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Note #8389 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Reformed roots
GA04095
July 1, 2004

Reformed roots

Spirituality should reflect rich theological heritage, professor says

by Evan Silverstein

RICHMOND, July 1 - A staff member of the San Francisco Theological Seminary
(SFTS) spoke Wednesday night about the need for Presbyterians to see that
their spiritual practices and disciplines are rooted in the Reformed
theological tradition.

That was the message the Rev. Elizabeth Nordquist shared during the annual
General Assembly dinner sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Office
of Spiritual Formation.

Nordquist, now director of student services and an associate professor of
spirituality at SFTS, served as a pastor at several parishes in the
Presbytery of the Pacific from 1983 to 1997. She also talked of a need for
contemporary Christians to find new ways of expressing their spirituality.

"I'm going to offer you some thoughts about deepening our roots and spreading
our branches of spirituality for Presbyterians," she said.

The Office of Spiritual Formation helps Presbyterians develop lives of
spiritual discipline that "shape us into the image of Christ for lives of
service in God's church," said Kris Haig, the denomination's associate for
spiritual formation.

Nordquist said it saddens her that believers in the Reformed tradition, who
have a profound, Biblical, theological heritage of confessions and systems of
beliefs "have done an inadequate job in communicating and connecting two
wrestling hearts: Our own, and the people whom God calls us to love and
serve."

She said Presbyterians continue confirming and acting on the conviction that
theology matters, but where "we have often been less effective, in my view,
for many people in the pew and for many of us who fill the pulpits is in
creating connections between heart and minds; between our theology and
practice."

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