Richard A. Ray
Richard A. Ray (d. 2024) was chairman of the board of the Presbyterian Heritage Center in Montreat, North Carolina. He held a PhD from the University of St Andrews and wrote on theology, patristics, and parish ministry.
Six essays from six issues, 2018 to 2023
2023
One essay
Encouragement for the JourneySummer 2023
Parish ministry is one of the most demanding journeys a person can take. Ray writes to encourage those discerning the call, and the older ministers who…
2022
One essay
An Invitation to CombatSpring 2022
Ray opens with a Boy Scout sea voyage to Austria as a fifteen-year-old, the moment a curious kid first met big questions. The address builds from…
2021
One essay
Theological Mystery of WordsWinter 2021
Ray opens with himself as a fifteen-year-old on a weather-beaten ship bound for Austria, the journey on which he first noticed how much words could carry.…
2020
One essay
The Feast of Many MemoriesFall 2020
Church-leadership conferences offer endless cures for stagnant congregations: webinars, restructuring, mergers, branding consultants. Ray draws on John Leith and a long memory to question whether any…
2019
One essay
John Calvin on Theatrical Trifles in WorshipSummer 2019
Late medieval worship was overrun with what Calvin called theatrical trifles. Ray follows Calvin's polemic into its sources and stakes, and asks what 'theatrical' looks like…
2018
One essay
When Theology BurnsWinter 2018
Ray picks up Julian of Norwich's Showings, reads it again, and finds soteriology buried in the oddities of her sentences. The piece is about what happens…