Worship & Liturgy

What happens when the Christian community gathers in faithful response to Christ's command at the Last Supper, Do this in remembrance of me? Study of the biblical and early Christian notion of remembrance, the Greek word anamnesis, shows that the Church's ritual action of remembering our salvation in Christ not only inspires but demands action in the world. The problem remains, however, whether and how we are ale to practice such remembering in our society today. This book explores the political theology of Johann Baptist Metz to discover injustice and the challenge and hope it poses to those who join in solidarity with the oppressed, and the work of liturgical theologian Alexander Schmemann, to elaborate on how, in its unique keeping of time, the liturgy reveals the kingdom of God and empowers believers thus to witness to it. The meeting of these two compelling theologies results in a rich eschatology: life shaped by the Vision of a future that fulfills the promises of the past.

Morrill also marshals the work of many scholars concerning the concept of anamnesis which has proven crucial to the progress of ecumenical dialogues on Church order and the Eucharist. The effort is to understand how the Church's liturgical commemoration of God's salvific deeds in history, especially in Jesus, allows for neither a timeless form of religious piety nor a ritualism detached from the commerce of life in the world. A concluding investigation of the relationship between anamnesis and eschatology leads to further considerations about the dialectical character of the praxis of faith. Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory, while written in the field of systematic theology, offers a fresh perspective and framing of the issues for readers of Christian ethics and moral theology.

Chapters are The Promise and Challenges in the Renewal of the Eucharistic Liturgy, Johann Baptist Metz's Political Theology of the Subject, Alexander Schmemann's Liturgical Theology: Joyous, Thankful Remembrance of the Kingdom of God, Christian Memory: Anamnesis of Christ Jesus, and Conclusion.

Bruce T. Morrill, SJ, holds the Edward A. Maloy Chair of Catholic Studies in the divinity school at Vanderbilt University where he is also Professor of Theological Studies. In addition to numerous journal articles, book chapters, and reviews, he has published several books, most recently Encountering Christ in the Eucharist: The Paschal Mystery in People, Word, and Sacrament (Paulist Press, 2012). His most recent book with liturgical Press is Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death Pueblo/Liturgical Press, 2009).

Worldwide debates over issues of sexuality and gender have come to a head in recent years in mainline and evangelical churches, with the Anglican Communion--a worldwide network of churches that trace their practice to Canterbury and claim some 85 million members--among the most publicly visible sites of contestation. This thorough and compelling analysis of the conflicts within the Communion argues that they are symptoms of long-simmering issues that must be addressed when Anglican bishops and archbishops meet at the 2020 Lambeth Conference.

To many, the disagreements over such issues as LGBTQ clergy, same-sex marriage, and women's ordination suggest an insurmountable crisis facing Anglicans, one that may ultimately end the Communion. Christopher Craig Brittain and Andrew McKinnon argue otherwise. Drawing on extensive empirical research and interviews with influential Anglican leaders, they show how these struggles stem from a complex interplay of factors, notably the forces and effects of globalization, new communications technology, and previous decisions made by the Communion. In clarifying both the theological arguments and social forces at play as the bishops and primates of the Anglican Communion prepare to set the Church's course for the next decade, Brittain and McKinnon combine sociological and theological methodologies to provide both a nuanced portrait of Anglicanism in a transnational age and a primer on the issues with which the Lambeth Conference will wrestle.

Insightful, informative, and thought-provoking, The Anglican Communion at a Crossroads is an invaluable resource for understanding the debates taking place in this worldwide community. Those interested in Anglicanism, sexuality and the Christian tradition, the sociology of religion, and the evolving relationship between World Christianity and churches in the Global North will find it indispensable.

It considers many aspects of worship including: Why do we worship? Who is worship for? Patterns and shapes in worship, types of prayer, singing, preaching, The Lord's Supper, details of leading, the spirituality of leading worship, connections to the whole of life, Worship as encounter, Worship as pastoral care, Worship as evangelism, and Worship as celebration. A directory of resources and online worship is also provided.

Why do some music styles gain mass popularity while others thrive in small niches? Banding Together explores this question and reveals the attributes that together explain the growth of twentieth-century American popular music. Drawing on a vast array of examples from sixty musical styles--ranging from rap and bluegrass to death metal and South Texas polka, and including several created outside the United States--Jennifer Lena uncovers the shared grammar that allows us to understand the cultural language and evolution of popular music.

What are the common economic, organizational, ideological, and aesthetic traits among contemporary genres? Do genres follow patterns in their development? Lena discovers four dominant forms--Avant-garde, Scene-based, Industry-based, and Traditionalist--and two dominant trajectories that describe how American pop music genres develop. Outside the United States there exists a fifth form: the Government-purposed genre, which she examines in the music of China, Serbia, Nigeria, and Chile. Offering a rare analysis of how music communities operate, she looks at the shared obstacles and opportunities creative people face and reveals the ways in which people collaborate around ideas, artworks, individuals, and organizations that support their work.

Liturgy lures us through our senses, grounds us in a great tradition, and plants us in the midst of a diverse community, present and past.

