Theology Today

The sacraments of baptism and holy communion are not only means of grace; they are social rites. Christians have practiced them using available cultural materials. The sacraments, in turn, have formed the community of the church. This essay reviews cultural ways at different times in social history that have informed sacramental practice. Not surprisingly, postmodern preferences for diversity of style and concerns for inclusivity in community have been expressed in contemporary sacramental practice. Larger uses of water and oil and better quality bread and wine reflect a postmodern concern for the natural world. A diversified menu reflects a sense of community forged by attending to individual needs. New eucharistic prayers use expanded images, diverse forms of prayer within one prayer, and acclamations of the people within a presidential prayer.

Christian worship may be assumed to have been a matter of ritual from the start, because of its roots in Temple worship, common festal meals, and the baptismal practice of Jesus and John. New Testament witness to its forms is minimal, but the development of rites begins to be attested in the Didachē, Justin's First Apology, and Hippolytus's references to eucharist led by episkopoi. The mystēria/sacramenta were celebrated ritually in the West until the reformers' emphasis on the biblical word and corresponding de-emphasis on the senses resulted in the triumph of spirit over matter, and of intellect over sight, sound, and movement. In our day, the former balance is being restored as worship forms begin again to engage the whole person.

This essay seeks to develop an understanding of Christian catechesis as a practice, or set of practices, informed, at heart, by doxology. The acquisition of “knowledge” that variously constitutes the catechetical or educative enterprise within Christian communities is bound up entirely with the praise and adoration of God within the eucharistic fellowship of the body of Christ gathered together in worship. To know, in this way, is to be changed, remade, transformed. To know rightly, as Augustine would teach us, is to desire God—just as to desire God is to know rightly. On this view, catechesis occurs, first and foremost, not as exposition apart from the liturgical community, but performatively within it.

A revolution in preaching began in 1963, when Vatican II mandated the replacement of the Missale Romanum of 1570. Thus began the process that led to our Revised Common Lectionary of 1992. The use of the lectionary as a source for texts for preaching has had many benefits. Today, thanks to the lectionary, our preaching is more biblical, there are more aids for biblical preaching than ever in the history of preaching, and congregations hear more Scripture read than in the past. Yet, there are limits to the lectionary as a preaching resource: The treatment of the Old Testament is limited and often is determined by tenuous connections to the Gospel, troublesome texts (just the sort of texts that can spur interesting sermons) are often omitted, and the lectionary sometimes cuts and chops texts beyond comprehension. Still, the lectionary is a great gift to preachers and a major reason for the resurgence of preaching in today's church.

Nothing is more vital to the genuine enjoyment of worship than the arts. Indeed, our enjoyment of arts such as music (within worship and without) can be said to participate in our enjoyment of God and in the creation of human community. Yet, enjoyment that is responsive to the disciplines of worship requires discernment. Arts in our culture have long exercised their fullest creativity outside the church and have long been tailored, commercially, to satisfy the interests of entertainment and profit. Discerning together how diverse arts can best be employed and enjoyed is thus a task of the church that in the end can only enhance the enjoyment of worship.

In spite of a history of iconoclasm and theological reservations about the place of arts (especially the visual arts) in Protestant worship, we have witnessed in recent years an increasing interest in and even demand for the incorporation of art in liturgy. However, since congregational leaders and worship planners need to do more than respond to needs or (worse yet) current trends, this article offers theological reflection on the positive role and function of the arts within a Protestant theological framework, but also counsels caution. The addition of art forms to worship can be renewing and inspiring, but without careful theological reflection and attention to both tradition and history, we risk misunderstandings or regrettable mistakes. By proceeding thoughtfully and faithfully, the worship life of congregations can be deeply enhanced by inclusion of the arts, since worship itself is a form of art that should be approached with great care and love.

Since 1970, seeker services and praise-and-worship services have become increasingly influential among mainline churches. These services attract mainliners with their potential to stimulate evangelism and spiritual growth. The seeker-service strategy raises important questions about the relationship of worship and evangelism and about the place of popular culture, multimedia technology, and the arts in worship. Praise-and-worship services challenge mainliners to rethink the range of physical and emotional expression in worship and to think differently about the role of music in worship. We can already see the convergence of elements from these two approaches and from historic liturgy that are custom-fitted to meet the needs of individual congregations.

In recent years, feminist Christians have proposed new, inclusive liturgies for worship in several denominations. Central to these liturgies is the decision to offer new names for God: for the Persons of Father and Son, and for the triune name itself. Rarely has such fundamental change in the Christian tradition been proposed or undertaken; only Nicaea and Chalcedon are rivals for innovation and significance. What should Christians make of these proposed names, images, and liturgies? This article weighs some of the proposed triune names, discusses their proposers and detractors in light of the tradition itself, and offers some personal proposals in conclusion.

Syntax characterized by the absence of explicit conjunctions (asyndeton) has favor in contemporary English-language liturgical texts, including the supplemental liturgical materials published as Enriching Our Worship for the Episcopal Church. Following Catherine Pickstock, this essay demonstrates asyndetic syntax in Eucharistic Prayer 2 of this volume and argues that the authors have incorporated contemporary linguistic and epistemological structures into it. By not taking into account the cultural assumptions lying implicit within such texts, liturgical reformers may have engaged in a sinister act.

This article provides insights into the spiritual dimensions of prayer within the context of the Orthodox Church. The author compares the liturgy of the Orthodox Church with the liturgical world of the western churches. He explores the concepts of tradition and doctrine, especially as these have impacted the history and development of the liturgy. He describes the experience of heaven on earth, communion, and mission, as well as the notions of cosmic liturgy and iconic prayer. Finally, the article also brings together in a creative synthesis the personal and environmental elements of liturgy.