Liturgy and Cultures

Convener: Ruth Meyers (rmeyers@cdsp.edu) is Hodges Haynes Professor of Liturgics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California.

Members in Attendance: Bill Burke, Joseph Donnella, Mark Francis, Bernadette Gasslein, Don LaSalle, Ricky Manalo, Nathaniel Marx, Ruth Meyers, Jennifer Ackerman, Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero

Visitors: Hilary Bogert-Winkler, Kai Ton Chau, Maria Cornou, Hansol Goo, Seyeom Kim, Charles Leonard, Chris O’Brien, Aaron Wong, Joshua Zentner-Barrett

Description of Work: The seminar explored the intersection of worship and contemporary cultural contexts. The seminar takes a broad approach to “cultures,” this year including art, children’s participation in worship, online liturgies, and papal liturgies. Presenters utilized anthropological and sociological tools as well as historical and theological perspectives to analyze liturgical practices.

Papers and Presentations:

• Mark Francis, Short Communication on Pope Francis’ “Desiderio Decideravi” and Antonio Sison, “The Art of Indigenous Inculturation” (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2022).

• Bernadette Gasslein and Bill Burke, “Inculturation and the Liturgies of the Papal Visit: What the Heck Happened?” Analysis of Pope Francis’s visit to Canada this summer, intended to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools to the Indigenous peoples, Métis and Inuit people of Canada.

• Nathaniel Marx, “Children’s Revival of Participation at Sunday Mass.” Presentation of plans for a grant project in the Lilly Foundation’s “Nurturing Children through Worship and Prayer” initiative.

• Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero, “Online Liturgies.” Outline of essay commissioned for the Oxford Handbook of Digital Theology.

• Ruth Meyers, “Spiritual Communion as a Response to Hunger for Christ.” Reflections on the use of this devotional practice by congregations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Jennifer Ackerman, update on “Artful Leadership” curriculum.

Other Work and Plans for the Future: Participants in the seminar will present updates on research and other work in progress. We will explore possibilities for interacting with worshiping communities or their leaders in Seattle who are engaging with questions of interculturality in worship.

We would like to explore a joint session on online/virtual liturgies with the Formation in Liturgical Prayer seminar.