You have written a great deal about liturgical theology, but missional theology seems more popular these days.
I think that missional theology is a very positive development. But some missional theology has not gone far enough. It hasn’t asked, What is the mission of the Trinity? And the answer to that question is communion. Ultimately, all things are to be brought back into communion with the triune God. Communion is the ultimate end, not mission.
If we see communion as central to the life of the church, we are going to have an important place for mission. And this is reflected in the ancient fourfold structure of worship: gathering, proclaiming the Word, celebrating the Eucharist, and going out into the world. The last, of course, is mission. But mission takes its place within a larger structure. It is this sense of communion that the evangelical world especially needs. Communion is not just introspection or fellowship among ourselves. It involves, ultimately, seeing God and seeing the heart of God as well, which is his love for the world.
In many services today, the dismissal into the world is quite perfunctory. But if you go to an Orthodox service, you’ll be amazed at the elaborate way in which the end of the service is conducted. It’s not just a word of dismissal””there are whole prayers and litanies that prepare us to go back out into the world.
At my parish in Dallas, I continue to the rear of the nave at the recessional. However, I then walk down the side aisle while the music continues and then walk down the center aisle reciting the Great Commission prior to giving the dismissal. I see that as a wonderful way to end the service. The dismissal isn’t just a “see you next week.” It is “Now it’s time to go to work.”
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
A local church (it happens to be where we cast our votes) has a sign as you are exiting the parking lot:
You are now entering
the Mission Field!
Years ago, as the new acolyte master in my parish, the organist tried to teach me something about liturgy. Among his comments was why he never played a *recessional* His take was that the Church never recedes. Instead, it proceeds to somewhere else. Hence, a *processional* at both ends of the service.
In the service leaflet at one church, it listed the last song as “Processional out”. 🙂
Saw this morning that Fr. Dan Martins has a fascinating blog entry in which he discusses this article. I really enjoyed it. Here’s the link.
This is a fascinating article that Fr. David Thatcher discusses in part in this article on Pentecost.
… As also the Apostles Fast.
This is the second time in as many days that I’ve run into “the Apostles’ Fast” after never, ever hearing of it before. The other was a Celtic-themed yahoogroups message.
Interesting, perhaps I’d better look into it after all. 😉