Many Christians grow up reciting the Nicene Creed, Christianity’s central statement of belief. A passing thought about the history might assume that Christian theology was fully and immediately self-evident as a result of Jesus’ time on earth. Yet, Christianity didn’t have the New Testament and a fully articulated theology in writing within weeks, months, or even decades following Christ’s death and resurrection. By the early 300’s, the early church recognized that there was not full consensus of Christian belief. Therefore, church bishops met in 325 in the city of Nicea – in modern-day Turke ..read more

When I was ten years old, we were playing dodge ball at school on a December afternoon.  I woke up in the hospital the next morning with a concussion and hairline skull fracture. A month later, after physically recovering, I cued up to play dodge ball again.  A classmate who was cued up next to me said, “Kim, you don’t have play.”  In other words, “We know what happened to you.  You don’t have to prove anything to us.”  No, actually, I did need to play.  I needed to not end up afraid of a game that landed me in the hospital.  So, I played several times until ..read more

We occasionally meet someone who has clearly become the person they were meant to be. I know such a person right now – aspiring to be like them helps push me forward in living my faith, to put faith concepts into practice. Truly being a person of faith isn’t merely about sitting in a pew on Sundays. Certainly, sitting in a pew is part of “showing up.” The pews are part of where we learn – a gateway into faith, so to speak. Whether we are truly living our faith is about whether we engage when attending church combined with what we do outside of church. This was articulated well by Bishop Frank ..read more

The purpose of being a person of faith is ultimately about “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). Christ was asked, “Which of the commandments is greatest?” He responded, ““Love God and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:34-40). So, how do we live our lives as our faith calls us to? Several steps – if applied – move us forward in love (kudos for these steps you already put into practice!): Love God. God is love. We spend time with the people we love; thus, loving God requires spending time with God in prayer (note: prayer isn’t just a one-way conversation of us ..read more

You can be part of an active community in your faith journey! Spiritual exploration and growing in faith are personal and at the same time communal.   Any number of people and groups contribute to our faith development – parish communities, pastors, prayer groups, faith formation staff, faith circles, community service groups….. Within that context, some individuals emerge who provide spiritual accompaniment: accompanists, faith mentors, spiritual directors, soul friends, and the like.  A Parish Catechist is starting online faith sharing groups in in mid-July for group-based fai ..read more

Growing up in faith doesn’t end when we graduate from high school. Really, adult faith is really builds upon a foundation at that point! Just as we expect to grow in career development and mental maturity throughout adulthood, growing in faith doesn’t stop at age eighteen. Research (and life experience!) shows that we can continue to grow and mature in faith throughout our lives. The theologian/academic/sociologist James Fowler describes in his book Stages of Faith that there are six developmental stages we can mature into in faith – three of which typically happen after high school and only h ..read more

The back cover of this book describes The Orthodox Way as follows: “This book is a general account of the doctrine, worship and life of Orthodox Christians by the author of the now classic THE ORTHODOX CHURCH. It raises the basic issues of theology…. helps to fill the need for a modern Orthodox catechism… Throughout the book, Father Ware shows the meaning of Orthodox doctrine for the life of the individual Christian.” For readers who have anything of a contemplative bent or an interest in mysticism, I find the book to be an important read for growing one’s faith (the Orthodox church has a ver ..read more

“The Greek Fathers liken man’s encounter with God to the experience of someone walking over the mountains in the mist: he takes a step forward and suddenly finds that he is on the edge of a precipice, with no sold ground beneath his foot but only a bottomless abyss.” The Orthodox Way (Revised Edition, page 13), Bishop Kallistos Ware The passage above is my favorite quote from the Orthodox tradition. Beginning in October, 2016, I was gifted with an extended period of contemplative prayer (more of that story is told here). I didn’t have words at the time to describe what I was experiencing. Not ..read more

As we seek to grow in faith, we need each other. This idea that we need each other in faith is observed and communicated time and again: “No man is an island.” “We are all radically incomplete. And we need each other.” Timothy Radcliffe at the October, 2023 Synod in Rome. A person of faith who I admire wrote: “we all need to have encouragement and some checks & balances from other seekers in regard to our experiences, otherwise we can fall into despair, or begin to believe that our own experience is the fullest measure of truth, which is dangerous.” Etc. We learn in faith from faith lea ..read more

Daily prayer is a critical component of a faith-filled life. There’s a saying: “There can be no faith without prayer” (source uncertain). Within a theistic vision of faith, a life of faith must involve a relationship with the divine. Our relationships with the people in our lives are defined by relationship: social interactions. This also applies in our faith life – there can be no spiritual life without a relationship with God. Thus, a relationship with God through prayer. Relationships are two-way. I like the analogy of comparing prayer to a phone call (it might be Fr. Mike Schmitz, “Bible ..read more