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Ec u m e n i c a l Li t u r g y , It s Possibilities a n d Pr o b l e m s Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this essay was presented at the cal movement came with Vatican i i ’s Constitution on the 43rd International Ecumenical Seminar in Strasbourg, France, on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium). Since the faithful theme “The Liturgy as Ecumenical Chance and Challenge.” must “take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects” (§11), a number of reforms are necessary. There should be “more reading from Holy Scripture, and it is to be more var- The Liturgical Movement and the Ecumenical Movement ied and suitable” (§35.1); preaching is to be emphasized, Already, among the ecumenically-minded, preparations improved, and included in every , with its content are underway to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of drawn “mainly from scriptural and liturgical sources, and the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910, its character should be that of a proclamation of God’s which is regarded as the birthday of the ecumenical move- wonderful works in the history of salvation” (§35.2); the use ment. What seems to be quite a bit less well-known is that of the vernacular is permitted (§36.2); and “ this year, 2009, is also a hundredth anniversary celebration, under both kinds may be granted” (§55). Further, though and for a movement that has impacted the Christian world the magisterium reserved to itself the right to approve all every bit as much: the liturgical movement.1 liturgical changes, it was conceded that “[e]ven in the lit- urgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity Roman Catholic Beginnings In 1909, at the Malines in matters which do not implicate the faith or the good of Conference, Dom Lambert Beauduin, a Benedictine monk the whole community; rather does she respect and foster in Belgium, delivered a paper on “The True Prayer of the the genius and talents of the various races and peoples” Church.” Following and building on the concerns of Pope (§37). Pius x to restore Gregorian chant and to urge more fre- quent communion among the faithful, Beauduin argued Protestants, Orthodox, Pentecostals It is easy to that the corporate liturgy of the church is the heart and imagine how Protestants reacted. Four hundred years later, soul of Christian existence. Therefore, it is necessary for all these Reformation dreams were coming true—a renewed the laity to attend worship, understand it, and participate commitment to Scripture and preaching, liturgy in the ver- in it fully and intelligently. This apparently simple observa- nacular, communion in both kinds, evangelical freedom in tion sparked a much-needed renewal in the church’s wor- worship! Suddenly Anglicans, Lutherans, Reformed, and ship. all the rest in the Protestant family of churches began to pay For the next fifty years or so, the seedling liturgical move- attention. The Roman suddenly became a ment grew slowly, mostly at the initiative of monastic com- leader in the liturgical renewal of Protestant churches. This munities within the Roman Catholic church such as Maria was possible also because the same Second Vatican Council Laach in Germany and Klosterneuburg in Austria. The issued the decree Unitatis Redintegratio, officially announcing liturgical movement was formally recognized by Pope Pius the entrance of the Roman Catholic church into the ecu- x i i in 1947 with the encyclical Mediator Dei et Hominum. menical movement. From here on out, the ecumenical and But the most significant breakthrough for the liturgi- liturgical movements were intertwined.

Lu t h e r a n Fo r u m 3 Protestants had already seen some bers in worship and discipleship, and there is a sense of loss in those who connections between liturgy and ecu- that was the founding insight of Dom were used to older liturgical styles; the menism before the Second Vatican Beauduin in 1909. liturgical movement has caused a fixa- Council.2 In 1937, the newly formed To summarize, the liturgical move- tion on correct performance at one World Council of Churches commis- ment has had at its heart concerns that extreme and user-friendly entertain- sioned a study called Ways of Worship have found an eager ecumenical audi- ment evangelism at the other; what is to compare liturgies.3 Over the years ence. It has stressed the participation passed off as progress, ecumenically there were also many formal attempts of all the baptized in worship, not only or theologically, afterward appears to pray across denominational bound- the clergy. It has looked backward to a to be a passing trend; language that aries, such as the World Day of Prayer, time before the division of the church, is easier to understand decreases the the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, lifting up the earliest known informa- sense of transcendence and mystery the Week of Prayer for World