Annotated Bibliography
Missional Liturgy: Towards a Working Definition
Debra K. Bullock
Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission (http://associatedparishes.org/statement/)
This website, clearly a work in progress as the majority of the links are “under construction” does contain APLM statements on a variety of topics from 1969 through 2002. Topics include: admission of children to communion, the removal of the filioque, inclusive language, art and architecture, evangelization, centrality of baptism, and several more.
Geitz, Elizabeth Rankin, Marjorie A. Burke, and Ann Smith, eds. Women’s Uncommon Prayers: Our Lives Revealed, Nurtured, Celebrated. Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2000.
This anthology of worship resources – prayers, poems, liturgies – was developed by the Council of Women’s Ministries, an organization comprised of more than 30 Anglican / Episcopal. The book was compiled in response to a vision: “a vision of Episcopal women speaking authentically with one another and with the church at large. . . sharing the richness and diversity of their spirituality. . . uniting in the midst of that diversity, modeling wholeness and health to the church” (Preface, xi). Women’s Uncommon Prayers is an invaluable source of inclusive and alternative God language which can be used in a number of liturgical settings (e.g., “Maria Sacerdota – Mary, Protopriest of the New Covenant” by The Reverend Dr. Alla Renée Bozarth (p. 287-8) was read at the Dean’s Mass on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 at Seabury).
Jewell, John P. Wired for Ministry: How the Internet, Visual Media, and Other New Technologies Can Serve Your Church. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2004.
This book provides a cautious approach to the utilization of technology in many areas of ministry including church growth, worship, and education. In addition to recommendations for its use, Jewell provides several pointers on pitfalls that can (and often do) lead churches astray. The title of chapter 5 sums up his project: “Forget About Technology – But If You Must – And We Know You Will: New Directions and Opportunities.”
Price, Charles P. and Louis Weil. Liturgy for Living, Revised Edition. Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2000.
Price and Weil speak to the ongoing attempts at reclaiming the earliest routes of Christianity as enacted by our liturgies. The authors consider the historical development of the Book of Common Prayer and how each change has altered our worship experience. They also provide some wonderful commentary on changing practices and current liturgical controversies (e.g., confirmation), pp. 82ff). If you enjoy word etymology, you will get your fill in this book. A glossary of liturgical terms is also appended.
Sample, Tex. The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World: Electronic Culture and the Gathered People of God. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998.
Sample’s enthusiasm for all things technological is in stark contrast to the conservativism of Jewell’s text. Sample wants us to bring worship into the post-modern age with lights, sounds – the whole shebang! This is not worship as most of us have known it. Sample claims it is worship for Generation X and Millennial youth – the “media sophisticates” (28). At the tail end of Generation X, I must confess that the worship Sample describes does not appeal to my more conservative Anglo-Catholic routes. However, for those who want to explore this new direction in worship, the book will surely be a great resource – the final chapter even provides “An Illustrated Worship Service.”
St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco (http://www.saintgregorys.org)
This parish began as what can only be described as a joint venture between All Saints’ Company and the Diocese of San Francisco. Growing from an “experimental mission” into its current status as a parish church of the Diocese of San Francisco, St. Gregory’s website is a multi-media extravaganza of liturgical resources – iconography, sermons, original liturgies, articles about liturgy and mission, photographs and movie clips of liturgies being conducted, MP3 downloadable files, and “Deacons’ Scripts” for entire worship services. I suspect that St. Gregory’s would agree that they are a John Jewell Wired for Ministry kind of church.
Willow Creek Community Church (http://www.willowcreek.org)
Willow Creek is an interdenominational church located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago (Barrington). The church began in the early 70s as the youth ministry program of a church in Park Ridge. It is now a church with thousands of members and over 100 ministries. I suspect that Willow Creek would agree that they are a Tex Sample Spectacle of Worship kind of church. The church’s website is interesting as you can see the juxtaposition of contemporary secular images with conservative Christian themes.
John & Frank,
Thought there was some great stuff in Bosch in the latter half of Ch. 12. . . I've not yet formulated my own draft definition of missional liturgy, but thought I'd pull out a couple of Bosch-isms for thought:
"'Christian mission is the humble involvement of the one body of Christ in liberating and suffering love' (Section 1.10; WCC 1990:27), and 'To be called to unity in mission involves becoming a community that transcends in its life the barriers and brokenness in the world, and living as a sign of at-one-ment under the cross' (I.11; WCC 1990:28)" (Bosch, 460 - quoting from The San Antonio Report. If this is true than a missionary liturgy should point the community in this direction.
From here, Bosch goes on to describe seven (7) "contours of the new paradigm" (464):
1. "mutual coordination of mission and unity" (464)
2. "holding onto both mission and unity and to both truth and unity presupposes tension. It does not presume uniformity. . . Our differences are genuine and have to be treated as such." (464)
3. "a united church-in-mission is essential in light of the fact that the church's mission will never come to an end." (465)
4. "mission in unity means an end to the distinction between 'sending' and 'receiving churches . . . the 'younger churchds are the fruit of missionary labor, not the possession of mission societies" He dates this definition to as early as the 1920s (Jerusalem Conference (John Mott) and 1930s (Kraemer at the Tambaram Conference). (465).
