Liturgical Language
2003 Indianapolis, Indiana
2005 | 2004 | 2003
Convener 2003
Melinda Quivik (pastor at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis; writing her dissertation for a Ph.D. in liturgy and homiletics from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley on liturgical aesthetics and funeral liturgy)
Seminar Participants 2003
Seminar members: Melinda Quivik, Gail Ramshaw, Lawrence Stookey, Brian Wren
Visitor: J. Barrington Bates
Seminar Report 2003
Meeting for the first time, we recognized that liturgical language is a broader purview than words (triune name) per se, but we expect that our work will mostly revolve around written text meant for liturgical use. The seminar considered three papers, a newly written liturgical prayer, and engaged in wide-ranging discussion that dealt with biblical theology, metaphor, hermeneutics, psychology, ritual, denominational distinctions, and numerous other fields.
Papers
Gail Ramshaw, “Wording the Sanctus”
This detailed examination of the Sanctus moves through a focus on individual words (especially Sabaoth) toward a proposal for dynamic equivalence that strengthens both metaphorical richness and the vernacular. In part Ramshaw seeks an ecumenical translation that avoids unnecessary use of the word “Lord,” carries an explicit Christology, and gets “the angels back into their song.”
Melinda Quivik, “What is the Communion of Saints: Three Burial Rites, Two Christian Views of Death: Lutheran, Presbyterian, Orthodox”
A comparison of the burial rites of the Orthodox, Lutheran (ELCA), and Presbyterian (PCA) churches shows a great difference in the ultimate conceptualization of the communion of saints due to such matters as the treatment of the deceased’s body, content of the prayers, prayers for the dead and the role of baptismal proclamation.
Barrie Bates, “A Riotous Mixture of Phrases: Ian Ramsey’s Assertion of the Impropriety of Religious Language, the Need for This in Liturgical Texts, and How One Contemporary Rite Fails to Be Odd Enough”
By comparing the 1928 The Book of Common Prayer rite for visitation of the sick with the revision of that rite in 2000 Enriching Our Worship 2, Bates asks whether the revisions adequately address Ian Ramsey’s convictions about liturgical language. Bates seeks to evaluate possible laws for ritual language, appreciating the intent of the revisions to address issues of inclusivity but asking whether other considerations might allow the new liturgies to be more authentically Christian.
Brian Wren, “Trinity Praise and Petition”
This work is a prayer for liturgical use that was omitted (for the sake of time) from the 2003 NAAL Morning Prayer offered by members of the former seminar called the Triune Name. The prayer consists of four sections of praise, seven petitions, and a closing doxology—all based in the theological work of David S. Cunningham.