Peace, tion about the liturgy as found in Justin in worship; emphasis on public wor- and the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle.4 Martyr, Hippolytus, and the , ship has undermined private devotion After Vatican i i , many Protestant among others. It has expanded the and prayer and, consequently, per- churches adopted the three-year lec- role of the Scriptures. It has looked sonal commitment to public worship; tionary introduced in the Roman to what other churches past and pres- the “non-liturgical” churches have Catholic church, or at least a revised ent have done. Perhaps most of all, been completely ignored by the litur- version of it. Common Scriptures the liturgical movement has promoted gical movement; the Roman Catholic raised the question of common lan- the (as it is generally called church is seen to be pulling back from guage, since many denominations in ecumenical circles to emphasize the many of its original commitments to used their own translations of prayers elements of prayer and thanksgiving) reform; and so on. and Bible passages in their liturgies. as the center, summit, and source of The relationship between the litur- Once again, the Roman Catholic Christian life—as the main thing in gical and ecumenical movements, church led the way with International which the laity ought to participate. their success and their failure, can Commission on English in the Lit- be profitably analyzed through the urgy (i c e l , later i c e t and now e l l c ), Decline The ecumenical and litur- example of ecumenical eucharistic litur- in which non-Catholics soon came to gical movements have one last aspect gies. Since and the liturgi- be involved. Many English-speaking in common: namely, that both now cal renewal have seen the eucharist as churches now use the same words for seem to be in decline. It has been com- the goal and center of Christian life, common liturgical texts like the Lord’s mon for the past twenty years or so to it is not surprising that these move- Prayer, the creeds, and biblical canti- say that we are suffering through an ments have come together in attempts cles like the and Gloria. Parallel “ecumenical winter.” Liturgical schol- to create common eucharistic litur- translation projects are also found in ars have been saying much the same gies.8 The task here is to examine the other languages. thing about the liturgical movement. content of the newly created eucharis- The liturgical movement has been Roman Catholic theologian Aidan tic liturgies, not the practice of differ- dominated mostly by Roman Catho- Kavanaugh has predicted the out- ent churches communing together or lics and mainline Protestants. The come of liturgical renewal as “liturgi- individual churches’ policies regarding Orthodox churches have perhaps made cal paralysis… the bringing of prayer other Christians at their table. The an impact on the liturgical movement and worship into fundamental disre- question is how well these liturgies as more than they have felt it. There was pute, and the dispersal of the Church such represent and enable true ecu- a hope that the Orthodox churches itself as a worshipping assembly.”6 menical reconciliation. could reintroduce the West liturgi- Another Roman Catholic, W. J. Gris- cally to the “undivided” church. Some brooke, argues that “liturgical reform Ecumenical Eucharistic Liturgies Western churches therefore adopted has been hijacked in the service of Orthodox chants or an in the philosophies and attitudes, of move- Three eucharistic liturgies in particu- eucharist. Evangelical, charismatic, ments and ‘causes’ which have nothing lar have been significant for the ecu- and Pentecostal churches have a repu- to do with liturgy, nothing to do with menical movement. tation for being “non-liturgical”—an worship, nothing to do with prayer— imprecise term at best, meaning they nothing to do, in the end, with Chris- The Church of South India Since don’t use the traditional liturgies of tianity.”7 An initiative to increase the it was missionaries who started the the past—but it has been suggested laity’s participation in communion in ecumenical movement, it is fitting that that their success is to some extent a Great Britain, called “Parish and Peo- they were also the authors of the first product of the liturgical movement.5 ple,” is now seen to have done more real ecumenical eucharistic liturgy. These churches emphasize the full to reduce churchgoing than to increase It is even more fitting that this lit- and active participation of their mem- it! Other criticisms have been voiced: urgy was for one of the first churches

