Frank Senn ventures behind the liturgical screen, behind the texts, and behind the rubrics to reconstruct the everyday religious expression in Christian history. Senn's magisterial Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical (1997) has been widely hailed for its appreciation of the dynamic role of culture in shaping liturgical expression. In The People's Work, Senn delves further into the cultural home of liturgy looking at processions and pilgrimage, communion practices and spiritual reading, fasting and feasting-all the myriad liturgical practices that have been the concrete life and primary work of the body of Christ.
Although the twentieth century has witnessed a thorough liturgical revival and renewal, the last ten years have exploded in diverse and conflicting styles, settings, and even media of corporate worship: traditional high-church liturgies, alternative worship for small communities, women church services, seeker services at megachurches, and more. Does this innovation portend a brave new liturgical world, or is it just dumbing down? For example, do megachurch services simply revive the old frontier revival and, in an effort to reach out, accommodate Christianity to the reigning consumer culture? One of today's most knowledgeable liturgical theologians and historians contemplates the future shape of liturgy. He believes that ritual systems--liturgy--express and inculcate a worldview, an implicit theology; and, he fears lest the community of faith gain the whole world and lose its soul. New Creation proposes the lines of a Christian culture or worldview, or way of life, that can inform liturgical renewal. Twelve erudite and earnest chapters further specify this counter-cultural matrix as it pertains to God, Christ, church, creation, world, worship, hospitality, culture, evangelism, prayer, and life itself.
Worship is most meaningful and engaging, according to Frank Senn, when it is done, as Paul says, "decently and in good order." This means that good liturgy must strive to avoid makeshift arrangements and disorder. But it must also be attuned to its context, sensitive to the needs and resources of local communities of faith. How does one do that? Designed as a general introduction to Christian liturgy, this book explores the meaning, history, and practice of worship in Eastern and Western, Catholic and Protestant traditions. Its chapters cover the theology of worship, the historical development of Eucharist and the Prayer Offices, the lectionary and customs of the church year, other sacramental rites, and the use of music and the arts. As such, it is a perfect textbook for students seeking to understand the basics of liturgical worship, as well as a reliable guide for worship leaders. Written in the form of a handbook and designed with questions and answers for easy reference, Introduction to Christian Worship will help both novice and experienced worship leaders make informed decisions in their liturgical choices and practices.
Building on his previous work on embodied liturgy, Frank C. Senn explores the relationship between the sacramental body and blood of Christ, the ecclesial body of Christ, and the body of the communicant. Drawing on the richness of the eucharistic traditions and his own life experiences, this book expands our understandings of the Eucharist to include pilgrimage to the altar (ad altare Dei), a life of gratitude (anaphora), cosmology and praise (preface and Sanctus), body and memory (anamnesis), Spirit and community (epiclesis), Trinitarian orthodoxy and world view (doxology), presence and union with Christ (communion), and initiation and reconciliation (fencing the table). It argues for use of a full eucharistic prayer to express a wider understanding of the Eucharist, including creation themes, an emphasis on the passion of Christ to connect the Eucharist to suffering humanity, an expansion of the fellowship dimension of the Eucharist to embrace the church in heaven and around the world, a recovery of Trinitarian praise, an ecumenical exploration of how we understand theologically the presence of Christ received bodily, and a reconsideration of the value of initiation in sacramental discipline and in the life of faith.
There is no single Protestant spirituality but rather Protestant spiritual traditions usually embedded in denominational families that share some basic Protestant principles. These two volumes of Protestant Spiritual Traditions offer essays on twelve traditions written by scholars within those traditions plus a concluding essay that gathers a number of Protestant contributions to Christian spirituality and Western culture under the category of "the body." These thirteen essays discuss the contributions of significant spiritual figures from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. and offer insights on a range of topics from the theology of the cross to physical fitness.
This serious inquiry into the relationship between worship and its cultural setting can help pastors, seminarians, and other worship leaders steer a path between cultural capitulation on the one hand and cultural irrelevancy on the other in the ordering and doing of Christian liturgy. Senn suggests that the interplay between cult and culture should be a transformation of culture as it is appropriated in Christian worship, leading to an experience which is both a human activity and a transcendental event.
