Theology is the study and understanding of God, so when I talk about different theologies, I am talking about how I understand God at work within each topic. These beliefs are dynamic and ever-changing as I grow in my faith, but at this time form the basis of my beliefs about who God is and how God is at work in the world.
Hospitality
As followers of Jesus, I believe that we are to demonstrate the same type of hospitality that he demonstrated. This does not necessarily mean moving mountains. Instead, we show hospitality in every facet of our lives. Hospitality is demonstrated in how we treat others. Do we seek to be welcoming to everyone?
To me hospitality means taking time to have a conversation with the person checking me out at the grocery store. It means opening myself to be “inconvenienced” so that I might hear anothers’ story. It means taking the time to see each person as a beloved child of God and to let them know that they have value. It means putting work aside for a few minutes to interact with children playing outside, or going to the local football, soccer, hockey, or basketball game to support your community. Hospitality is not something that we are supposed to do some of the time, but it is something that we do all of the time. It is the way we welcome guests into our community, the way we engage with our fellow-parishioners and listen to them. Hospitality holds at it’s core a listening ear and compassionate countenance. When done well, it provides other people a way to see what God’s love is like. Sometimes we are the only Jesus another person will ever see.
Church Traditions
Who doesn’t love traditions? Traditions help to shape our identities. They help us to understand who we are in the world around us. There are many traditions that I love – like the tradition of eating certain foods during the holiday seasons, or going to fireworks on the fourth of July. Traditions in the church can help to ground the community, but they can also be isolating to some of our members. Therefore, when it comes to traditions within the church, I believe it is important to examine the “why” behind the tradition. If we do things simply because “it’s the way it’s always been done,” I think that the tradition needs to be reexamined. Traditions can at times become an object of worship and thus become an idol. In the churches where I work, I do not wish to abolish tradition, but rather continually examine and interpret the traditions so that they remain as the help that they are designed to be in helping us understand ourselves in the world around us while keeping them from becoming an object of our worship.
Sacraments
Baptism: One of the things that I love about the Presbyterian Church is how we welcome children into our communities of faith at an age before they have faith language. Infantile baptism is beautiful in how it seeks to include the youngest among us into the community. It is the church’s promise to help the child learn to know Jesus as he or she grows. Steeped in love, baptism crosses family lines and ingrafts all believers into one family. Every time we baptize an infant, we are called to recall our own baptism and how before we had the ability to choose Jesus, Jesus chose us and welcomed us into his family.
The Lord’s Supper: I believe that the Lord’s table is meant to be open to everyone and should not be a place of division. In Communion, we encounter the risen Christ in the symbols of bread and cup. Anyone who is seeking after Christ is welcome at the table and for those younger members of the congregation, I would welcome the opportunity to have them come forward as the words of institution are spoken to teach them what it is we are proclaiming while partaking in the sacrament. The divine mystery of Jesus’ presence in bread and cup is a gift given for all.
Children in Worship
It is extremely important to me to include children in worship. They are members of the faith community and I believe that to continually send them from the sanctuary during worship is to communicate to them that they are not important members of the community. Jesus said, “let the little children come unto me,” and so do I. I believe that children who are welcomed into worship form a more lasting and deep faith because they see the corporate faith of the body. It is also important to offer age appropriate education in order to teach our children about our faith.
These need not be mutually exclusive. I believe that there are ways to welcome children into the worship life of the congregation as well as to offer christian education programs for them. Above all, I believe it is paramount to communicate to our children and youth that they are valued members of the church community. Worship is not just for adults. I seek to creatively and collaboratively incorporate children into the worship life of the church. We all have much to learn from the faith of our children.
Love God, Love People
Being a follower of Christ means caring about the things that Jesus cared about. He sums up the entire law and the prophets in two simple commands – all of scripture hangs on these two commands: Love God, Love people. Notice I didn’t say “love God, love people who are just like me.” Jesus calls us to love all people – the widow, the orphan, the mentally ill, the addict, the rich, the poor, the young, and the old. The list could go on. I read all of scripture through this lens of the command to love.
Because of this, I am also a believer in the church being a community that is open and affirming of all people including those from the LGBTQI+ community. As a queer woman, a pastor and a spouse to an amazing woman, I do not believe that God condemns me. Mine is a God of love and compassion who gives us the gift of love that it may be shared. God loves all of us and wants us to share in God’s love. I have learned more about the love of God from my spouse than perhaps any other person.
Inclusive Language: I choose to use inclusive language for God and you will rarely hear me use a pronoun for God. Rather, I prefer to use God’s name. This is because I am trying to be caring of those for whom a pronoun for God makes God unapproachable. Many people have experienced traumas and often times utilizing a personal pronoun for God, such as “he” or “she” can be problematic to them hearing from God. Being sensitive to this, I choose to call God, God.
When we Love God and Love people, more people are brought into community with God, so I seek to love with my whole heart that they may know something of God’s love for them.
Questions of Faith
I welcome questions about faith and theology. We grow in our faith by asking questions. I continually ask questions and so I welcome the opportunity to explore questions with my parishioners. I will not always have answers, but often times, I find we are afraid to ask questions because we’re afraid to not know something. I want to give my parishioners permission to question. As we work through questions together, God will speak and we will all benefit.
Rev. Amy Ruhf-Brien 