Views from the Pews: Something to think about

Among the joys of belonging to a thoughtful worshipping community are the weekly opportunities to learn more about our faith – mainly from the clergy, of course, but also from each other. Lots of people sitting in the pews week after week ponder the offerings put before us in the readings and the liturgy, and often have thoughts about them worth sharing. They come from all sorts of backgrounds, in law, medicine, science, music, arts, sociology, history – and, of course, many of them also read widely in theology. Given the opportunity, some are willing to share their ideas with the congregation.

To encourage that, we have begun offering a series of five-minute theological think-pieces, as regular contributions to the weekly pew sheets. The series started with a group of discussion ideas on the theology of creation from a scientist. Later items came from parishioners sharing other view points from their different experiences of life and faith as lawyers, linguists, administrators, soldiers and mothers.

In this endeavour we are following in the footsteps of the tangata whenua of the Waikato, who for centuries assembled on this hill to learn about and share the wisdom of their ancestors. Since then, people of other cultures have travelled to Aotearoa willing to share memories of the learning opportunities of other sacred places, ranging from the community assemblies of island peoples to the medieval cathedrals of Europe. The more we understand of each other’s experiences of faith in the real world, the more we can work together as members of the household of God.

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  Kim King