The music, led by a small volunteer ensemble of voices, electric piano, and guitar, was almost entirely in the genre of “praise music,” taken from the repertoire of Hillsong and similar groups.
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Author: Bruce Morrill
Bruce Morrill, S.J., holds the Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies at Vanderbilt University, where he is professor of Theological Studies in the Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion. He provides liturgical, pastoral, and educative ministries regularly at two Nashville parishes, as well as at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. His latest book is The Essential Writings of Bernard Cooke: A Narrative Theology of Church, Sacrament, and Ministry (2016), while earlier monographs include Encountering Christ in the Eucharist (2012), Divine Worship and Human Healing (2009), and Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory (2000).
Latest Issue of Questions Liturgiques, Including Article on Schmemann
Alexander Schmemann published a tight corpus of writings focused on articulating the irreducible, eschatological content of the liturgy as revelatory of divine redemption, while continuously insisting that this fundamental tradition of the church is doubly crippled by ignorance of its eschatological nature and mistaken efforts to draw contemporary social concerns into its practice.
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Responding to a Journalist’s Inquiry About Hell
How to respond to the question of hell in a relatively succinct manner (as desired in journalism) to a reporter (and her religiously pluralistic readership), whose even basic knowledge of Christianity I could not presume?
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Compelling Data about Religious Affiliation & Practice among Young Europeans
The rates of 16-to-29-year-olds religiously unaffiliated in England and France are 70% and 64%.
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Distilling Advent Down to Newsfeed Size (A Necessary Art)
The questions reporters ask about Christian liturgy and sacraments, I find, provide this academic liturgical theologian vital feedback on what the wider population (Christian and, often, wider) find of interest and importance.
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Taking the Bait (or: My Foray into the Liturgy Wars?)
The undeniable power of symbol for individuals in social bodies (in this case, US Catholicism) comes through clearly in this instance of two university employees demonstrating seemingly polar-opposite views of whether, how, and what kinds of liturgical art and architecture show promise for faith-formation on the 21st-century campus.
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Watching People Watch (Then Not Watch) the Eclipse: A Liturgical-Theological Reflection
While the natural-cosmic event was surely most captivating, I also discovered my inner-anthropologist kicking in to make the following observation about the before-and-after dynamics that I think sheds some light (pardon the pun) on liturgical time-keeping.
Read moreSharing Religious Life, Liturgy, and the Pursuit of Happiness on the Web
… the nuns’ turn to cyberspace is only the latest chapter in a long history of religious orders’ using the best means of communication.
Read moreScientific Research: Worship Is Healthy
“Our findings support the overall hypothesis that increased religiosity – as determined by attendance at worship services – is associated with less stress and enhanced longevity.”
Read moreNew Resource Site, “Preaching and Worship”
A new ecumenical website with helpful search filters for accessing resources for preaching and preparing liturgies
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