Religion Commons^™

Making The Unseen Seen: Some Comments On The Use Of Drama For The Church, John Steven Paul

Soul Purpose Liturgical Dramas and Essays

No abstract provided.

The Work Of The People As Public Work: The Social Significance Of The Liturgy, William T. Cavanaugh

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) "I was once asked to address the topic of the 'social meaning of the liturgy.' The first thing I told my audience was 'If I tell you what the social meaning of the liturgy is, you have to promise me you won‟t stop going to church.' What I mean is that there is a problem with trying to distill the liturgy down to a 'meaning.' It is a problem that sometimes bedevils efforts to connect the liturgy to ethics or social justice."

Healing, Faith, And Liturgy: A Theological Reflection Upon The Church's Ministry Of Healing In The Context Of Worship, Christoffer H. Grundmann

Theology Faculty Presentations

(excerpt) "Healing has been present within the Christian assembly from its very beginnings. Jesus healed and ordered his disciples to do likewise (Mt. 10:1; Lk. 9:10; 10:9) explicitly charging them not to take money for it: 'Proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment: give without payment' (Mt. 10:7-8 NRSV). The Gospel according to Mark records that, when the disciples were sent to 'proclaim the good news to the whole creation,' they were also promised that their laying their 'hands on …

Healing, Faith, And Liturgy: A Theological Reflection Upon The Church's Ministry Of Healing In The Context Of Worship, Christoffer H. Grundmann

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) "Healing has been present within the Christian assembly from its very beginnings. Jesus healed and ordered his disciples to do likewise (Mt. 10:1; Lk. 9:10; 10:9) explicitly charging them not to take money for it: 'Proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment: give without payment' (Mt. 10:7-8 NRSV). The Gospel according to Mark records that, when the disciples were sent to 'proclaim the good news to the whole creation,' they were also promised that their laying their 'hands on …

Rituals Of Care: A Look At The Church's Ministry With The Sick, Lizette Larson-Miller

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) "I had an interesting experience last month writing an article on Christian healing for a journal of medicine. The parameters of the requested article were a bit vague, and as I prodded the editor with questions I realized just how much I was in un-chartered territory. The familiar concepts (or, more to the point) the familiar assumptions that are part of an insider conversation theologically and ecclesiologically were missing, and I found myself having to carefully spell out the focus of what I thought might be helpful to discuss in a journal read solely by health professionals. The experience …

The Priesthood Of All Believers And Other Pious Myths, Timothy J. Wengert

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

"Alice laughed 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one ca 'n 't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. "

Debt, Imperialism, Eunuchs, And Contemporary Christian Worship, John Bell

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

There are three ways to begin a lecture such as this. The first is to ask people to turn to each other and say why they came to this particular part of the program and what they expect to hear. This approach has the advantage of giving the speaker five to ten minutes less lecturing time. Much as I'm tempted, I think this tactic might leave you feeling shortchanged. The second approach is to say: "I don't quite understand the title I've been asked to address"and then waffle for twenty minutes on the semantics before ever dealing with the …

Media Art In Worship: The Potential For A New Liturgical Art, Its Pastoral And Theological Challenges, Eileen D. Crowley

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Greetings to you all, my colleagues in liturgy, my sisters and brothers in Christ! The black-and-white photography we encountered as part of our liturgy in the Chapel of the Resurrection yesterday and today represent art, meditation art that can stir our imaginations and refresh our souls. Professor Aimee Tomasek of Valparaiso University asked her students to create these for us based on their reading of yesterday's gospel and hymn of the day. Students' work is always refreshing. So, too, are all the water metaphors in which we have been steeped in our liturgies here during this institute.

Let The Servant Church Arise: Waters For The Thirsty, Supper For The Hungry, Rhoda Schuler

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The title of this address provides some clues about the perspective I bring to the question of the church's mission in the world Use of the term "servant church"-borrowed directly from the hymn ''The Church of Christ in Every Age"1-reveals my bias for language of servanthood to describe that mission. Such language has governed my own identity as a deaconess for nearly three decades. Aidan Kavanaugh argues that the ascetic, who is dedicated to ''the art of maintaining a life of 'right worship,'" serves as the exemplar for the baptized, pointing them toward the Christian's ultimate end: that is, …

Have We Come An This Way For Birth Or Death?1 Liturgical Music As Prophetic Ministry, Kathleen Harmon

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The prophet announces to the world what must die in order that the Kingdom of God be born. In its very doing liturgical music participates in this death-resurrection mystery which lies at the core of Christian identity and mission. How does liturgical music participate in the prophetic mission of the church? How can we in our ministry of music making be faithful to this mission?

