pentecostal and Baptist congregations meet second career Presbyterian women who have left various vocations to follow God's call to ministry. Young adults, who have spent a year or two after college in volunteer service around the world, struggle with the clarity of both faith and call. Two men in their early sixties, who have sold businesses and entered seminary, seem very clear about what God wants for their lives. This year, there are pastors from Ghana, Kenya, and Cuba, as well as students from Korea, some with one theological degree behind them. This diversity is part of the gift but also part of the challenge of theological education at McCormick. Faculty members believe (and say in the syllabus) that this mix of teachers and learners is as much a part of the curriculum as readings and lectures.

Once the teaching team has gathered and after a time of worship, the coordinator of the team turns the discussion to a review of the previous week: How did things go? What happened in small groups? Are there problems emerging? Mid-course corrections?

This week, the discussion turns to the worship time. The previous week, because the topic was Eucharist, the small group leading worship conducted a communion service that raised many anxious comments. One faculty member began: "So where was the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving? The leader went from homily-like comment to Words of Institution. It felt like eating a meal without the blessing. Besides, aren't we supposed to be modeling something about worship and how it should be done?"

"Well," said another, "the comments in my small group ranged from: ‘I never feel right receiving communion from anyone but my pastor' (from one of the Pentecostal students), to ‘Wow . . . isn't all this diversity great! If we did it that way in the Presbyterian Church, think how much faster it would be!' I know that we are supposed to be ‘inviting' everyone's response, but I feel as though I should be responding to these comments."

"This really cuts both ways," said the Pentecostal faculty member. "I'm not from the Reformed tradition and neither are about half of these students. Are we telling them that the only right way to worship is the Reformed way? Some students wonder whether, if they express their own faith commitments, they will be graded down when they disagree with the Reformed tradition."

As the energy around the conversation built, one of the women said, "There is another topic none of you has mentioned. The prayers last week, and in fact frequently, are directed almost exclusively to ‘the Father.' Our women students, especially those who have been around the Presbyterian Church a long time, expect us to be using inclusive language. We do have guidelines about this. Why don't we ever talk about them? Isn't this a serious theological issue?"

McCormick is one of ten theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Our Reformed identity is reflected in our mission statement, which states, in part: "McCormick seeks to . . . offer a program of study that builds on and contributes to the Reformed tradition and engages students in commitment to God and renewal of the global church." This commitment to being Reformed has, in principle and in practice, led McCormick to an equally strong commitment to being ecumenical in vision as well as in the daily realities of teaching. The mission statement also says: "McCormick seeks to . . . integrate cross-cultural and ecumenical learning into classrooms and communities."

There are many places in the life of our community where issues of theological and ecclesial identity arise, but nowhere more interesting and challenging than in the classroom.

How does McCormick, grounded in the Reformed tradition and intentionally ecumenical, live out this identity? Is one tradition normative and others alternative? Does the Reformed tradition function as one of many templates or as a standard against which to be judged? How can faculty balance being part of confessional tradition with being open to varieties of Christian expression and experience?

What does formation for ministry and leadership look like in such a setting? For adult learners, does studying in a school representing a faith tradition different from one's own represent an opportunity for growth and dialogue, or a barrier because of lack of affirmation? Does diversity in theological education represent for students an opportunity for growth in knowledge and experience with the ecumenical church, or a place of resistance to any truth "but my own?"

Do faculty have training, expertise and/or experience in leading small group dialogue where voices from many faith perspectives want to be heard? When do faculty have an opportunity to discuss and reflect on their own faith traditions—the traditions with which they are most comfortable theologically—as well as on faith traditions with which they are less comfortable theologically and biblically?

Parker Palmer has said that "to teach is to create a space in which the community of truth is practiced." But the question that lies at the heart of being both Reformed and ecumenical is whose truth is honored, practiced, and experienced?