Introduction
Sally Ann McKinsey
Sally Ann McKinsey is editor of Call to Worship.
If we want to build healthy, safe communities, then what we do and say in worship matters. The kind of liturgical theology that teaches us to act with empathy and justice in worship also forms us as members of all our communities. In communities of concern, we learn that the personal is political. Keith Ray investigates liturgical language as a way toward safe and affirming community in the face of social injustice. He recognizes the impact of small shifts in liturgical language on the ways we welcome and advocate for one another.
This issue comes to press in a political landscape of combat over connection in the United States, when cultivating the basic democratic practice of civil discourse across differences often feels impossible. “What was once mere disagreement or diverging opinions slides into fundamental incompatibility,” contributor Aimee Moiso writes. Internet culture and social media algorithms create echo chambers, reinforcing hateful ideologies and strict binaries, begetting social isolation that leads to more alienation, division, and distrust. A culture of violence is met with commodified care, injustice is legislated, and political power executed over persons and bodies.
At this time in public life, the relationship between worship and politics is not just relevant, but necessary to consider. The topic is admittedly too broad for one issue alone to address. I am grateful for the contributors to this issue who define the relationship between worship and politics with wisdom and nuance, bringing guidance to leaders in an urgent time.
How does worship form us as Christians with allegiance and belonging to God and one another? David Gambrell writes about liturgical leadership that is present in the midst of sorrow, uncertainty, and fear, leadership rooted in baptism and in the leadership of Christ. Joshua Taylor complicates the definition of “patriotic” music in worship by analyzing the histories of common hymn texts and tunes, recognizing the challenge of parsing what might be political or religious about a piece of music. Melissa McNair-King offers a sermon from Reign of Christ Sunday in which she recognizes the origin of the day and its relevance for a conversation about the role of the state in the life of faith. If we want to build healthy, safe communities, then what we do and say in worship matters.
How does worship form us as citizens? Mark Douglas offers an approach to confronting Christian nationalism that borrows methods from queer theology. Considering the role of religion in public life, Rachel Baard investigates the meaning and practice of public theology and its relationship with worship. She names “Who is our God?” as the essential question when preaching for public theology. Safwat Marzouk brings an intersectional lens to interpreting texts, paying attention to power relationships and recognizing the ways texts may be heard by listeners of different experiences. Aimee Moiso pokes holes at the prophetic/pastoral dichotomy in preaching, offering a covenantal approach to preaching that takes seriously the active role of listeners and the relational dynamics that can make a sermon pastoral and prophetic. If we want to build healthy, safe communities, then what we do and say in worship matters.
An event of worship gathers us in community for ritual action, teaches us sacred stories, inspires us to think critically about what we believe, and unites us in concern and celebration with one another. Liturgical theology that seeks accessible, inclusive spaces to be formed in common belief amid diverse perspectives is theology that can influence our civic life, as well, without imposing or conflating a national story and a sacred one. If we want to build healthy, safe communities, then what we do and say in worship matters.
