The Office of Theology and Worship
By Rev. Karen Russell
The law of unintended consequences seems absolute. The recent unification of the Office of General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency has, like most things, both positive and negative consequences. One of the losses in the unification process is the Office of Theology and Worship (TAW).
I am alumni of that office, having spent more than 8 years working with Lilly-funded programs, as well as being involved in other work of that office. The impact of TAW on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over the last four decades is hard to define – not because it is difficult to see it but because there are so many ways in which the office left a mark on the ways we do church as Presbyterians.
The Book of Common Worship (both versions), the Glory to God hymnbook, revision of the Directory for Worship, the publication of various white papers and studies, the Pastor-Theologian program, Call to Worship, Re-Forming Ministry, Company of Pastors, Order of Elders, Company of New Pastors – and the list goes on.
During preliminary studies prior to one of the revisions of the PC(USA) website, analytics of the website showed that the most visited pages on the site were created and administered by TAW. The top page was the Lectionary page, both daily and weekly. For years the TAW-produced Company of Pastors Daily Planner provided not only the daily lectionary readings but also offered a 8 week psalm reading cycle, and a two year cycle of the Confessional readings. When that publication ceased, the Daily Prayer app was created, giving access the service for Daily Prayer and the readings for the day in the palm of your hand.
TAW was unique in that it not only believed but operated from the starting point that worship and theology are linked – and worked through various programs and work to be evangelists for the notion that they SHOULD be linked. For the first time in its history (since reunion) the work of theology will be dispersed throughout programming, and the work of supporting worship will be separate from theological reflection.
The programs of TAW and their effect is difficult to measure. Re-Forming Ministry helped begin difficult conversations at a difficult time in our history. The Pastor Theologian program created a belief that pastors are theologians, and created an expectation that pastors would embrace that role. Company of New Pastors helped form a generation’s worth of new pastors, believing that if a pastor tended to their own faith, they would be better pastors, and better pastors make better congregations.
If your church uses the wonderful Glory to God hymnal, you are seeing the thumbprint of TAW. If you need a specialized liturgy and seek out the Book of Common Worship, TAW provided the staff for that effort. The revising and streamlining the Director of Worship was also staffed by TAW. The role of TAW in making sure that theological reflection was part of those publications cannot be understated. The increased number of pages in Glory to God is a direct reflection of the influence of the office on that effort.
It’s hard to say what the long term effect will be of losing this valuable resource in people and experience. Those of us who worked in TAW still value that experience – in fact some of us met on zoom and reflected on the work in which we were involved, and to affirm the value of that work. That work remains – and remains valuable.
The best legacy of TAW would be for every pastoral leader to surround their leadership with theological reflection; that every worship committee would work to make the elements of a service underpin the proclamation of the Word; that daily prayer would be part of every Christian’s life.
The peace of Christ be with you.