Embodied Liturgy marks a “return to the body” in thinking about Christian liturgy and sacramental practice. Rooted in phenomenology and incarnational theology, the book gives primary focus to the body as it considers the prayer offices and the liturgical calendar, sacrifices and sacraments, initiation and vestments, ritual theory and play, word and meal, fasting and feasting, penance and celebration, rites of passage, cultural perspectives, and the role of art, music, dance, and drama in worship. The author invites readers to return to the experience of their own body through guided yogic exercises. As a text for students and liturgical practitioners, the volume gives fresh voice to the experience and practice of worship as bodily acts. Embodied Liturgy is a dynamic, accessible new resource in liturgical and sacramental theology from one of the premiere scholars in the field. Frank C. Senn distills an established legacy of expertise in an innovative and inviting perspective on bodily acts of worship.
There are fifty-two eucharistic prayers studied in this book: the official texts of the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church in the U.S., several Lutheran Churches in North America, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The contributors to this volume are scholars from these church bodies who participated in the work of the Eucharistic Prayer Study Group of the North American Academy of Liturgy, an ecumenical professional society of liturgists. This book tells the story of how these prayers developed. It illustrates the way the various churches dealt with historical traditions and contemporary concerns, worship and culture, piety and theology. The essays in the second part of the book analyze the component parts of the prayers, looking at them across the ecumenical spectrum of the texts. They reveal both an impressive consensus on what should go into the eucharistic prayers, as well as many unresolved questions. The final part of the book deals with this ongoing agenda.
There is no single Protestant spirituality but rather Protestant spiritual traditions usually embedded in denominational families that share some basic Protestant principles. These two volumes of Protestant Spiritual Traditions offer essays on twelve traditions written by scholars within those traditions plus a concluding essay that gathers a number of Protestant contributions to Christian spirituality and Western culture under the category of "the body." These thirteen essays discuss the contributions of significant spiritual figures from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. and offer insights on a range of topics from the theology of the cross to physical fitness.
Contends that the church growth movement runs the risk of losing its roots in return for gaining members. He shows how churches should evangelize through authentic worship that puts people in touch with the source of Christian life. Especially pertinent for Protestant congregations.
There are fifty-two eucharistic prayers studied in this book: the official texts of the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church in the U.S., several Lutheran Churches in North America, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The contributors to this volume are scholars from these church bodies who participated in the work of the Eucharistic Prayer Study Group of the North American Academy of Liturgy, an ecumenical professional society of liturgists. This book tells the story of how these prayers developed. It illustrates the way the various churches dealt with historical traditions and contemporary concerns, worship and culture, piety and theology. The essays in the second part of the book analyze the component parts of the prayers, looking at them across the ecumenical spectrum of the texts. They reveal both an impressive consensus on what should go into the eucharistic prayers, as well as many unresolved questions. The final part of the book deals with this ongoing agenda.
A Stewardship of the Mysteries is an ecumenical work that explores current issues in the administration of the sacraments and the role of the word of God, in the order of the eucharist in Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Designed as a general introduction to Christian liturgy, this book explores the meaning, history, and practice of worship in Eastern and Western, Catholic and Protestant traditions. Its chapters cover the theology of worship, the historical development of Eucharist and the Prayer Offices, the lectionary and customs of the church year, other sacramental rites, and the use of music and the arts. As such, it is a perfect textbook for students seeking to understand the basics of liturgical worship, as well as a reliable guide for worship leaders.
Building on his previous work on embodied liturgy, Frank C. Senn explores the relationship between the sacramental body and blood of Christ, the ecclesial body of Christ, and the body of the communicant. Drawing on the richness of the eucharistic traditions and his own life experiences, this book expands our understandings of the Eucharist to include pilgrimage to the altar (ad altare Dei), a life of gratitude (anaphora), cosmology and praise (preface and Sanctus), body and memory (anamnesis), Spirit and community (epiclesis), Trinitarian orthodoxy and world view (doxology), presence and union with Christ (communion), and initiation and reconciliation (fencing the table). It argues for use of a full eucharistic prayer to express a wider understanding of the Eucharist, including creation themes, an emphasis on the passion of Christ to connect the Eucharist to suffering humanity, an expansion of the fellowship dimension of the Eucharist to embrace the church in heaven and around the world, a recovery of Trinitarian praise, an ecumenical exploration of how we understand theologically the presence of Christ received bodily, and a reconsideration of the value of initiation in sacramental discipline and in the life of faith.
