NAAL Newsletter
Spring 2005
- Letter from the President: Thomas Schattauer
- From the Delegate for Membership: Ruth Langer
- News from the Treasurer: Glenn Byer
- From the Delegate for Seminars: Jill Crainshaw
- Call for Nominations
- January 2005 Business Meeting
- Remembering with Thanks: Louisville 2005
- Proceedings
- Congratulations to Don LaSalle
- Updated Address Information
- NAAL Academy Committee 2005
Letter from the President: Thomas Schattauer
Greetings to all of you in these days of lengthening light and warming earth in the late spring! I have watched the two large ash trees in our backyard come to life for a second time this season. The first set of green leaves blackened and fell off after a very late freeze. The new growth has just recently appeared. It is for me a strong sign of the life-giving power of God amidst the vicissitudes of history and experience. Is it not the ritual signs of this same life-giving power that we examine, interpret, and shape in our work of liturgical research and practice in all of its variety?
At its winter meeting, the Academy Committee met in San Diego at the Hyatt Regency Islandia on Mission Bay, where our next annual meeting will take place, January 5-8, 2006. We were captivated by views of the ocean, harbor, and city from the hotel. There is a wonderful interplay of interior spaces and the out-of-doors in the arrangement of the hotel that will give a special character to our meeting there. So, too the interplay of Anglo, Latino, and Asian/Pacific Rim cultures in this city will give a distinctive accent to our gathering in this place.
Our opening worship and reception will take place at the University of San Diego on the heights overlooking both Mission and San Diego Bays. We look forward to plenary addresses from our Vice-President Paul Turner and from Orlando Espín, Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism at the University of San Diego. In planning for all of this, we are fortunate to have, in addition to the Academy Committee itself, an excellent local committee: our members Dennis Krouse and Gary Macy, both from the faculty at the University of San Diego, and James Boline, a Lutheran pastor from neighboring Santa Monica, who will provide some logistical support.
At this time, I am happy to receive nominations for the Berakah Award, which we give each year to one of our members in recognition of distinguished contribution to the field of liturgy. I would also welcome suggestions for the Godfrey Diekman Award, given on occasion to a non-Academy member for distinguished contribution to liturgy. These can be sent to me at tschattauer@wartburgseminary.edu.
One innovation in the schedule for the San Diego meeting will be a designated lunch time from 12:00-1:30 each day to provide opportunity for conversation outside of the seminar groups. We are working with the hotel to provide convenient and efficient buffet possibilities for lunch. During one of those lunch times, there will be some formally announced “sidebar discussions.” The motivation for trying this has come from the music seminar, which as it disbands still wants to have some forum for conversation and sharing of resources among the many musicians spread throughout the various seminars. If you have a proposal for a sidebar discussion, either for this one occasion or perhaps continuing, send it to me at my email address.
Finally, let me report some developments on three important matters. The renovation of the website is a focus of continuing concern. The website needs to become the principal venue for communication to the membership and among the seminars as well as a good public face for the Academy. Michael Driscoll and his ad hoc committee have done some commendable work toward its redesign, and we look forward to seeing the results of that work this fall. In the meantime, we will continue to post new items for our common work on the current website.
We are very near to signing a new hotel contract with the Hyatt for the next five years. Our hotel liaison, Alan Barthel, played the leading role in soliciting bids from several prominent hotel chains (Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton/Westin, and Wyndham) and presenting them to the Academy Committee. We decided on the Hyatt based upon the quality of service in relation to cost, the choice of cities, and the good working relationship we have established with them over the years. You will notice some reduction in the room rates, especially in the first three-years of the contract and a reduced rate for a limited number of our retired members. I will have more details to share after we finalize the contract.
The last item has to do with hiring a paid administrative assistant to assist the officers of the Academy in their responsibilities. In her presidential report at our business meeting in Louisville, Doris Donnelly proposed that the Academy Committee take this under consideration. The first step in those deliberations was to survey the former officers of the Academy. The survey results gave significant encouragement to the Academy Committee to pursue this possibility and to present a formal proposal to the membership. At the same time, there were expressions of concern for how the professionalization of the organization might change its character and strain the budget. As the Academy Committee continues to deliberate about this, I welcome your comments.
Check your calendar now and set aside the dates of our time together in San Diego in the new year 2006—January 5-8. And all the best to each of you in your own work with the ritual signs of God’s life-giving power in this and every season.
From the Delegate for Membership: Ruth Langer
We continue to seek to expand our membership, and especially to enhance its religious, racial, and ethnic diversity. We ask your help in pursuing three specific paths:
- As in past years, we invite the Academy membership to submit names of individuals who meet the criteria for membership but who do not yet belong to the Academy. This includes, especially, established and accomplished professionals in liturgy and related disciplines as well as junior colleagues and advanced graduate students. Please send names and contact information to Ruth Langer, Delegate for Membership (ruth.langer@bc.edu) and/or Doris Donnelly, Past President (ddonnelly@jcu.edu) so that we may invite these individuals to join us.
- Within the Academy, we are aware that “liturgy” includes disciplines like preaching, music and other arts, etc., but this is not a universal perception. Please help us become known among those engaged in forms and aspects of worship who do not think of themselves specifically as “liturgists.” Again, please direct these individuals to Doris Donnelly.
- As always, those who have attended an annual meeting at least twice as visitors have been invited to apply for full membership. Please encourage those who participated in your seminar (or whom you know otherwise) to do so. All materials for applications, including recommendation forms and instructions are available on the website at http://naal-liturgy.org/documents/member-app.htm. All materials are due by September 15, but applications will be considered earlier as they are completed. Please note that between the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate on October 28 and the Jewish holy days all falling in October this year, your delegate for membership would appreciate early submission of materials and may not be able to process applications and recommendations that arrive after the deadline.
