We have lots of little, memorable sayings that help us remember a fact, truth, or idea that might come in handy from time to time. You can probably remember a few more off the top of your head. Humans have been memorizing important sayings and ideas since the beginning of recorded history. These sayings serve all kinds of purposes: farming, construction, social interactions.
One of the things we did at a previous church was recite creeds (mainly Apostles') during moments of "high church" ceremony. Times like baptisms, welcoming members into the church, certain important dates, etc. I sometimes miss that sense of corporate unity during those recitations. They are certainly great reminders of the unity of belief on the first importance items of the faith. Even as we look at Paul's letters to the various early churches, there are usually sections of those letters that read very much like creeds (e.g. Christ's preeminence in Colossians).
Read a book recently called “Habits of the Household” by Justin Whitmel Earley. He recommends using/creating family creeds for little children during significant moments of the day, like bedtime, as a way to transition, bring order, and add security.
That sounds very interesting! We confess the Apostles' Creed with the kids on a regular basis. They actually say it at our home school community once a week, so we started doing it daily as well.
Having grown up in an anti-creedal church, I've definitely come around to seeing their usefulness.
You do a great job of summarizing high theological concepts into approachable ideas for the average churchgoer! Hoping that you're enjoying this semester's round of seminary classes.
I've actually decided not to continue with my seminary classes right now. As much as I enjoyed them last semester, with us looking to do a lot of traveling this year, I realized I'll be missing a lot if I'm taking classes the whole time! Also, my church is looking into offering some classes that I'd be able to teach, but first a few of us teachers are going to take the classes. They're not on the grad level, though, so I don't expect it to be nearly the time commitment.
One of the things we did at a previous church was recite creeds (mainly Apostles') during moments of "high church" ceremony. Times like baptisms, welcoming members into the church, certain important dates, etc. I sometimes miss that sense of corporate unity during those recitations. They are certainly great reminders of the unity of belief on the first importance items of the faith. Even as we look at Paul's letters to the various early churches, there are usually sections of those letters that read very much like creeds (e.g. Christ's preeminence in Colossians).
Looking forward to more on the specific creeds.
Read a book recently called “Habits of the Household” by Justin Whitmel Earley. He recommends using/creating family creeds for little children during significant moments of the day, like bedtime, as a way to transition, bring order, and add security.
It made me think about creeds differently.
That sounds very interesting! We confess the Apostles' Creed with the kids on a regular basis. They actually say it at our home school community once a week, so we started doing it daily as well.
Having grown up in an anti-creedal church, I've definitely come around to seeing their usefulness.
You do a great job of summarizing high theological concepts into approachable ideas for the average churchgoer! Hoping that you're enjoying this semester's round of seminary classes.
Thanks!
I've actually decided not to continue with my seminary classes right now. As much as I enjoyed them last semester, with us looking to do a lot of traveling this year, I realized I'll be missing a lot if I'm taking classes the whole time! Also, my church is looking into offering some classes that I'd be able to teach, but first a few of us teachers are going to take the classes. They're not on the grad level, though, so I don't expect it to be nearly the time commitment.
I hope to resume in a year or two, though.