4 Fa l l 2009 formed by the union of confessionally liturgists restored the peace to con- and chants with only a few words, disparate bodies. In 1947, the Church gregational usage. From South India musically beautiful but not complex, of South India was formed out of it spread back to Europe and North easy to understand and translate, and several Anglican dioceses, a province America. drawn mostly from scriptural texts. of the Methodist church, the South Another interesting detail: in order The eucharistic liturgy of Taizé, Indian United Church (itself a merger not to scandalize a Hindu who thought composed in 1959 and revised in of Presbyterians and Congregation- the clergy were worshiping the cross 1972, again followed many of the alists some decades before), and the on the wall behind the altar, the litur- insights of the liturgical movement. It Basel Mission church. The Church of gists had the pastor stand behind the emphasized the active participation of South India was the first instance of altar and face the people, instead of in the laity in spoken responses and song. episcopal and non-episcopal churches front of the altar with his back to the It included some traditionally Ortho- joining together.9 people. This also became a common dox elements. Stylistically it depended The original plan was to let each practice in Western churches. upon monastic prayer and chant, evok- congregation continue in its tradi- A third significant decision was the ing if not strictly copying the sense tional worship practice. But very soon adoption of Anglican monk Gregory of an ancient and undivided church. there was a need for a joint liturgy at Dix’s “fourfold action” model for the Like the Church of South India, it services where members of different eucharistic liturgy. Dix had argued that followed the latest scholarship on the former churches would be together— every eucharist must include taking, fourfold action and the eucharistic ordinations, for example. So the fram- blessing, breaking, and distributing. prayer. The Taizé eucharist also tried ers of this new eucharistic liturgy, Because of this decision in the Church to deal with denominational divisions: first made public in 1950, set out to of South India, nearly all ecumenical early in the morning there would be a appropriate “the great classical tradi- eucharistic liturgies since then, and Roman Catholic mass, the tion of Christian worship, as found in very many denominational liturgies would be reserved, and then it would the ancient liturgies, while subjecting as well, include these four actions. be distributed at the same time as the it to the critical insights of the Refor- This is a case of liturgists deliberately sacrament from the Taizé eucharist.15 mation.”10 re-forming liturgy on the basis of It was the closest they could get to a There’s nothing particularly Indian scholarship in the new discipline of shared Supper. about about this principle. The peo- liturgical studies. It is unfortunate that ple who wrote this liturgy were aware Dix’s theory has been discredited by The Lima Liturgy The most of that, even though “inculturation” more recent research!12 famous of the ecumenical eucharis- didn’t become a major theme of the The South Indian liturgists knew tic liturgies is the Lima Liturgy, com- liturgical movement till decades later. they were creating something ecu- posed by Taizé brother Max Thurian Christianity still had shallow roots menically bold. One of their bishops to celebrate the approval of the docu- in Indian soil. It had not yet been so had told them: “[D]o not add heri- ment , Eucharist and Ministry by deeply appropriated by the local cul- tages together, but restore to India the the Faith and Order Commission in ture to express itself in a “natural” church of the fathers, and remember Lima, , in 1982. The Lima Lit- Indian form. And India is far too that it is provisional till there shall once urgy was used again by the w c c later diverse a country to have one single more be an ecumenical church.”13 in 1982, and then most famously at “natural” form that could be expressed This ecumenical eucharistic liturgy the Vancouver assembly of the w c c in liturgically anyway.11 So the Church has been mostly successful, though a 1983. Anglicans, Methodists, , of South India liturgy was composed group of former Anglican churches Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, and in English as the base language. It was ended up leaving the Church of South Christians then translated into the many lan- India to become Anglican again, for all helped lead the worship. But by guages of India as needed. reasons that had much to do with the a decade later, it was no longer used Still, there are some elements of tra- liturgy.14 at such assemblies. Everyone realized ditional Indian culture and Christian- that the churches are really not united ity included in this liturgy. The most Taizé A second important ecu- at the altar, and they couldn’t honestly significant for the rest of the world menical eucharistic liturgy comes act otherwise at ecumenical gather- is the restoration of the exchange of from Taizé. Not entirely by its own ings.16 peace. In most churches, the peace intention, Taizé became an important The Lima Liturgy is an ideal exam- had long since become a formal center of spiritual renewal for youth. ple of the possibilities and problems action of the clergy among themselves It needed to develop a suitable form inherent in all ecumenical liturgies. or had even disappeared. Because the of prayer for young, short-term, inter- In the first place, it is a patchwork of exchange of peace was similar to the national visitors. The result is familiar many different elements. In addition greetings of South Indian culture, the to most of us by now: simple songs to biblical texts, it includes the confes-