Jesus' Welcome Centers Our Ministry, Richard Fabian

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Americans are 60% churchgoers today, just as in colonial times and in every century since. But our times are different. Today everything stands in question. In San Francisco and the western half of Washington State, 90% of residents tell census takers they have no religious identity whatever. Moreover, today America offers many faith options: Buddhism, New Age Spirituality, Islam, and countless fundamentalist cults. Our own mainline church services increasingly resemble fourth-century churches, filling up with people with no known faith commitment. That describes not only our visitors, but longtime church members as well.

Mass And Mission: Enacting God's Mission In The Christian Assembly Today, Thomas H. Schattauer

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

I doubt that I need to underscore the ferment surrounding the matters that are the theme of this year's Institute: worship and mission. The practice of worship in our congregations has become fragmented by multiple and competing proposals for what should happen when we gather. As a teacher of worship, the questions and discussions I encounter day by day reveal a general distrust of conventional liturgical practice and a genuine hunger for something-anything-that will engage and enliven people at worship in our time and place. There is no simple and direct approach to matters of worship-this is what we …

On The Table-Servers: Ministry In The Assembly, Gordon W. Lathrop

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

For a moment, try saying it this way: Christianity is a meal-fellowship. I know there are other ways to speak of the Christian movement. But, for a bit, I invite you, try this one. At root, Christianity is not just an idea. It is a specific meeting around food and drink. It is first of all not a religious inclination that an individual might have, not a philosophy nor a technique to equip an individual to engage with spiritual realities. In any case, it is certainly not a consumer good that an individual might or might not choose to …

Worship And The Ministry Of Reconciliation: Turning Walls Into Tables, Mark S. Hanson

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Thank you for the invitation to be with you. One regret I have had, not the only one, is that I have never attended the Institute of Liturgical Studies. Each spring my colleague, William Beckstrand, the cantor at University Lutheran Church of Hope, Minneapolis, would begin to invite and encourage me to join him for his annual journey to the institute at Valparaiso University. As I worked with Bill I began to realize that this event was like a pool of refreshing water that beckoned him through the often taxing days of Lent, Holy Week, and Triduum-"I know I …

"Go In Peace. But Go!", Robert Rimbo

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Early in my episcopacy, I was having a dinner conversation with a number of bishops including then Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, George Anderson. It was a rough time for me, as it often is early in a first term. I had been struggling with a few congregations with a number of issues, principally that the ELCA was not their parents' church anymore. Anyway, while we were talking. Bishop Anderson summarized my feelings precisely: "Sometimes you just want to say, 'Go in peace. But go!"'

From Meal To Mission, J-Glenn Murray

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

When it comes to introductions, I remember that when I was young and charming and about to go off to Saint Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia (where I was reared and raised), I was somewhat intimidated. I was so because I was about to take my place along with boys, many of whose fathers, uncles, cousins, and brothers had attended this school. For them the school was going to be familiar, for me most unfamiliar. Adding to my anxiety was the fact that I was also going to be one of 900 boys, only seven of whom were Black. I …

Have We Come All This Way For Birth Or Death? Liturgical Music As Prophetic Ministry, Kathleen Harmon

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) "In this presentation I bring together two theological strands which stand at the heart of the mystery of Christ and of the Church: prophetic ministry and the paschal mystery. I weave these two areas of thought together to build a foundation for exploring liturgy as the central prophetic act of the Church. I then use this perspective as the lens through which to explore liturgical music as a prophetic ministry that challenges the Church to be faithful to that death-resurrection mystery into which she has been baptized."

Institute Of Liturgical Studies (History), Gerald Spice

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Priesthood Of All Believers And Other Pious Myths, Timothy Wengert

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) Now, to be sure, this was not the first time this had happened to me. I looked for the friendship between Luther and Melanchthon and discovered that they were colleagues not friends. Then, I found that the four “classical” marks of the church—one, holy, catholic, and apostolic—were the inventions of nineteenth-century Anglo-Catholics! I wanted to discuss Luther’s comments on the “orders of creation,” only to discover they were the construct of a nineteenth-century German Lutheran ethicist.

On The Table-Servers: Ministry In The Assembly, Gordon Lathrop

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) "Christianity came into existence at table. The earliest churches — that is, the earliest assemblies — seem to have continued the meal tradition of Jesus, the meal tradition with which the gospels are filled: 'Behold a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and of sinners,' went one description of Jesus (Luke 7:34). Christian communities struggled to understand and maintain Jesus’ remarkable open commensality — his astonishing, God-signifying, religiously offensive and politically dangerous eating and drinking with the hoi polloi, his critique of the dining-room practice of the closed circle, his re-working of mealmeaning."

Media Art In Worship: The Potential For A New Liturgical Art, Its Pastoral And Theological Challenges, Eileen D. Crowley

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(excerpt) "I am especially pleased to be among you, because I have had the gift of reflecting on worship in the ELCA in the past, thanks to the late Paul Nelson of blessed memory and Scott Weidler of your Worship Office. They asked me to create a video series to accompany The Use of the Means of Grace. Perhaps some of you know that series. It’s entitled These Things Matter: Word, Baptism and Communion. A second video series I help develop was a Lenten series of reflections on worship entitled God is Here!"

