From my Introduction to the first issue of Liturgy for 2019, which I had the pleasure of guest-editing:
At the source of Christian faith is the evangelical message that the redeeming reign of God has drawn near in Christ Jesus, eliciting a response of repentance and ongoing conversion in the lives of believers. Whether the messianic word comes in the person of Jesus himself, as at the start of Mark’s gospel (1:14) or Peter’s Spirit-empowered Pentecostal preaching at the beginning of Acts (2:38), the event of God’s turning toward people sets in motion the constant need to return in confession and reconciliation toward God and one another. That converting word takes an ecclesial body through liturgical practices manifesting the nonnegotiable bond between love of God and love of neighbor, actions of divine praise and thanksgiving, intercession and lament validated by human lives striving for kindness and mercy, justice and peace in the world. In the following seven essays theologians across the Christian ecumenical spectrum describe and analyze liturgical confession of faith and confession of sin, reconciliation in sacramental rite and in fragmented society, from a wealth of historical, traditional, and critical perspectives.
Authors include: Nicholas Denysenko, Annemarie S. Kidder, Kristine Suna-Koro, Bruce T. Morrill, Jonathan Stotts, Audrey Seah, and Armand Leon van Ommen. Page Previews and access to all articles at Liturgy: Confession & Reconciliation.
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