{"id":14089,"date":"2012-04-13T10:19:40","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T16:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=14089"},"modified":"2012-04-13T10:20:22","modified_gmt":"2012-04-13T16:20:22","slug":"something-completely-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/13\/something-completely-different\/","title":{"rendered":"And Now For Something Completely<\/em> Different (or: Of Studies, Liturgical Part VII)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I said “completely different,” I wasn’t kidding. <\/p>\n

“Emergent\/emerging\/emergence” worship fascinates me, though I’m never quite sure how much it represents an act of retrieval, how much a creative appropriation and inculturation of liturgy, and how much the idiosyncratic whims of communities (or individuals in communities responsible for preparing worship).<\/p>\n

TOPIC 6<\/strong> (Ritual Studies, Modern):
\nRitual Theory and \u201cEmergent\u201d Church Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recent disillusionment with various aspects of the mega-church phenomenon and ongoing distaste in some quarters for \u201ctraditional,\u201d “inherited” and\/or \u201cmainline\u201d churches have led many English-speaking Protestants to explore alternative forms of Christian community and alternative expressions of Christian worship. \u201cAlt.Worship,\u201d \u201cLiquid Worship\u201d and \u201cFresh Expressions\u201d are some of the terms applied to this diversifying phenomenon, resulting in something that Yale liturgiologist Bryan Spinks has recently characterized as a \u201cWorship Mall.\u201d Traditional symbols and gestures are being combined with impromptu ordines;<\/em> tactile and multi-sensory displays are being explored in ancient spaces in lieu of homiletic preaching; rock, rap and hip-hop music stand side-by-side with shape-note hymns and Gregorian chant, integrated with elaborate medieval ceremonial and vesture and high-tech lighting displays, and leadership of the liturgical assembly is sometimes divested from the ordained and shared among participants. Study of these forms of worship is nascent; much of what is being written is of a pastoral and \u201chow-to\u201d or ad hoc<\/em> character.
\nAs these forms of worship are \u201cemergent\u201d (so-called), negotiation of \u201critual tradition\u201d and \u201critual authority\u201d in them often poses internal challenges, as well as calling into question received forms and models. This topic will examine \u201cemergent\u201d church worship from a ritual theory perspective, utilizing insights from the theories of ritualizing developed in the work of Catherine Bell and Ronald Grimes.<\/p>\n

.<\/span>
\nRitual Theory Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bell, Catherine. \u201cThe Authority of Ritual Experts.\u201d Studia Liturgica<\/em> 23 (1993): 98-120.<\/p>\n

_____. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions.<\/em> \u201cPart III: Contexts: The Fabric of Ritual Life,\u201d 171-267. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. <\/p>\n

_____. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice.<\/em> Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.<\/p>\n

_____. \u201cRitual, Change, and Changing Rituals.\u201d Worship<\/em> 63 (1989): 31-41.<\/p>\n

Grimes, Ronald L. \u201cEmerging Ritual,\u201d 23-37. Reading, Writing and Ritualizing: Ritual in Fictive, Liturgical and Public Places.<\/em> Washington, DC: Pastoral Press, 19930. <\/p>\n

_____. \u201cLiturgical Supinity, Liturgical Erectitude: On the Embodiment of Ritual Authority,\u201d Studia Liturgica<\/em> 23 (1993): 51-61.<\/p>\n

_____. \u201cPutting Space in its Place,\u201d 101-113. Rite out of Place: Ritual, Media and the Arts.<\/em> Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.<\/p>\n

_____. Ritual Criticism: Case Studies in its Practice, Essays on its Theory.<\/em> Columbia: South Carolina Univeristy Press, 1990.<\/p>\n

.<\/span>
\n\u201cEmergent Church\u201d Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bader-Saye, Scott. \u201cThe Emergent Matrix: A New Kind of Church?\u201d Christian Century<\/em> 121.24 (2004): 20-25, 27.<\/p>\n

Bolger, Ryan K. \u201cCommunion and the Emerging Church in the United States,\u201d 113-122. Mass Culture: The Interface of Eucharist and Mission,<\/em> ed. Pete Ward. Abingdon (UK): BRF, 2008.<\/p>\n

Croft, Steven, Ian Mobsby and Stephanie Spellers, eds., Ancient Faith, Future Mission: Fresh Expressions in the Sacramental Tradition.<\/em> New York: Church Publishing\/Seabury Press, 2010.<\/p>\n

Gray-Reeves, Mary and Michael Perham. The Hospitality of God: Emerging Worship for a Missional Church.<\/em> New York: Church Publishing\/Seabury Press, 2011.<\/p>\n

Jones, Tony. The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier.<\/em> San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.<\/p>\n

Kimball, Dan. \u201cEmerging Worship,\u201d 288-333. Perspectives on Christian Worship: Five Views,<\/em> J. Matthew Pinson, ed. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2009.<\/p>\n

Malloy, Patrick L. \u201cRick Warren Meets Gregory Dix: The Liturgical Movement Comes Knocking at the Megachurch Door.\u201d Anglican Theological Review<\/em> 92 (2010): 439-453.<\/p>\n

Morgenthaler, Sally. \u201cEmerging Worship,\u201d 215-250. Exploring the Worship Spectrum: Six Views,<\/em> Paul A. Basden, ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.<\/p>\n

Spinks, Bryan D. The Worship Mall: Contemporary Responses to Contemporary Culture.<\/em> Alcuin Club Collections 85. London: SPCK, 2010.<\/p>\n

Webber, Robert E. Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God\u2019s Narrative.<\/em> Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008.<\/p>\n

Previous posts in this series:
\nOf Studies, Liturgical, Part VI<\/a>
\nOf Studies, Liturgical, Part V<\/a>
\nOf Studies, Liturgical, Part IV<\/a>
\nOf Studies, Liturgical, Part III<\/a>
\nOf Studies, Liturgical, Part II<\/a>
\nOf Studies, Liturgical<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emergent — emerging — emergence worship fascinates me, though I’m never quite sure how much it represents an act of retrieval, how much a creative appropriation and inculturation of liturgy, and how much the idiosyncratic whims of communities. . . . <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14,51,1191,379,33],"tags":[1955,1852,1953,1954],"class_list":["post-14089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inculturation","category-protestant-worship","category-technology-and-worship","category-young-adults","category-youth","tag-alternative-worship","tag-emerging-church","tag-fresh-expressions","tag-inculturation-2"],"yoast_head":"\nAnd Now For Something Completely Different (or: Of Studies, Liturgical Part VII) - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/13\/something-completely-different\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"And Now For Something Completely Different (or: Of Studies, Liturgical Part VII) - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emergent -- emerging -- emergence worship fascinates me, though I'm never quite sure how much it represents an act of retrieval, how much a creative appropriation and inculturation of liturgy, and how much the idiosyncratic whims of communities. . . .\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/13\/something-completely-different\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-13T16:19:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-13T16:20:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"90\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cody C. 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