Liturgical Art: A Distinction and Direction
Rev. Dr. Donald P. Richmond
__
”The arts help liturgical mystery to become visible and effective.” [1]
These words by Bishop Albert Rouet highlight an important distinction in liturgical art. This distinction is critical to both the assembly and to the artist. The misunderstanding or misapplication of this distinction will inevitably result in the artist, the liturgical art, and the worshipping assembly failing to achieve the purposes for which they were each intended. Without understanding and honoring this distinction, the artist fails, art is compromised, and the assembly fails to enter into the fullest experience of worship. Without this distinction, liturgical art loses its purpose and its power. Read more…
April 11, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
We’re pleased to welcome another contributor to the site:
The Rev. Dr. Donald P. Richmond, a presbyter with the Anglican Province of America, has personal experience in a wide range of liturgical traditions: Roman Catholic (into which he was born and raised), Christian & Missionary Alliance (through whose outreach he was “saved”), Lutheran (the tradition in which he was originally commissioned), Baptist (with whom he served for many years), and Anglican (since 1986). The Rev. Dr. Richmond is the author of five books, most recently A Short Season in Hell: Meditations on Dante which is scheduled to be released by Forward Movement Publications. Rev. Richmond may be reached through e-mail at drichmond@kfh.org.
April 11, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
A poetic inscription on the Lateran Baptistery in Rome gives a wonderful series of theological metaphors for baptism. John F. Baldovin notes that the inscription is “often attributed to the mid-fifth century pope, Sixtus III.” The inscription reads:
“Here is born in Spirit-soaked fertility/ a brood destined for another City,/ begotten by God’s blowing/ and borne upon this torrent/ by the Church their virgin mother./ Reborn in these depths they reach for/ heaven’s realm,/ the born-but-once unknown by felicity./ This spring is life that floods the world,/ the wounds of Christ its awesome source,/ Sinner sink beneath this sacred surf/ that swallows age and spits out youth./ Sinner here scour away down to innocence,/ for they know no enmity who are by/ one font, one Spirit, one faith made one./ Sinner, shudder not at sin’s kind and number,/ for those born here are holy” (The Oxford History of Christian Worship, pgs. 93-94, translated by Aidan Kavanagh).
April 8, 2008
Categories: Baptism, Books, Catholicity, History of Liturgy . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
April 8, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
“Indeed, as we have seen, since the Reformation the emphasis has been placed upon the meal, upon the act of communion and upon the real presence. All this is quite right, but the almost exclusive insistence upon these aspects has tended to rivet the attention of theologians in the tradition of the Reformation, on the problem of Christ’s presence, as long as they have not been led astray into a spiritualizing symbolism, thus avoiding the central problem. The fact of the real presence is set in a new light if it is considered within the context of the Eucharist’s relation to the rites of the paschal meal and to the Jewish understanding of sacrifice fully accepted by Christ and His apostles. The more or less static conception of a sign of the presence of Christ is then abandoned in the recognition that the Eucharist is a liturgical action and a spiritual event which is the mystery of Christ’s self-giving. The real presence is not something to be defined and made use of; it is the presence of Christ crucified, risen and glorified and acting on our behalf, now in heaven, in the Church, by Word and Sacrament. The Eucharist must therefore be considered as the action of Christ in His Church, and the problem of His presence is only a corollary of this. In order to give Himself, Christ is present in person, in His body and blood, as He was on the cross and is in heaven. The question of the mode of His presence is secondary. It is Christ who acts; it is Christ who is present, both Man and God,” (Max Thurian, The Eucharistic Memorial, vol. I, 14-15, emphasis mine).
April 8, 2008
Categories: Books, Catholicity, Eucharist, General Liturgics, History of Liturgy . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
Rev. Daniel R. Hyde, pastor of Oceanside United Reformed Church, keeps churning out good books. One I’ve been meaning to recommend for a while is God With Us: Knowing the Mystery of Who Jesus Is. Although not specifically about liturgy, Hyde reminds us of central truths about the One we worship and serve in the Liturgy.
I found Rev. Hyde’s book a noteworthy example of pastoral-scholarship. His book is thoroughly Reformed (containing many insights from the Continental Reformed tradition) as well as ecumenical and catholic (highlighting the insights of the church fathers).
Although the book is brief (151 pgs.), Hyde covers the basics of Biblical Christology and does an admirable job of explaining the major Christological heresies. As a teacher who has struggled to explain Arianism and Apollinarianism to bewildered high-school students, I wish I had this book years ago!
An especially helpful section for today’s culture is the chapter comparing the teachings of the Qur’an and the Bible on the nature of Jesus Christ.
The four Appendices also exemplify Hyde’s concern with presenting the teaching of the historical Church. Appendix 1 contains the major Ecumenical Creeds, along with brief introductions to each creedal statement. Appendix 2 highlights the Christological teaching of the major Protestant confessions. Appendix 3 encapsulates the teaching of the 7 Ecumenical Councils (which all dealt with different areas of Christology). Finally, Appendix 4 presents a portion of Leo I’s Tome (which contributed to the Definition of Chalcedon).
I’ve dwelt at length on the Appendices because there is such widespread ignorance of Church History among Protestants, and even among the Reformed. Rev. Hyde’s book is an important contribution to helping us recover Reformed Catholicity. More importantly, he constantly reminds us of how the doctrines of Christology should comfort and challenge us practically and spiritually as he ends each chapter with a meditation and hymn or psalm. As we’ve all probably heard, theology should lead to doxology. Rev. Hyde’s book provides a good balance of both.
March 28, 2008
Categories: Books, Catholicity . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
New church added to our “Churches” Page: Reformation Covenant Church of Southern Oregon (Medford, OR - CREC). The liturgy is heavy on singing an chanting, but so is the Bible. It looks challening and demanding, but worship is work. It’s the Lord’s service, after all, where we actively serve the Lord.
But, we also need to explore ways to make some musical resources available for those who want to get serious about chanting. Liturgies like these can look too imposing for most. Anyone have any suggestions?
March 3, 2008
Categories: Catholicity, Eucharist, General Liturgics, Modern Worship, Music, Sample Liturgies . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: 1 Comment
From Max Thurian’s The Eucharistic Memorial (I): “The unity of Christians cannot be achieved by the study of history and its unfortunate lapses, nor by an ecclesiastical policy motivated by a generous charity, nor even by ecumenical gatherings at which an attempt is made to arrive at a compromise. Above all we must listen together to the Word of God, with the assistance of the earliest interpreters and doctors of the Church from the period when, though persecuted, she still enjoyed a more living and wider unity. Ecumenical gatherings should be biblical if they are to achieve any result and so prepare the way for that visible unity that God will reveal when we are ready to recognize it. The problem of the eucharistic sacrifice, like all other problems, must first of all be studied at the biblical level,” (pg. 14).
February 25, 2008
Categories: Catholicity, Eucharist, General Liturgics . . Author: Gregory Soderberg . Comments: No Comments
Gregory Soderberg
necdum videmus
tjsumpter
revjatb
Bryan Maes
