Living God’s Story: Strengthening Liturgical Participation and Christian Formation through the Renewal of Enacted Narrative in the Orthodox Divine Liturgy by Geoffrey Ready A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Trinity College and the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry awarded by the University of Trinity College and the University of Toronto. Ó Copyright by Geoffrey Ready 2020 Living God’s Story: Strengthening Liturgical Participation and Christian Formation through the Renewal of Enacted Narrative in the Orthodox Divine Liturgy Geoffrey Ready Doctor of Ministry Trinity College and the University of Toronto 2020 Abstract It is axiomatic in Orthodox liturgical theology that the central act of worship, the Divine Liturgy, is a participation here and now in the coming kingdom of God. This should naturally result in the shaping of Orthodox worshippers to live in this age according to the heaven-on-earth reality of the age to come, to live the “liturgy after the liturgy” in a life of kingdom-building. Yet there is little to suggest that this is happening in Orthodox churches today. Drawing on postcritical insights that challenge modernity’s limitations— especially the concept of life as an enacted social drama, the importance of narrative for signification and formation, and the priority of embodied, participatory knowledge—the author proposes that the decline in the Orthodox Divine Liturgy's power to transform worshippers results principally from an eclipse of the enacted narrative of the kingdom of God within liturgical celebration. ii Using his ministry base of an Orthodox mission parish as a case study, the author has implemented a series of changes in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy to recover and prioritise narrative elements. This includes the publication of a service book focusing on what to do in the liturgy—in essence, a contemporary mystagogical catechesis attending to the participatory knowledge of enacted narrative. Then, drawing insights from a narrative method of qualitative research with a group of worshippers at the mission, the author shows that, when worshippers are encouraged to grasp and embody the story contained within the liturgy, they can be inspired to reflect on and re- narrate their lives according to the story of God as a precursor of fuller Christian formation. The discussion concludes with a tentative model of narrative liturgical formation and suggestions for application in other parish contexts and for further study within the Orthodox Church. iii Contents I – Introduction An Overview of the Ministry Base Context .............................................................................. 6 The Problem and Research Interest: Caught Between a Traditional Mystagogy and a Postmodern World, Celebrating the Orthodox Divine Liturgy Today ............. 7 II – Towards a New Mystagogy Liturgy Intended as Transformative Theologia Prima ..................................................... 13 Homo Capax Dei – The Need for Liturgical Capacitation and Proficiency ............... 22 Liturgy as Enacted Social Drama .............................................................................................. 27 Liturgy as Narrative Signification ............................................................................................. 33 The Formative Power of Enacted Narrative ....................................................................... 42 Deep Transformation through Embodied Participation ................................................. 44 Attaining Theologia Prima through Re-cognition and Re-narration ......................... 51 III – Research Project Description and Narrative Methodology Research Project ............................................................................................................................... 54 Narrative-Focused Changes in Liturgical Celebration ..................................................... 55 Narrative Methodology ................................................................................................................. 64 Research Parameters and Ethical Considerations ............................................................. 67 Focus Group Meeting ...................................................................................................................... 70 Individual Interviews ..................................................................................................................... 72 Journal Questions ............................................................................................................................. 75 Data Collection and Analysis ....................................................................................................... 75 IV – Results of the Study Stories and Themes ......................................................................................................................... 77 Story I—Alexandra .......................................................................................................................... 78 Theme I—The Setting: Participation in the Liturgy .......................................................... 82 Theme II— The Characters: Identity Formation ................................................................ 89 iv Theme III— The Author: God as Playwright (and the Play) ......................................... 93 Story II—Yuri ..................................................................................................................................... 99 Theme IV— The Plot: Facing Complexity and Struggles ............................................. 103 Theme V— The Climax: New Ways of Seeing ................................................................... 106 Theme VI— The Resolution: Enacting Love and Communion .................................. 110 Story III—Lara ................................................................................................................................ 114 Theme VII—The Archetypal Story: Following the Pattern of Christ ...................... 118 V – Analysis and Application of Results and Limitations of the Study Application of the Study ............................................................................................................. 125 A Tentative Model of Narrative Liturgical Formation .................................................. 126 Limitations of the Study and Further Questions ............................................................. 131 VI – Conclusion and Potential Benefits Contribution to the Practice of Ministry ............................................................................. 134 Potential Benefits to the Wider Church and Society ...................................................... 137 VII – Bibliography Traditional Mystagogy—Symbolism and Meaning of the Divine Liturgy ............ 139 Liturgical Theology—Development, Current State and Pastoral Problematics ................................................................................................................. 142 Towards a New Mystagogy—Contributions to Liturgical Theology from Postcritical Hermeneutics (Critical Realism, Participatory and Embodied Knowledge), Ritual Studies, Performance Theory, Virtue Ethics and Narrative Theology ........................................................................................................................................... 146 Narrative Enquiry as Qualitative Methodology and in Pastoral Practice ............ 151 VIII – Enclosures Approved Thesis Proposal Approved University of Toronto Human Participant Ethics Protocol New Liturgy Book: Enacting the Age to Come – The Divine Liturgy v I – Introduction An Overview of the Ministry Base Context This project arises from my ministry as an ordained presbyter and the rector of Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Mission, established in May 2016 as the only fully English- language Orthodox church in the greater Toronto area.1 We worship in the chapel of Trinity College, with an average Sunday attendance of around 60 people from various Orthodox and non-Orthodox backgrounds. The vision of Holy Myrrhbearers is to be an apostolic mission in the truest sense and we are working to bring together Orthodox Christian leaders and faithful with a shared vision of outreach and service in Toronto. We are doing this by identifying specific ministry projects, including caring for the poor, the sick, the alienated, the grieving, and the imprisoned, and then equipping “the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4.12). It is our desire for the oft-praised splendour of the kingdom-oriented worship of the Orthodox Church to be expressed in loving service. Our mission is also integrated with the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College, which I serve as co-director. This graduate school trains clergy and lay leaders for ministry, and we are developing specific courses to train and certify Orthodox faithful from across the city to carry out the service projects envisaged by Holy Myrrhbearers mission. There is moreover a unique opportunity afforded by our base within a school of 1 For more information, see our website https://www.myrrhbearers.ca. 6 7 theology for Holy Myrrhbearers to function as a place to implement a project of liturgical and spiritual renewal analogously to the way an “experimental farm” serves a wider agricultural community, carefully trying new approaches and methods