Lu t h e r a n Fo r u m 5 sion and from the Lutheran other as Christians, how can we fail of project, the move since then into Book of Worship; a Kyrie with Byzan- to share the eucharist together? But if ever-greater diversity in liturgy, and tine roots; the , marked we are all really Christians, how can the disappointment that accompanied as the one from the year 381 to avoid we disagree so profoundly about the both of these things, has obscured the filioque problems; intercessory prayers eucharist? fact that nearly all the liturgy in our based on the of Pope Gelasius In reality, the Lima Liturgy is “ecu- churches these days is ecumenical. from the late fifth century; prayers menical” but only in a very limited Consider the following points. before the eucharist based on Jewish way. This liturgy is Western in style cross boundaries more sources and the Didache; an epiclesis and ordo. It is mainline Protestant in its easily than any other part of wor- derived from the liturgy of St. James policy but not uni- ship. Non-Lutherans sing “A Mighty in the fourth century; a fol- versally Protestant in that policy. It is Fortress,” non-Roman Catholics sing lowing Reformed practice; and overall modern in its sense of freedom to pick Gregorian chants, non-Evangelicals many similarities to the Taizé liturgy. and choose among different elements sing contemporary praise songs, and The second item to consider is that to achieve a certain effect. It is academic non-Reformed sing Genevan . the Lima Liturgy is a “theme” liturgy. in that it was constructed on the foun- Music is so close to the heart of faith, Since it was written to reflect the con- dation of scholarly research rather and yet we are willing to sing our vergence of many churches around than through organic local develop- faith in the words of Christians whose the topics of baptism, eucharist, and ment. None of these things need be altars and pulpits we don’t share. This ministry, these three themes appear judged good or bad in themselves— is a remarkable case of spontaneous regularly—and, by liturgical stan- but they are specific to certain ways reception. dards, exhaustively—in the prayers. of being Christian. In the end, as Further, members of the same As a result, despite its widespread one scholar put it, the Lima Liturgy language group now read the same use, the Lima Liturgy has come in for a is truly a local liturgy.21 The locality in translations of the Bible, which are great deal of critique and outright crit- this case is an international gathering the work of ecumenically representa- icism.17 As one liturgical scholar put it, of the kind of people to whom ecu- tive committees of scholars. Common Lima “seemed verbose and tended to menism and eucharistic sharing are of translations of prayers and biblical bog down” on the local level, though primary importance. Again, that may canticles are also shared. it may have been “the appropriate and be judged good or bad, but if the term The church year is recognized only possible solution for international “ecumenical” intends also the ideal almost universally, even if some ecumenical gatherings.”18 Further, as of “universal,” then the Lima Liturgy churches celebrate it maximally with a patchwork of various elements, no falls short. all the minor festivals and others worshipper could feel particularly restrict themselves to Christmas and at home or in a position of focused Easter only. Likewise, a common lec- The Future of Ecumenical Liturgy prayerfulness. An “exotic experience” tionary means that a majority of the and “big event” for the sake of a “feel- Given the limited success of these faithful are meditating on the same ing of community” seemed to over- eucharistic liturgies, what are our texts of Scripture most Sundays of whelm all other considerations in this options for ecumenical liturgy from the year. kind of liturgy.19 now on? I will try to answer this ques- Even preaching is ecumenical now- A eucharistic liturgy like Lima forces tion in three ways: with an encourag- adays. It is almost impossible to find into the open the most basic questions ing observation, a practical suggestion, a contemporary biblical commentary of ecumenism. What is the church? and an ecclesiological challenge. or a book of theology whose author Where is the church? Is an ecumenical does not draw on cross-denomina- eucharist the perfect expression of the An Encouraging Observation tional scholarship. Pastors who read goal of ecumenism, a kind of “super- The hope that the Lima Liturgy, or such books participate in a wider ecu- worship,”20 automatically better than something like it, could be universal menical conversation, which expresses all local, confessional liturgies? Or is reflects the liturgical scholarship of its itself in their sermons. an ecumenical eucharist a homeless time. There was an expectation that Since total uniformity in worship imitation of the real thing, hosted by a unified Western rite or at least ordo is neither possible nor desirable, it is nobody, gathering only a self-selected could be formulated, resolving all important for us to recognize how number of individuals who have the ongoing doctrinal controversies about much these things I have mentioned time, money, and luxury to worry the eucharist and uniting all the bro- do show a real ecumenical conver- about church unity? Are we always ken fragments of the Western church gence. We share a great deal of the going to be visitors in each other’s again, chiefly through repristinating same words, prayers, songs, and other churches? Or will we ever really be the primitive liturgy of the earliest kinds of content in our liturgies. at home there? If we recognize each Christians. The failure of this kind What about the eucharist? As long

6 Fa l l 2009 as we continue to believe and teach We have all had the experience of ous. A faith without content is a faith very different things about it, we will attending another church and com- without God. Doctrinal differences have a hard time finding a common pletely misinterpreting some part of covered up in this generation rise liturgy to satisfy all churches. This it, judging it by our own context. For up in the next. And the truth is that seems to imply that the great hope of example, I always found “contempo- ecumenists and liturgists always have ecumenism, a shared eucharist, can- rary” or “evangelical” worship down- doctrinal commitments of their own, not come true any time soon. right offensive until my husband, who though they are not always openly But we must put this in historical was raised in an evangelical church, expressed. This is evident in the three perspective. Why is the eucharist the explained to me its inner logic. As a eucharistic liturgies we looked at: none summit of all our ecumenical hopes? result I have come to be much more of them actually specify any doctrine In part, it is because the liturgical appreciative of it, even able to see about Christ’s presence in the Supper, movement promoted the eucharist as ways in which it is superior to my though they aimed to span a wide vari- the center of Christian existence. It own preferred style of worship: for ety of beliefs. The unity of the assem- is hard to believe there could be any- instance, there is often a much deeper bly was more important than belief in thing bad about this. And yet there immersion in the and the presence (or absence) of Christ. are some indications that, in fact, the its praises to God. But the Church of South India liturgy great emphasis on the eucharist has Take another example: we all know lost the Anglicans while keeping the had some negative effects in the life of people from “liturgical” churches who Reformed and Methodists; the Taizé the church. left because the worship felt dead or liturgy was for a transient community, First, this emphasis has de-empha- meaningless to them. They found so it could avoid long-term doctrinal sized the importance of private prayer renewed faith in a more spontaneous questions; and the Lima Liturgy was and devotion. Second, it has given the worship setting. Conversely, we’ve all ultimately judged inadequate to ecu- impression of ecumenical failure, but known people who left spontaneous menical needs. if measured by other standards—like worship for something more formal Doctrinal differences require schol- the ones I just outlined—ecumenism and liturgical. Isn’t the fact that Chris- ars to do slow, patient work. Liturgies is still going strong. Third, it has led tians are fed with the same in will always be different across national to the neglect of many other forms such different liturgical settings proof and confessional boundaries. What of public worship that are possible that it is not the exact form, words, or could ecumenical liturgy even mean within and across denominations,22 actions of the liturgy that are deci- in such circumstances? My practical which has been especially destruc- sive? If this were the case, it would be suggestion is this: our best hope for tive for churches whose main wor- impossible for the Orthodox to recog- unity lies not in common liturgy but in ship, historically, was not eucharistic. nize Westerners as Christians at all, common teaching. And fourth, it has sometimes tried to or for some Westerners to recognize It is impossible for every Christian avoid doctrinal discussion by rushing other Westerners as Christians, espe- to know, much less enjoy, every style of toward a premature