Are you attracted to liturgy but don't know why? Are you considering changing to liturgical tradition? Are you already immersed in liturgical worship but want to grasp its deeper significance? Beyond Smells and Bells addresses the lure and relevance of liturgy for your life today.

Thousands of Christians become interest in liturgy each year for the first time, as they turn to orthodoxy, tradition, and the lasting rituals of the Christian faith. In a culture that values spontaneity, liturgy grounds us in something enduring. In a culture that assumes truth is a product of the mind, liturgy helps us experience truth in mind, body, and spirit. In Mark Galli's able telling, liturgy is an intruguing story, full of mystery, that transforms us.

"Mark Galli's book almost pursuides me to become high church! This warm and personal overview commits me to work for a renewal of historic liturgical practice in the so-called low churches."

-Scot McKnight Ph.D., author of The Jesus Creed

"In this warm and engaging book, Mark Galli makes a compelling case for the relevance of Christian liturgy in our postmodern, individualistic age. Through lucid examples and moving personal testimony, Gallie explains the countercultural appeal of liturgical worship that spans the denominational spectrum."

-Colleen Carroll Campbell, former White House speechwriter and author of The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of Francis of Assisi and His World, and Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God. He is married and has been worshiping in the Anglican tradition for nearly 20 years, most recently as a member of Church of the Resurrection in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

One of the hallmarks of modern society has been a heightened awareness of human bodiliness in all aspects of life- sexual, economic, legal, religious, and so on. Academia has also experienced a heightened awareness of the body. Along with the academy and wider society, Christian theology and pastoral practice have sought to take human bodiliness more prominently into account. However, the ambiguous "career" the body has had in Christian history and tradition, as well as the serious criticisms leveled by secular society at the Church's teachings and practices concerning the body, has made this a challenging task.

Bodies of Worship takes on that challenge. First, it systematically explores the various bodies engaged in the Church's worship-ecclesial, ritual, personal, and cultural. It examines each in light of how such humanly sanctifying work continues Christ's mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. The five chapters of Part One are purposefully arranged so they unfold the multivalancy of bodies at worship, thus displaying a certain theological coherence. Then the four chapters in Part Two describe and analyze specific liturgical, physical, and spiritual practices. These chapters offer further insights into the irreducibly bodily nature of the celebration of the Christian life as worship of God.

The entire work is introduced by means of a narrative that describes an actual liturgy which took place just a few years ago. A brief conclusion reflects back across the landscape of the chapters to the narrative and symbolic basis for liturgical theology insofar as it is, at origin and end, practical and pastoral.

Chapters and authors in Part One are the introduction "Initial Considerations: Theory and Practice of the Body in Liturgy Today," by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ; "The Many Bodies of Worship: Locating the Spirit's Work," by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ; "Body and Mystical Body: The Church as Communion," by Bernard J. Cooke; "The Liturgical Body: Symbol and Ritual," by Margaret Mary Kelleher, OSU; "Spirituality and the Body," by Colleen M. Griffith; and "The Cultural Bodies of Worship," by James L. Empereur, SJ.

Chapters and authors in Part Two are "Christian Marriage: Sacramentality and Ritual Forms," by Paul Covino; "Walking the Labyrinth: Recovering a Sacred Tradition," by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ, with Leo Keegan; "The Physicality of Worship," by James L. Empereur, SJ; "Liturgical Music: Bodies Proclaiming and Responding to the Word of God," by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ, with Andrea Goodrich; and the onclusion "Nonsystematic Reflections on the Practical Character of Liturgy and Theology," by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ.

Bruce T. Morrill, SJ, holds the Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies in the divinity school at Vanderbilt University where he is also Professor of Theological Studies. In addition to numerous journal articles, book chapters, and reviews, he has published several books, most recently Encountering Christ in the Eucharist: The Paschal Mystery in People, Word, and Sacrament (Paulist Press, 2012). His most recent book with liturgical Press is Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death Pueblo/Liturgical Press, 2009).

Written by theologians and liturgical scholars from a wide range of churches and countries, these chapters explore the history of Reformed worship on every continent from the sixteenth century to the present. Surveying the most significant developments in the growth of Reformed worship, the book identifies the major "ingredients" that make the Reformed worship tradition distinctive and highlights those aspects of Reformed worship that are particularly relevant to present efforts at renewal. Indeed, an important component of this book is the inclusion of "A Common Reflection on Christian Worship in Reformed Churches Today," the result of a major consultation in January 2001 at the International Reformed Center John Knox.

Revealing the rich variety of forms and diversity of perspectives that have made and do make up Reformed worship worldwide, this volume will be a valuable resource for church and worship leaders both in and outside the Reformed family.

Contributors:
Hor ace T. Allen Jr.
Emily R. Brink
Livingstone Buama
Coenraad Burger
Bruno Bürki
Gerson Correia de Lacerda
Alan D. Falconer,
Kasonga wa Kasonga
Baranite T. Kirata
Elsie Anne McKee
Seong-Won Park
Ester Pudjo Widiasih
Alan P. F. Sell
Joseph D. Small
Bryan D. Spinks
Leonora Tubbs Tisdale
Lukas Vischer
Isaiah Wahome Muita
Geraldine Wheeler
Marsha M. Wilfong
John D. Witvliet