Sixty years ago the Second Vatican Council inaugurated what would be a sea change in the way Christians prayer, not only in the Catholic communion, but across Western Christianity. The intervening decades have seen some steps forward, some sticking points, and new challenges to common prayer. In this issue of the Australian Journal of Liturgy, Jenny O'Brien addresses one of those sticking points, the place of women in liturgical ministry. Joseph Grayland addresses the intersection of Chris...

This assemblage of feminist theologies represents a series of vital entanglements. Chapters are written from different cultures, geographies and discourses and brought together around themes as specific and wide-ranging as immigration detention, hate crime, discrimination, rites of marriage and partnership, and artistic and religious imagination. The contributors variously echo, celebrate, question and contradict each other. Despite the complexity and allied as they are with liberation, de...

A groundbreaking collection of writings that place queer ritual at the center of the theological conversation.In this collection of essays, leading scholars in queer theology and liturgical studies explore the ways in which the distinctive theological voices of LGBTQIA+ Christians challenge and expand thinking and practice around worship in new directions. This challenge has expanded in the past decades, as obstacles to the full participation of queer Christians—pa...

Contributions to to this volume continue this year's reflections on the sixtieth anniversary of Sacrosanctum concilium. A recent trip home to Tennessee in the US highlighted for me the unusual moment we are occupy. When I grew up there in the 1970s and 1980s, many newly constructed churches reflected the signs of those times: contemporary architecture, fan-shaped seating, and a commitment to liturgy that reflected the culture we inhabited-for better and for worse! (I have always been a fan...

The connection between liturgy and justice has long been assumed: Faithful celebration of Eucharist would lead to just sharing of 'the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands'. Baptizing persons of every people and nation would yield societies in which each person treats another as a treasured image of God. Regular faithful engagement with scripture would shape followers of Jesus into living words within the Word. Yet centuries of Christian practice and decades of reflection on the ...

An exploration of Anglican "fresh expressions" of Church in England, and Episcopal Church "emerging churches" in the United States.

An anthology of essays by women who represent a broad international perspective and come from a variety of personal backgrounds, who believe that the Church cannot come to a wise and informed understanding of family life without listening to women.

We all want to celebrate the liturgy well, to experience good, uplifting, and meaningful worship. But what is the best route to follow? In The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy, Thomas O’Loughlin offers a way forward that strengthens faith, builds up Christian community, and points toward a new direction based on liturgical principles that are rooted in our natures as ritual beings as well as in the gospel.The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy explains why good liturgy is imp...

What is being a Catholic like in a Secular, Liberal Democracy?Joseph P. Grayland looks at the contemporary experience of a Roman Catholic parish in New Zealand and how it has changed under the influence of modern culture. He outlines the New Zealand context and offers a pastor's view of the impact of secular and pluralistic culture on believers, belief and liturgy.Catholics. Prayer, Belief and Diversity in a Secular Context explores severa...

An invitation to a conversation about the direction of our worship life.The Anglican colloquium of the North American Academy of Liturgy acknowledged the need for a collection of insights to aid in the liturgical formation of the Episcopal Church as we move into liturgical revision. The volume's contributions have been shaped around the clauses of resolution A068, looking at the ways in which parishes and individuals can live into this time of revision and creativi...

What motivates practice of the liturgy and sacramental rites of the church? Does the worship of God begin and end within each ritual enactment, or does the truth and value of sacramental celebration reside in the broader context of Christian life in church and society? For more than two decades, prominent Jesuit sacramental-liturgical theologian Bruce Morrill has explored the promise and problems inherent in the Second Vatican Council's call to renew liturgy's basic purpose--namely, the gl...

This book identifies and addresses the most important obstacles to the success of the new evangelization doctrinally, spiritually and pastorally, by leading experts in the field.