Dresden, Germany

Worship as Transformation – To Heal a Broken World

Die verwandelnde und heilende Kraft der Liturgie in einer gebrochenen Welt

La liturgie, puissance de transformation “Pour guérir et sauver un monde déchiré”
Worship as Transformation: To Heal a Broken World

Christian worship is commonly conceived as existing primarily for the sake of those “on the inside,” the committed, regularly attending members of a local congregation. Yet this is not always the case. Sometimes worship has been deliberately constructed as a means of evangelism, as for example in the “seeker services” of independent evangelical churches, at other times, it has functioned as the entry point to the church for those intrigued by Christianity without being intentionally designed as “liturgy for outsiders.” And, in addition to the intention of the liturgy, many people today who are not part of a regular worshipping community nevertheless turn to Christian liturgical rites at important or critical moments in their own lives, or in the lives of the communities of which they are a part.

This Congress aims to address the ways in which worship can and does transform the lives of those who come into contact with it. This includes reconciling those who are divided, healing those who are sick or broken in body or spirit, and enabling those who mourn to overcome their grief and to come to terms with tragedy in their lives, as well as addressing the reconciliation of whole communities with one another and those in need of hope and healing.

Finding ourselves in Dresden, a city rising from the ashes of World War II and recovering spiritually and economically from communist rule, invites us to explore the theme of this Congress from a number of different angles in the plenary addresses. First we will look at the role that ritual has played in the transformation of the broken world that was Germany within the context of the last fifty years. We will also hear of political and social reconciliation in other parts of the world and the contributions of worship to the healing of nations.

Then we will explore the transformative power of worship from anthropological, ecumenical, sacramental and pastoral perspectives, inviting case studies to flow out of these varied and interdisciplinary approaches to allow for exploration of the theme in diverse ways. Through each of these trajectories the question of how Christian liturgists, faithful to the gospel and their own ecclesial traditions, can speak to culturally divided communities or to individuals within communities who have no familiarity with Christian ritual language and symbols will remain an important challenge to consider now and in the immediate future.