News from the Treasurer: Glenn Byer
I am happy to report that the firm foundation laid down by Alan Detscher has made this first year of my term another good year for the Academy. Our financial position continues to strengthen. I am especially grateful to those members who even now have realized that they need to send in their membership dues for the current year. Dues are still gladly accepted.
One area of the budget that has not been fully utilized this year is that of the scholarships that we offer for those who find attending the Annual Meeting a financial burden. These are for students, or really anyone who would like to attend but are unable to do so for financial reasons. If you or one of your students might be a candidate for a scholarship, please contact our President, who oversees these grants.
On a personal note, I have moved. From now on, the address for the treasurer is this:
Glenn Byer
NAAL Treasurer
2127 NW Irving #301
Portland, OR 97210-5244
U.S.A.
My e-mail address continues to be gcjb@aol.com,
so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about your membership
dues or other issues surrounding the finances here at the Academy. Please put
NAAL in the subject line so that I do not inadvertently delete your e-mail.
Please note that our budget year concludes at the end of June, so anyone who has any academy bills that are not yet paid or dues to submit, please ensure that they are forwarded to me before then.
I look forward to another year of service to the Academy. San Diego will be a wonderful site for our meeting, and I hope to see as many of you as possible there.
From the Delegate for Seminars: Jill Crainshaw
Greetings from North Carolina!
I want to extend a public word of gratitude to seminar conveners for the excellent leadership they continue to provide for the work of the Academy. Seminars in Louisville were both energized and productive. I look forward to our work in preparation for January 2006.
Thank you!
Call for Nominations
At the 2006 annual meeting, we will elect a vice president and a delegate for seminars. Your nominations are invited.
The vice president gives a major address to the Academy at the next meeting, then becomes president, with primary responsibility for planning the annual meeting and overseeing the business of the academy. The delegate for seminars works with seminar conveners to coordinate the work of the seminars. Both the vice president and the delegate for seminars serve on the Academy Committee, which usually meets twice between each annual meeting.
Please consider who might serve the Academy effectively in these positions. Academy members may nominate a colleague and/or may nominate themselves.
Send your nominations to Ruth Meyers at r-meyers@seabury.edu
January 2005 Business Meeting
The minutes for the NAAL Business Meeting held in January 2005 will soon be posted on our web page. The minutes will also be sent to you in a separate mailing.
Remembering with Thanks: Louisville 2005
Office of Theology and Worship
Presbyterian Church (USA)
100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202
January 11, 2005
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Schauttauer
President, NAAL
Wartburg Theological Seminary
333 Wartburg Place
Dubuque, IA 52004-5004
Dear Tom:
On behalf of the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA), I am writing to express our deep appreciation for the honor of welcoming Academy members to the Presbyterian Center for a service of Evening Prayer at our recent meeting here in Louisville. We are grateful for the effort and expense made by the Academy to visit our site and for the opportunity to invite participants to worship in the Chapel and to join us in prayers that make use of our denomination’s liturgical resources.
Thank you for your on-going commitment to sharing ecumenical practices and encouraging the members of the Academy to explore worship spaces in the cities where we meet.
Grace and Peace,
Paul Galbreath
Associate for Worship
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Proceedings
The latest issue of Proceedings will be mailed to you in the month of June, thanks to the hard work of Joyce Ann Zimmerman and the Editorial Board of Proceedings.
Congratulations to Don LaSalle
Congratulations to Academy Secretary Don LaSalle, who was recently elected vicar general of the Montfort Missionaries. As a member of the central administration of his religious order, Don will be dividing his time between Rome and the United States.
Updated address information
Thank you to all of you who sent in updated address information. In order to keep our membership roster accurate, please send Don LaSalle any recent changes to your mailing address, email address, or phone numbers.
NAAL Academy Committee 2005
Contact Information
President
Thomas Schattauer
Wartburg Theological Seminary
333 Wartburg Place
Dubuque, IA 52004-5004
Work: 563-589-0224
Home: 563-588-8655
Fax: 563-589-0333
tschattauer@wartburgseminary.edu
Treasurer
Glenn CJ Byer
2127 NW Irving #301
Portland, OR 97210-5244
Work: 503-460-5330
Home: 503-737-0822
Fax: 877-348-1429
gcjb@aol.com
Delegate for Seminars
Jill Crainshaw
Wake Forest University Divinity School
P.O. Box 7719 Reynolds Station
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Work: 336-758-3517
crainsjy@wfu.edu
Past President
Doris Donnelly
John Carroll University
20700 North Park Blvd.
Cleveland, OH 44118
Work: 216-397-1651
Home: 216-321-9785
Fax: 216-397-1771
ddonnelly@jcu.edu
Delegate for Membership
Ruth Langer
1215 Commonwealth Avenue
W. Newton, MA 02465
Work: 617-552-8492
Home: 617-969-6530
Fax: 617-552-0794
Langerr@bc.edu
Secretary
Donald LaSalle
Montfort House
P.O. Box 667
Litchfield, CT 06759
Work & Home: 860-567-1041or 860-567-8434
Fax: 860-567-9670
Donsmm@aol.com
Vice-President
Paul Turner
St. Munchin Church
316 W 3rd Street
Cameron, MO 64429-1611
Work: 816-632-2768
Home: 816-304-1890
Fax: 816-632-7997
PaulTu@aol.com