Liturgy with a Difference

Christian churches in recent decades have taken some steps in their practices of liturgy and worship toward acknowledging the graced dignity of human variety. But who is still excluded? What pernicious norms still govern below the surface, and how might they be revealed? How do texts, gestures, and space abet and enforce such norms? How might Christian assemblies gather multiple expressions of human difference to propose through Christian liturgy patterns of graced interaction in the world around them?Liturgy with a Difference gathers a broad range of international theologians and scholars to interrogate current practices of liturgy and worship in order to unmask ways in which dehumanizing majoritarianisms and presumed norms of gender, culture, ethnicity, and body, among others, remain at work in congregations. Together, the chapters in this collection call for a liturgical practice that recognizes and rehearses the vivid richness of God’s image found in the human community and glimpsed, if only for a moment, in liturgical celebration. They point a way beyond mere inclusion toward a generous embrace of the many differences that make up the Christian community. With contributions from Rachel Mann, Teresa Berger, Susannah Cornwall, Miguel A. DeLa Torre, Edward Foley, W. Scott Haldeman, Michael Jagessar, Bruce T. Morrill, Kristine Suna-Koro and Frank Senn.  Foreword by Ann Loades.

"This collection of stimulating and disturbing chapters should provoke vitally important exchanges and conversations between every person responsible for taking a lead in liturgy and those who think they know what ‘ecclesiology’ is all about.", "This book crackles with prophetic and Pentecostal energy, inviting readers into a many-textured, many-tongued conversation about what is most urgent in the life of our churches and how this might be reflected in Christian worship and witness. Bringing together a range of bold, original and creative perspectives on the diverse and hybrid identities that make up our contemporary world and church, the contributors consider how these might inform liturgical theology and practice, earthing theoretical discussion in a variety of settings and liturgical case studies. These are precisely the discourses and perspectives needed to challenge, enliven, expand and invigorate liturgical debate and practice within and beyond the churches. It should be required reading for all training for leadership within the churches, as well as those responsible for the leadership of worship at local, national and international levels."

Stephen Burns is a presbyter in the Church of England and teaches liturgical and practical theology at the University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia, as well as an international research consultant at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham. His publications include Christian Worship: Postcolonial Perspectives, co-authored with Michael N. Jagessar (2011) and Postcolonial Practice of Ministry, co-edited with Kwok Pui-lan (2016). He is currently co-authoring Riting the Body: Feminist Liturgy—Theology and Practice with Nicola Slee. Bryan Cones is a presbyter in the Episcopal Church, a former book editor at Liturgy Training Publications, and was managing editor and columnist at U.S. Catholic magazine. He has served as adjunct faculty at the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a doctoral candidate in liturgy and practical theology at the University of Divinity. His most recent publication, “On Not Playing Jesus: The Gendered Liturgical Theology of Presiding,” appears in the June 2017 issue of Pacifica, and he is currently co-editing According to All: Catholicity in Postcolonial Perspective.