consensus. This cially across the “liturgical”/”non- liturgy. Most will stick with one style can only lead to further division or liturgical” divide. through their whole lives. But Chris- serious errors. Think of Gregory Dix’s What crosses every liturgical bound- tians who truly understand the faith fourfold-action scheme that remains ary is our common faith in Jesus Christ, shared everywhere, always, and by all petrified in many denominational lit- in the Father and the Spirit, for us and will be able to recognize this same faith urgies, or of the Anglican schism from for our salvation. In other words, what in the diverse liturgies they encounter. the Church of South India. We may we must have in common is the con- For example, one way I have learned be justly impatient that we are unable tent of our faith, our doctrine. Yet at my trinitarian faith is through the invo- to share the Lord’s Supper together— times the ecumenical movement has cation of the name of the Father, Son, but unity that comes too soon is unity seen doctrine as the problem. There and Holy Spirit at every liturgy. I rec- that turns into division once more.23 have been suggestions that we should ognize the same trinitarian faith in the ignore it and worship together anyway Byzantine rite when the congregation A Practical Suggestion One or focus all our energy on making the makes the sign of the cross every time writer has said about ecumenical lit- world a better place. The same opin- the holy name is said. I recognize the urgy that “[a]pparently convergent ion appears sometimes in the liturgical same trinitarian faith in Pentecostal language may yet conceal divergent movement, hoping that the creation worship when Father, Son, and Holy theology and ,”24 which is of a common liturgy would conceal or Spirit are each glorified in turn over another reason for caution. But by the even extinguish troublesome doctrinal the course of many praise songs dur- same token, divergent language and differences.25 ing worship, though not in the tight liturgy may conceal convergent theology This attitude is not only misleading formula to which I am accustomed. and ecclesiology. Let me explain. but also naïve and possibly danger- It is not the similarity of liturgy but

Lu t h e r a n Fo r u m 7 the similarity of the faith that reveals It was an attractive dream—and as The liturgy, and faith itself, continu- to me I am with fellow Christians. By always happens with dreams, schol- ally raise doctrinal questions. The the same token, this would mean the ars eventually woke up. Now scholars church’s task of discerning which ability to recognize genuine depar- recognize that the earliest Christians developments in liturgy and theology tures from the common faith in a local worshipped in many ways and with are true and which are false cannot liturgy, despite the common consensus different words and orders. Uniform- and will not stop. of a tradition, confession, or institu- ity happened only gradually—and So here is my ecclesiological chal- tional church. An example of this is even then, diversity was still more lenge: I propose that we consider the baptism in the name of the “Creator, normal. Justin Martyr and Hippolytus unified church for which Jesus prayed Redeemer, and Sanctifier,” deliber- were local men speaking of their local to lie not in the past but still in the ately eschewing the name “Father, traditions. The reason they seemed future. When we have a true reconcili- Son, and Holy Spirit.” authoritative is because their writings ation of all baptized Christians, this If our common faith is how we rec- alone survived to the present.27 will be a better unity than the church ognize each other as Christians, then The question is, then, how do we has ever known, better even than the it follows that ecumenical liturgies evaluate the change and movement of unity of the early, not-yet-divided will only ever be as good as our doc- the liturgy over time? Does liturgical church. trinal consensus. That is one reason change signify a gradual abandonment This means several things for the why the Lima Liturgy was so powerful of, or alienation from, the church’s ori- future of ecumenical liturgy. First, for members of the mainline Protes- gin in the words and actions of Jesus? plurality among liturgical forms is tant churches who participated in it: it Or is the change of liturgy a sign of normal and should not be considered really did express signficant doctrinal the church’s deepening understanding a problem for unity. Second, liturgy convergence for them. of its own faith and message—in fact, must be held accountable for how a refinement in the expression of its it expresses the Christian faith—in An Ecclesiological Challenge A doctrine? its words, music, actions, and ritu- final matter for supporters of both the Where the early church is in ques- als. Third, liturgy must be able to liturgical and ecumenical movements tion, I take the latter view, and this develop to express