The Grace Of Leading The Assembly, Gabe Huck

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

It is good in nearly every Christian liturgy there comes a moment when all present pray to be forgiven just as they are themselves now offering forgiveness. Thus do assemblies and presiders provide a ground for meeting again next Sunday and giving it another go.

The Vanguard (Vol. 50, No. 3), Jul-Aug-Sep 2003, Lutheran Human Relations Association

The Vanguard

On August 12, 2003, members and friends of Lutheran Human Relations Association took time from the busy ELCA Churchwide Gathering to celebrate the 50th anniversary of LHRA.

The evening began with a four directional prayer, then music by the ever popular KYROS. The program continued with honored guests Revs. Karl Lutze, Anita Hill, and Joe Ellwanger inspiring the audience with their reflections on the theme "Speak Truth, Do Justice, Build Community." Excerpts from their speeches are featured in this issue.

The Constitution On The Sacred Liturgy And Lutheran Book Of Worship: What Was Renewed?, Frank C. Senn

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt) Missing first four pages

of the 1970s there were those who objected to the idea of liturgy as "action" because they thought it placed an undue emphasis on human activity instead of on God's work through the means of grace.4 Obviously, liturgy is a work performed by a person or a community, so human action is unavoidable. It is a human act to read scriptures, preach sermons, baptize, or proclaim the words of institution, even though we confess that the Holy Spirit works through these means of grace to create or awaken faith. One may also say that liturgy, …

"The Whole Bible Painted In Our Houses": Visual Narrative And Religious Polemic In Early Lutheran Art, Samuel Torvend

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

In his discussion of the psychodynamics of orality, the Jesuit linguist and philosopher Walter Ong writes that ''the interiorizing force of the oral word relates in a special way to the sacral, to the ultimate concerns of existence. In most religions the spoken word functions integrally in ceremonial and devotional life ... In Christianity, for example, the Bible is read aloud at liturgical services. For God is thought of always as 'speaking' to human beings, not writing to them ... [Indeed] the Hebrew word dabar, which means word, means also event and thus refers directly to the spoken word …

The Message Is From God, Frederick A. Niedner Jr.

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

I never settled on an opening line for this presentation, so I'll simply tell you that it's a humbling thing to stand here today charged with giving the keynote address for a gathering of the Institute for Liturgical Studies. I have attended this conference for many years-not for as long as many of you, but in twenty-six years at Valparaiso University I recall only one institute I missed completely. That means I've heard at least a hundred institute talks from this podium, and the excellence of the speakers here has consistently enriched and encouraged, sometimes entertained, and often awed …

A Brook Runs Through It: Fresh Water From The Bach For Today's Thirsty Church, Mark P. Bangert

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

"Not Bach [brook], but Meer [sea] should be his name," Beethoven once said of Johann Sebastian Bach. 1 In this anniversary year marking the two-hundred and fiftieth year of his death on July 28, Bach is receiving extraordinary attention, which includes a significant biography by Christoph Wolff,2 yet another series of recordings of all the cantatas (that makes five3), and soul-searching among various scholars in an attempt to grasp the essence of this person's life and work.

Whose Context Is It Anyway?, Lorraine S. Brugh

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Music shapes the worshiping assembly week by week The liturgy we sing becomes both praise and proclamation in the mouths of the gathered congregation. So how are we to know what it is we should sing? Our worship books are now filled with music from around the globe, from perspectives not even known to most of us just a generation ago. Is that music part of our local expression, and if not, how are we to make it so? This address will outline a process, responsive contextualization, which invites a local assembly to enter into the process of engagement …

Salis Est: Ecumenical Catalyst Or Narrow Reductionism?, Maxwell E. Johnson

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

It is also taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and remain focever. This is the assembly of all believers [or "saints"] among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel. For it is sufficient [satis est] for the true unity of the Christian church that the Gospel be preached in conformity with a pure understanding of it and that the sacraments be administered in accordance with the divine Word [or, "are administered rightly"]. It is not necessary for the true unity of the Christian church …

Leaders Pray With The Assembly, E Louise Williams

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

I wonder what it was that prompted the disciples' request. Had they watched Jesus praying, as was his custom, in a place apart and then seen him come back somehow changed-more refreshed, more serene, more focused, more disturbed? Had they overheard Jesus praying-the intimate conversation, the wrestling and struggle, the thanksgiving and praise, the intercessions? Had they remembered some admonition or invitation to pray? Did their own spirits feel dry and empty? Did they know some longing deep inside for a closer communion with the one Jesus called Abba? Was there in them some joy or anguish that needed …