St Peter’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh
Weaving Science into the Fabric of Congregational Life
Summary
‘Science and religion’ is a growth business. Hardly a week goes by without a new book or public lecture. Nevertheless, much of this activity smacks of ‘special interest’, and hardly touches the life of congregations. Thus, the wealth of scientific knowledge makes little impact on the way Christians worship and educate. Congregations are denied opportunities for worshipful wonder, and are ill prepared for discipleship in a scientific and technological world. Such withdrawal of the church from science, which is not true of the visual arts, music, and literature, is not made good by the occasional talk on ‘science and religion’.
Our aim is therefore to re-integrate science into the life and work of our congregation, so that ‘science and faith’ is not a ‘special interest’ for the few, but an on-going part of faith and discipleship for the many. We will do so by developing liturgical material for public worship, spiritual readings for private devotion and as ministerial aids, and Sunday School lessons to communicate to children that science faith can be allies. We will trial this material in our church and with partners elsewhere, and aim to make the material available more widely at the conclusion of the project.
Key Question
- How can we reintegrate science into the daily life and work of congregations so that ‘science and faith’ is not any more a ‘special interest’ for the few, but a vital, on-going element of faith and discipleship for the many?
Events
- Harvest festival 2014 – celebrating God blessing the work of our hands, especially the work of scientists, doctors and technologists in the congregation