better the faith of to consider is whether the unity of the is the reason why. The “undivided the church and to correct mistakes church and its worship lies in the past or church,” as we sometimes call the early or inadequacies in received liturgies in the future. The liturgical movement church, could equally well be called (including sometimes correcting the from its beginning has had impulses the “not-yet-divided church,” or the corrections!). Last of all, truly ecu- toward antiquarianism. Already in “eventually-to-be-divided church.” menical liturgy still lies in the future, 1947 the papal encyclical Mediator Dei What we see in the earliest history of not in the past. As the South Indian saw the need to comment: “Assuredly the church is the progressive rejection bishop said, our liturgy is “provisional it is a wise and most laudable thing of false interpretations of the faith: till there shall once more be an ecu- to return in spirit and affection to the the Arian claim that there was a time menical church.” Speed the day, mer- sources of the sacred liturgy… But it when the Son of God did not exist; ciful Lord! LF is neither wise nor laudable to reduce the Nestorian downplaying of the true everything to antiquity by every pos- divinity of the human Christ; the Pela- Notes sible device” (§62). gian location of salvation in human 1. For an excellent introduction to the his- tory of the liturgical movement, see John R. K. Why is the pull toward the past so efforts rather than divine grace. These Fenwick and Bryan D. Spinks, Worship in Tran- strong? The past is where the ecumeni- questions arise after Justin Martyr, sition: The Liturgical Movement in the 20th Century cal and liturgical movements alike saw Hippolytus, and the Didache. They (New York: Continuum, 1995). More briefly, their best hope. Ecumenists caught a were problems yet to be resolved and see Teresa Berger, “Liturgical Movement,” in glimpse of the “undivided church”— furthermore problems that had to be The Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement, 2nd ed., an image that casts a powerful spell. resolved. It would be foolish and dan- ed. Nicholas Lossky et al. (: w c c , 2002) [hereafter d e m ], 695–97. The liturgical movement thought it gerous to suppose we could retreat to 2. See Dagmar Heller’s account in “Ecu- had found the pure, primitive, original an “undivided church” and ignore the menical Worship—Experiences, Problems, liturgy without corruption. Since the serious doctrinal questions that came Possibilities: Some Basic Considerations,” in Didache, Justin Martyr, and Hippoly- directly out of the church’s worship of Worship Today: Understanding, Practice, Ecumeni- tus—our earliest sources of Christian not only the Father but also the Son cal Implications, Faith and Order Paper No. 194, eds. Thomas F. Best and Dagmar Heller liturgy—are part of the common heri- and the Spirit.28 (Geneva: w c c , 1994), 232–37. tage of all the churches, no one could Even if we chose a later date in 3. A more recent version of this study is object to using them. These ancient church history, how would we agree Worship Today; see previous note. litugies were taken to be the key to an on when to stop the clock? That too 4. See also John Carden, “Prayer in the undivided church in our own time.26 would provoke doctrinal disagreement! Ecumenical Movement,” in d e m , 925–27.

8 Fa l l 2009 For a local case study, see Ondrej Prostrednik, 16. See the essays by Max Thurian and on American , Drew Series in Liturgy “Prayer: An Instrument for Strengthening the Gordon Lathrop, and the text and music of No. 3 (Lanham: Scarecrow, 1997); and Max- Unity of Christians,” Ecumenical Review 59/4 the Lima Liturgy itself, in Eucharistic Worship well E. Johnson, “Liturgy and Ecumenism: (2007): 437–44. in Ecumenical Contexts: The Lima Liturgy—And Gifts, Challenges, and Hopes for a Renewed 5. Fenwick and Spinks, 112–13. Beyond, eds. Thomas F. Best and Dagmar Hel- Vision,” Worship 80/1 (2006): 2–29. 6. Aidan Kavanaugh, “Liturgical Incultur- ler (Geneva: w c c , 1998) and Teresa Berger, 24. Paul Sheppey, “Worship and Ecu- ation: Looking to the Future,” Studia Liturgica “The Lima Liturgy,” in d e m , 694–95. menism,” in Worship Today, 314. 20/1 (1990): 95–106. 17. For some examples, see Robert Grib- 25. See the comments of Eugene Brand, a 7. W. Jardine Grisbrooke, “Liturgical ben, “The ‘Lima Liturgy’—An Ecumenical principle framer of the Lutheran Book of Worship, Reform and Liturgical Renewal,” Studia Litur- Liturgical Text,” One in Christ 20/3 (1984): in “Worship and the Ecumenical Movement,” gica 21/2 (1991): 136–54. 