Grapples with the future of liturgy at a time of exceptional confusion and uncertainty in the Christian Churches. A conference was assembled in Rome in the summer of 2002 with papers from the brightest and most imaginative liturgical scholars in the world. This book, a result of the conference, evaluates the liturgical reforms of Vatican II.
How do the arts inform and cultivate our service to God? In this addition to an award-winning series, distinguished philosopher Bruce Ellis Benson rethinks what it means to be artistic. Rather than viewing art as practiced by the few, he recovers the ancient Christian idea of presenting ourselves to God as works of art, reenvisioning art as the very core of our being: God calls us to improvise as living works of art. Benson also examines the nature of liturgy and connects art and liturgy in a new way. This book will appeal to philosophy, worship/liturgy, art, music, and theology students as well as readers interested in engaging issues of worship and aesthetics in a postmodern context, including Christian artists and worship leaders.
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.
For many years now, the church in North America has heard figure after figure concerning the steady flow of young people leaving the church. In the midst of these troubling figures, there remains a glimmer of hope for these youth as they transition into young adults. Ever Ancient, Ever New tells the story of a generation of younger Christians from different backgrounds and traditions who are finding a home and a deep connection in the church by embracing a liturgical expression of the faith. Author and teacher Winfield Bevins introduces you to a growing movement among younger Christians who are returning to historic, creedal, and liturgical reflections of Christianity. He unpacks why and how liturgy has beckoned them deeper into their experience of Jesus, and what types of churches and communities foster this "convergence" of old and new. Filled with stories illustrating the excitement and joy many young adults have found in these ancient expressions of Christianity, this book introduces you to practices and principles that may help the church as it seeks to engage our postmodern world.
Through an ethnographically driven study of expressions of sanctuary in San Francisco, Church as Field Hospital constructs an ecclesiology that expands notions of public engagement and sacred space in Christian theology. Sanctuary practices that create spaces for those who have been marginalized—immigrants, refugees, and unhoused people—reflect the field hospital church Pope Francis has envisioned and enacted. This book investigates sanctuary as a way of being church, one marked by prophetic witness, embodied solidarity, sacramental praxis, and radical hospitality.
Christian Sacraments in a Postmodern World offers a fresh perspective on the sacramental event by bringing together two generally unrelated subjects in a new way: sacramental theology and postmodern philosophical thought. Osborne shows, in an innovative way, how these two factors of third millennium life can be positively united to encourage powerful new thinking on the ways we Christians not only theorize about sacraments but also live sacraments. Using a key section on sacraments from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and by employing foundational concepts of postmodern philosophy and several issues from medieval Franciscan philosophy, the author develops a distinctly different approach to sacrament events. Here is a visionary, thoughtful work by a major theologian, writer and educator. It is sure to stir thinking and discussion among theologians, philosophers, liturgists and religious educators. +
In Worship, Keith Pecklers aims to gives theologians, liturgists, clergy and laity of all denominations a new sense of the theology of liturgy. From a historical/theological treatment of the evolution of Christian worship in the West, Pecklers addresses 20th century liturgical reforms and emphasizes the liturgy's role in the social and moral transformation of human society. The social dimension of worship is further highlighted in chapters on popular religion and inculturation. He considers the future of Christian worship in light of a new sociological reality: the break up of the stable parish community, credible preaching within an increasingly secularized society, hospitality to those who are often made to feel like pariahs in our assemblies, and the growing rift between conservatives and progressives who share membership in the same church.
While taught by Vatican II, the “sense of the faith” (sensus fidei) has had little official impact in the Catholic Church. What would the church look like if it took this conciliar teaching to heart? To address this neglect, John Burkhard locates the historical roots of the teaching and its emergence at Vatican II. It attempts to better understand the “sense of the faith” in the light of other fundamental teachings of the council and challenges the hierarchical church to invite all the faithful to rightfully participate in the prophetic ministry of the whole church, closely allied with Pope Francis’s call for a more synodal church.
This provocative addition to The Church and Postmodern Culture series offers a lively rereading of Charles Sheldon's In His Steps as a constructive way forward. John D. Caputo introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, positively defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching. Students of philosophy, theology, religion, and ministry, as well as others interested in engaging postmodernism and the emerging church phenomenon, will welcome this provocative, non-technical work.
