1st Edition

Towards Liturgies that Reconcile Race and Ritual among African-American and European-American Protestants

By Scott Haldeman Copyright 2007
    196 Pages
    by Routledge

    196 Pages
    by Routledge

    Towards Liturgies that Reconcile reflects upon Christian worship as it is shaped, and mis-shaped, by human prejudice, specifically by racism. African Americans and European Americans have lived together for 400 years on the continent of North America, but they have done so as slave and master, outsider and insider, oppressed and oppressor. Scott Haldeman traces the development of Protestant worship among whites and blacks, showing that the following exist in tension: African American and European American Protestant liturgical traditions are both interdependent and distinct; and that multicultural communities must both understand and celebrate the uniqueness of various member groups while also accepting the risk and possibility of praying themselves into an integrated body, one new culture.

    Contents: Preface; Liturgical theology in context; 'Once you were no people...now you are God's people': an analytical narrative of the construction of African-American Protestant liturgical traditions; 'Cities on hills': an analytical narrative of the construction of European-American Protestant liturgical traditions; Barriers built, barriers broken: the intersection of African-American and European-American liturgical traditions; 'Discerning the body': US racism, Protestant worship, and sacramental theology; Notes to text; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    Scott Haldeman is Assistant Professor of Worship at Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Founding convener of the African American Liturgical Traditions Seminar of the North American Academy of Liturgy, he studies worship traditions in U.S. Protestantism too often neglected by scholars in order to sketch a truer portrait of the diversity of worship among the churches, both historically and today. His publications include "American Racism and the Promise of Pentecost" in Liturgy: No Longer Strangers 14:4 (Washington, DC: The Liturgical Conference), 34-50.

    ’... this book provides an excellent discussion of a much neglected dimension of American religion and race relations and thus deserves a wide readership across disciplines.’ Journal of Contemporary Religion ’Haldeman guides us through a vast field of complexities with knowledge and skill...’ Anaphora ’This volume makes an excellent contribution to forging this renewed vision, and deserves a wide readership among both Catholics and Protestants.’ Worship