249–56; Placid Murray, “A Proposed Text for a Ecumenical Review 51/2 (1999): 184–92. On the 8. For an interesting case of an ecumenical Common Eucharist,” Studia Liturgica 17 (1987): flip side, the most unifying force in Lutheran- liturgy long before the ecumenical and liturgi- 118–32; Heinrich Holze, “Unreformatorischer ism one hundred years ago was the Common cal movements, see Jesse A. Spohnholz, “Mul- Gottesdienst? Die Abendmahlsfeier der Lima- Service, fiercely committed to the faith articu- ticonfessional Celebration of the Eucharist Liturgie aus der Sicht frühreformatorischer lated by the Confessions in continuity with in Sixteenth-Century Wesel,” Sixteenth Century Gottesdienstordnungen,” Zeitschrift für Theologie the historic liturgy proceeding it and widely Journal 39/3 (2008): 705–29. und Kirche 88/3 (1991): 287–312. adopted across Lutheran boundaries as these 9. Fenwick and Spinks, 54, and ch. 6 gen- 18. Eugene Brand, “Response to the communities moved into use of the English erally. Berakah Award: Ecumenism and the Liturgy,” language. 10. T. S. Garrett, Worship in the Church of Worship 58/4 (1984): 313. 26. This is impulse appears also in “non- South India (London: Lutterworth, 1958), 10. 19. Heller, “Ecumenical Worship,” in Wor- liturgical” churches that seek to recreate the The eucharistic portions of the liturgy can be ship Today, 239. New Testament worship experience, common found in Baptism and Eucharist: Ecumenical Con- 20. Ibid., 231. among charismatics and Pentecostals, or in vergence in Celebration, eds. Max Thurian and 21. Gordon Lathrop, “The Lima Liturgy primitivist churches, like the Church of Christ, (Geneva: w c c , 1983), and Beyond: Moving Forward Ecumenically,” which among other things bars instrumental 178–80. in Eucharistic Worship, 23. music on the grounds that New Testament 11. For more on this point, and especially 22. A recent collection called Ökumenische churches didn’t have any. how Christians have tried to make sense of Gottesdienste: Anlässe, Modelle und Hinweise für 27. See Paul F. Bradshaw, “The Liturgical India’s Hindu heritage, see K. Virginia Ken- die Praxis [Ecumenical Worship Services], ed. Use and Abuse of Patristics,” in Liturgy Reshaped, nerley, “The Use of Indigenous Sacred Lit- Deutsches Liturgisches Institut/Gottesdienst- ed. K. Stevenson (London: s p c k , 1982) and erature and Theological Concepts in Christian Institut (Freiburg: Herder, 2003) presents lit- “The Search for the Origins of Christian Lit- Eucharistic Liturgy in India,” Studia Liturgica urgies for joint Roman Catholic/Protestant urgy: Some Methodological Reflections,” Stu- 19/2 (1989): 143–61. use around the following themes: remem- dia Liturgica 17 (1987): 26–34. 12. Credit for this goes to Bryan D. Spinks, brance of baptism, blessings, a reading service 28. I would consider changes in the lit- “Mis-Shapen. Gregory Dix and the Four from the Scriptures, praise and thanksgiving, urgy introduced by Luther and his companion Action Shape of the Liturgy,” Lutheran Quarterly repentance, worship in the time of catastro- reformers to fall into this category as well, as 4 (1990): 161–77, whose point has been gener- phe, remembrance of the dead, lamentation, better refinements of the expression of the ally acknowledged by liturgical scholarship. prayers for peace, and many more. These are Christian faith. See the excellent essay by 13. J. R. MacPhail, “Worship in the not formative liturgies, the kind the faithful say Dorothea Wendebourg, “Den falschen Weg Church of South India,” Scottish Journal of week in and week out till they are completely Roms zu Ende gegangen? Zur gegenwärtigen Theology 17 (1964): 25, quoted in Phillip Tovey, internalized. But as occasional and adaptable Diskussion über Martin Luthers Gottesdi- “Liturgy and Ecumenism: Three Models of pieces, they are powerfully ecumenical while enstreform und ihr Verhältnis zu den Tradi- Development,” in Liturgy in Dialogue, eds. Paul honestly recognizing the current state of rec- tionen der Alten Kirche,” Zeitschrift für Theologie Bradshaw and Bryan Spinks (London: s p c k , onciliation among our churches. und Kirche 94/4 (1997): 437ff, which takes up 1993), 71. 23. Sheerly the fact of the internal strife the conflict over whether the truth of faith is 14. Paul Meyendorff, “Christian Perspec- among American Lutherans regarding hym- best expressed liturgically in the origin or in tives on Worship,” in Worship Today, 293. nals over the past decades should be proof the origin’s development; she favors the latter 15. Tovey, “Liturgy and Ecumenism,” in enough of how much more difficult it gets approach. Her view accords with the presenta- Liturgy in Dialogue, 80–84. English translations outside the confessional fold! For just the tip tion of the development of doctrine in Robert of two eucharistic prayers from Taizé can be of the iceberg, see Oliver K. Olson, “Con- Jenson’s Systematic Theology: The Triune God (New found in Baptism and Eucharist, 180–2. The temporary Trends in Liturgy Viewed from the York: Oxford, 2001). French liturgy itself can be found in Eucharis- Perspective of Classical Lutheran Theology,” tie à Taizé (Taizé-Communauté: Les Presses de Lutheran Quarterly 26 (1974): 110–57; Timothy Taizé, 1971). C. J. Quill, The Impact of the Liturgical Movement

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