Can Liturgy Be Empirically Tested?
What happens in our bodies and in our brains when we join together in a communal liturgy, where people sing or dance or celebrate together?
The Reverend Doctor Ruth E. Shaver completed 10 years as the Pastor and Teacher of The United Church of Schellsburg United Church of Christ in Schellsburg, Pennsylvania in August 2016. Prior to her tenure there, she was first Director of Christian Education and Youth Ministry and then ordained to the Christian Ministry as Minister of Christian Education and Family Life at Second Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Rev. Dr. Shaver is completing seven years on faculty as the Instructor in Biblical Studies at the Penn West Academy for Ministry, and is a facilitator and Advisory Board member for the PATHWAYS licensed ministry program of the Southeast Conference. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the Regional Theological Education Consortium of the United Church of Christ. At the graduate school level, Rev. Dr. Shaver served as the Teaching Assistant for Roots of Wisdom I: Exploring Philosophical Thinking at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Fall 2016. She earned her Doctor of Ministry degree in 2016 from Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a dissertation project titled, “I Wonder: Scientific Exploration and Experimentation as a Practice of Christian Faith.” She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Soviet and East European Studies from the College of Liberal Arts (now College of Arts and Sciences) and a Master of Divinity degree from the School of Theology at Boston University. During her break from settled ministry, she worked as a substitute teacher in public school systems completed a book manuscript based on her dissertation. She hopes to have both the book and the curriculum from her dissertation available soon for use in local churches. She is in the search and call process for intentional interim/designated term pastor roles in the United Church of Christ. She resides in Attleboro, Massachusetts.
What happens in our bodies and in our brains when we join together in a communal liturgy, where people sing or dance or celebrate together?
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