Historical Research: 16th Century to the Present
2003 Indianapolis, Indiana
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Convener 2003
Thomas Schattauer (associate professor of liturgics and dean of the Chapel, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa)
Seminar Participants 2003
Seminar members: David R. Bains; Kent J. Burreson; Alan F. Detscher; Richard G. Leggett; Frank C. Senn; Jeffrey A. Truscott; Karen Westerfield Tucker; James F. White
Visitors: Douglas K. Cullum, Kimberly B. Long, Eric T. Meyers, Jim Turrell
Seminar Report 2003
The Seminar considered three substantial papers. All were submitted in advance of the meeting, so the format included an introduction to the piece by its author and an extended discussion by the group.
Papers
David R. Bains, “Conduits of Faith: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Liturgical Thought.”
Bains’ paper showed how Niebuhr, the prominent neo-orthodox theologian, was an advocate of liturgical reform in American Protestantism and how liturgical understanding affected his theology.
Kimberly Long, “The Communion Sermons of James McGready: Sacramental Theology and Scots-Irish Piety on the Kentucky Frontier,” Journal of Presbyterian History 80:1 (2002).
The article provided a starting point for Long to present the outlines of her work on the place of spousal imagery from the Song of Songs in the sacramental theology and piety of the frontier revival in the early 19th century.
Karen Westerfield Tucker, “‘On the Occasion’: Charles Wesley’s Hymns on the London Earthquakes of 1750.”
Westerfield Tucker’s paper surveys the earthquake hymns of Charles Wesley as a theological and pastoral response to a specific crisis, the tremors of 1750 in and around London.
Other work of the seminar
The group present spent some time in discussion about the Seminar: its purpose, name, leadership, and membership. As a result it was decided to change the name of the seminar (Post-Reformation Historical Research) to reflect better our work. The new name—Historical Research: 16th Century to the Present—indicates more clearly our focus on research in the area of liturgical history during the period from the sixteenth century to the present. The former name excluded the Reformation period (which in fact we often considered) and seemed to imply particular interest in Protestant traditions of worship (which was never the intent). It is our hope that the future work of the seminar will include Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish members of the Academy. The Historical Research Seminar, thus, seeks to be the place in the Academy where members involved in the historical investigation of modern (in the broadest sense) liturgical history present their work. We also affirmed the place of graduate students in the group and the long-standing practice of welcoming presentations on their research, especially at the dissertation stage.
Following our custom to rotate the leadership of the seminar every three years, Richard Leggett accepted the invitation to take a term as convener.