Frank Senn ventures behind the liturgical screen, behind the texts, and behind the rubrics to reconstruct the everyday religious expression in Christian history. Senn's magisterial Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical (1997) has been widely hailed for its appreciation of the dynamic role of culture in shaping liturgical expression. In The People's Work, Senn delves further into the cultural home of liturgy looking at processions and pilgrimage, communion practices and spiritual reading, fasting and feasting-all the myriad liturgical practices that have been the concrete life and primary work of the body of Christ.
There is no single Protestant spirituality but rather Protestant spiritual traditions usually embedded in denominational families that share some basic Protestant principles. These two volumes of Protestant Spiritual Traditions offer essays on twelve traditions written by scholars within those traditions plus a concluding essay that gathers a number of Protestant contributions to Christian spirituality and Western culture under the category of "the body." These thirteen essays discuss the contributions of significant spiritual figures from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. and offer insights on a range of topics from the theology of the cross to physical fitness.
Embodied Liturgy marks a “return to the body” in thinking about Christian liturgy and sacramental practice. Rooted in phenomenology and incarnational theology, the book gives primary focus to the body as it considers the prayer offices and the liturgical calendar, sacrifices and sacraments, initiation and vestments, ritual theory and play, word and meal, fasting and feasting, penance and celebration, rites of passage, cultural perspectives, and the role of art, music, dance, and drama in worship. The author invites readers to return to the experience of their own body through guided yogic exercises. As a text for students and liturgical practitioners, the volume gives fresh voice to the experience and practice of worship as bodily acts. Embodied Liturgy is a dynamic, accessible new resource in liturgical and sacramental theology from one of the premiere scholars in the field. Frank C. Senn distills an established legacy of expertise in an innovative and inviting perspective on bodily acts of worship.
This serious inquiry into the relationship between worship and its cultural setting can help pastors, seminarians, and other worship leaders steer a path between cultural capitulation on the one hand and cultural irrelevancy on the other in the ordering and doing of Christian liturgy. Senn suggests that the interplay between cult and culture should be a transformation of culture as it is appropriated in Christian worship, leading to an experience which is both a human activity and a transcendental event.
Although the twentieth century has witnessed a thorough liturgical revival and renewal, the last ten years have exploded in diverse and conflicting styles, settings, and even media of corporate worship: traditional high-church liturgies, alternative worship for small communities, women church services, seeker services at megachurches, and more. Does this innovation portend a brave new liturgical world, or is it just dumbing down? For example, do megachurch services simply revive the old frontier revival and, in an effort to reach out, accommodate Christianity to the reigning consumer culture? One of today's most knowledgeable liturgical theologians and historians contemplates the future shape of liturgy. He believes that ritual systems--liturgy--express and inculcate a worldview, an implicit theology; and, he fears lest the community of faith gain the whole world and lose its soul. New Creation proposes the lines of a Christian culture or worldview, or way of life, that can inform liturgical renewal. Twelve erudite and earnest chapters further specify this counter-cultural matrix as it pertains to God, Christ, church, creation, world, worship, hospitality, culture, evangelism, prayer, and life itself.
In response to clergy suggestions, New Proclamation now incorporates special features to make sermon writing even easier. Bringing biblical texts into contemporary context and sparking the homiletic imagination, New Proclamation is an indispensable resource for preachers. New Proclamation is designed to assist those who use the Revised Common Lectionary, the Roman Catholic Lectionary, and the Episcopal Lectionary.
Open Questions in Worship explores current issues and emerging practices in the church's worship from a variety of open perspectives. This series invites all who care for the church's life and mission to renew their understanding of the church's worship. Each volume features three essays on the question, along with bibliography for further inquiry.
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