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1. History of the Project
The church senate of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover issued a call
for suggestions to improve methods of church work in 1995. Among the suggestions
approved by the senate was the project “Worship in real life settings”
(“Situationsgerecht Gottesdienst feiern”).
2. Motivation
The project is a response to these perceived and widely held views:
- Liturgies are often planned and scheduled which do not meet parishioners’,
particularly youths’ felt needs.
- Liturgies are frequently incompatible with a person’s daily and real-life
choices. They are too often unconnected to real-life personal, political, family
and social events as well as professional life.
- Liturgies often dismiss critical definitions of politics and culture or do
not adequately include an appropriate and competetive journalistic view
motivating younger adults, professional and academic contemporaries to attend
church.
- Liturgies thereby often do not precisely enough express the concreteness of
the word of God and of the cross of Christ in order to explain and express God’s
grace and gift for every felt situation.
3. Goals of the Project
The project pursues the following goals:
- to affirm the importance of liturgies which facilitate expression of the
needs of individuals and communities before God.
- to use the virtues of liturgical occasions and "worship rites of passage"
such as baptism, confirmation, wedding ceremonies and funerals which are often
perceived as more meaningful than ordinary Sunday services particularly by those
parishioners who live with only nominal church affiliation.
- to motivate, resource and inform pastors and other church leaders so as to
make worship more meaningful and increase attendance in stated and occasional
services.
- to update understandings of local church worship.
4. Concerning Standards of
Research: Reflections like that are not new:
- In the classical antique period speech and conduct appropriate to a
situation (Greek "prepon" - πρέπον; Latin: "aptum" / "decorum") were
analysed in the disciplines of rhetoric and almost every art.
-
The early church fathers, especially Athanasius discussed and defined speech and
behaviour fitting to God.
- Preachers like Joh. Chrysostomos used the principles of antique rhetoric
for magnificent and celebrated sermons.
- During renaissance and reformation times the old rethorical
principles were rediscovered and used for restructuring cultural and
religious life. This history, however, was forgotten or dismissed for a long
time.
- Karl Barth, for example, wrote an essay on "Congregational Appropriateness
of the Sermon" ("Die Gemeindemäßigkeit der Predigt"), published in the
periodical "Evangelische Theologie" of 1956. There he, of course, criticizes the
attempt to consider the needs of parish people as opposed to the demand of God's
word.
- Helmar Junghans, the well-known Luther-scholar, discussed the question more
positively under the title "Is the Lutheran agenda apt to the time, to the place
and to the congregation being?" ("Ist die lutherische Agende zeit-, orts- und
gemeindegemäß?", Lutherjahrbuch 1975).
- Impulses like that were incorporated in the reform work of the evangelical
"Renewed Liturgical Agenda" ("Erneuerte Agende"), edited for a testing period in
1990, and the "Evangelical Book of Divine Services" ("Evangelisches
Gottesdienstbuch"), edited and officially introduced for the Lutheran and United
Evangelical Churches in Germany in 1999.
Recent developments, e. g. in christian media and language criticism,
research in contemporary leisure habits, studies related to worship spaces, and
feminist theology offer possibilities to rediscover situational aptness and to
enhance liturgical creativity. Studies of appropriate liturgical rhetoric and
action have revealed new assets, however, a systematic employment still has to
be completed. A number of young researchers as well as notable scholars and
practitioners have investigated the subject and produced a number of relevant
studies. We want to invite others, including specialists in liturgical,
theological, journalistic, church musical, game pedagogical, dramaturgical,
recipient aesthetical and other perspectives to contribute to an omnibus volume
that will feature specific aspects of situational liturgies as well as a
practical manual for liturgical practice.
5. Areas of Interest
If liturgies should be planned and conducted more
appropriately to express the personal, social, cultural or political situations
of the participants, the following questions may be helpful as beginning
points:
- Which specific areas and dimensions of personal situations should be
considered?
- What persons and groups play roles in this context?
- What liturgical elements and means are eligible as expressions for the
purpose intended?
- What influences from history, literature and contemporary social issues and
developments should be taken into account?
6. A new Range for Liturgical
Activities
The project could assist in making use of the widened range of creative
variation granted by the innovative liturgical agenda. Will your proposal help
to implement the full scope (“Spielraum”) of the four structural parts of all
worship ceremonies according to the “Renewed Agenda” / “Evangelical Book of
Worship”:
- opening and invocation
- proclamation and confession
- communion as well as
- mission and benediction ?
See: Frieder Schulz’ introductory remarks to the "Structural
paper"
of The Lutheran Liturgical Conference: Zur Einführung in das
“Strukturpapier” der Lutherischen Liturgischen Konferenz.
Hrsg. v. d.
Geschäftsstelle der Arnoldshainer Konferenz,
Berlin 1974.
7. Criteria
The basic requirement for articles to be sent in thereby is that they should
present and explain at least
four relevant criteria for an increased situational
aptness and awareness of worship. They can be worded like:
- "suitability of worship elements for everyday life",
- "conduciveness for specific developmental, spiritual, family or other
relations",
- "playfulness of worship action",
- "authenticity and trustworthiness of indicated life perspectives".
If possible, do formulate your criteria and express of what effect they can be.
8.
Requirements Contributions may use and include any of the
following elements:
- a distinct example or typical situation as starting point,
- a perception and description of this situation defining a problem,
- an overview over the area of specific concern,
- main categories, types or partitions regarding one field or dimension of
worship,
- resulting criteria,
- specific analysis,
- interpretation of the results,
- implementation and conclusions regarding a problem of worship,
- questions of methodical control,
- relevant literature.
9. Form of Submission
Writers are free to submit studies of different form and scope, for example:
- criticism
- practical ideas and suggestions
- a book review
or commentary
- a meditation
as well as on a variety of
topics, e. g.: - methodology
-
biblical study
- history of worship
- specific liturgy
- special fields or methods (leisure theory, creative activities) etc.
Both long and short contributions are welcome. Editorial abridgement is
reserved. Qualified contributions can be published in English or will be
translated into German, if desired.
10. Questions:
If you want to contribute, please answer the following questions. Could you
please indicate your specific area of interest:
..........................................................................................................................
What contributions could you make to their presentation and discussion ?
..........................................................................................................................
What are the relevant criteria for appropriate celebration according to your
study and opinion:
1.)
..........................................................................................................................
2.)
.........................................................................................................................
3.)
..........................................................................................................................
4.)
..........................................................................................................................
Liturgical elements, means or traits fulfilling these criteria:
..................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................
11. For More Information:
A more detailed information please contact Dr. Hans-Hermann Tiemann, Englerstr.
1, D 49143 Bissendorf-Wissingen, Germany. e-Mail: h-h.tiemann[at]osnanet.de
12. Omnibus Volume
A first compilation of papers came out in print in 2009:
Hans-Hermann Tiemann (Hrsg.):
Situationsgerecht Gottesdienst feiern.
Zur Verbesserung liturgischen Handelns
vol. 1
Bielefeld (Publisher: Luther-Verlag) 2009
(600 pages)
Link:
Luther-Verlag.de
A second volume is forthcoming soon. If you like, be part of it.
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