5. "we cannot but take a stand against the proliferation of new churches, which are often formed on the basis of extremely questionable distinctions. This Protestant virus may no longer be tolerated as though it is the most natural thing in the world for a group of people to start their own church, which mirrors their foibles, fears, and suspicions, nurtures their prejudices, and makes them feel comfortable and relaxed" (466).
6. "unity in mission and mission in unity. . . stand in the service of humankind and seek to manifest the cosmic rule of Christ (466-7).
7. "the loss of ecclesial unity is not just a vexation but a sin.Unity is not an optional extra" (467).
Debra and John:
I wonder if we could adjust our meeting time this Wed April 21 to 4PM. I have an appointment with Ruth Meyers at 3. One of the things we will be discussing is resources/ideas about missional liturgies. I think it would be helpful for us to meet after I've had a chance to chat with her. I suspct she will have some stuff for us to consider, since this is an area of interest for her.
Let me know if this will work for you two. FF
Dear Frank and Debra,
Glad we met this afternoon. My understanding is, we will talk to Meredith tomorrow after class about getting any general information she may have about mission as it may apply to liturgy, and then over the next two weeks come up with our own views of the intersection and do our own initial research in the areas of interest to each of us; then meet April 22 at 3:00 same station.
Frank, I hope Tenebrae went well, sorry I couldn't be there.
John
Frank & John,
Just wanted to quickly summarize our discussion from this afternoon. Presentation & annotated bibliography are due on May 6th. We will use the first (roughly) half of our time to discuss our definition(s) of missional liturgy - what makes it missional, etc. - while using at least three liturgical traditions as a point for comparision and discussion (New Zealand Prayer Book - Frank; BCP and EOW - Debra; and Church of South India - John). These traditions are not meant to be all inclusive and may, in fact, not even be adequately representative, but should allow us to show the class how they too can analyze a liturgy for its "missional components."
The latter portion of our presentation will then be for the purpose of experiencing a missional liturgy (either one of those we explored, a combination of them, or ???) in the worship setting (will ask/encourage classmates to participate in the service with Meredith, if she is willing, presiding at the Eucharist).
We would conclude with a class "service review."
Our beginning assumptions - purposefully minimal as we begin the early stages of our research:
1. Liturgy does, in fact, promote the mission of the church and
2. The missional aspect of liturgy has not or is not routinely lifted up to worshippers.
Next steps:
1. Talk to Meredith about resources she has that we might tap into regarding our topic. Divide and conquer!
2. Research our respective liturgies (see above).
3. Meet again on Wednesday, April 21st at 3:00 pm to "check-in" on our progress and more clearly define the shape of our presentation.
Thanks.
Deb
After our discussion I've given some thought to some ideas for our project. It seems to me a strong connection exisits bwteen liturgy and mission. I was struck by many of things Meredith said in class. If as Anglicans who we are is demonstrated by how we worship, then it would follow that our defintion of misson as well as its application in any particular context would naturally be embedded in our litutgy. So, my project idea is this: What if surveyed some liturgies in parts of the world where the is an Anglican missonary presence. As we do we might look at how these function there and see if we might identify the connections we find between liturgy and misson.
And as a way to present these findings we could be present an "instructed Eucharist" where we combine parts of these various liturgies into a single service. We could use Powerpoint for pictures and supporting visuals, etc.. In addition we could see if we might actually sing some of the music we find and Carol could help us with this.
Also, I'm wondering when we might schedule a meeting so we can begin to develop our ideas into a specific plan. BTW, Deb thanks for the links
Hi Groupa Media! I hope this gets out to you, but I'm not sure I'm doing this right. I meant to write before now, and seeing no message from any of you makes me wonder if I'm missing them somewhere. But anyway:
As I mentioned, I am interested in doing something with the Church of South India, partly because it has aways interested me, partly because my interest is sharpened in that it might relate to my MTS thesis, now nearing labor pains. I am writing on John Wesley's ordinations for America in 1784 and hoping the paper can be related to current talks between the Episcopal and Methodist churches. The church of South India involved a merger of several denominations including, I believe, Methodist and Anglican, so it would be relevant to me to look at the ecumenical aspect of that missionary effort. I know Frank is interested in something liturgical. I wonder whether we could get those together somehow -- maybe the merging of liturgical traditions?
Hope this reaches you and brings you wishes for
Peace
John
Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission (APLM)
The Santa Fe Statement (you'll need to scroll down a bit. . . it's the 2nd to the last statement of the APLM)
The Liturgy After the Liturgy: Mission and Witness from an Orthodox Perspective
by Ion Bria
Links to mission-related Web sites
I think it might be interesting to look at how our (i.e., Anglican) liturgy - or perhaps liturgies from multiple traditions - informs our understanding of mission - both in practice and in evaluation of existing missions. If mission is a natural outpouring of our liturgy, then we ought to be able to evaluate its effectiveness by holding it up to the liturgy. Interesting in hearing other thoughts. . .