Liturgical theology is a fairly recent sub-discipline of theology. Although theologians occasionally referred to liturgical texts (and refl ection on the Eucharist certainly has a long and rich tradition), liturgy has been considered as an important theological topic in its own right only since the pioneering work of liturgical scholars such as Alexander Schmemann in the mid-twentieth
1 Leitourgia means ‘ common work ’ or ‘ work of the people ’ and in the ancient world designated public
service and acts of charity by wealthy citizens on behalf of the state. See K. Irwin, Context and Text (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1994), chapter 1, for a full explication of how this term came to be applied to early Christian liturgy.
century and the reconsiderations of liturgical forms and texts leading up to and following upon Vatican II. Th e discipline of liturgical theology is still divided to some extent between primarily historical research on early liturgical texts and practices and theological refl ection upon liturgy and its meaning for Christian life. Th e former tries to re-establish original texts, to trace the emergence of particular practices and to describe early liturgical forms. Th e latter focuses more on contemporary liturgical practices and seeks to analyse their meaning and occasionally to criticize various aberrations in an attempt to remedy them.
Neither approach has so far focused on the role of non-human creatures in liturgical texts and practices or tried to draw environmental implications from more general liturgical insights, although there has been some emphasis on the importance of sacred space in liturgical performance and occasionally it is pointed out that some liturgical cycles follow agricultural rhythms and that the Eucharistic elements are products of nature. 2 Only two brief studies refl ect somewhat more explicitly on the ecological implications of liturgy. Lawrence Mick, a Catholic liturgical scholar, seeks to open a dialogue with ecology and to raise ecological awareness by examining the incarnation as a paradigm for ‘ embodied worship ’ and by giving practical suggestions for integrating natural elements into worship on particular occasions. 3 More recently, a very brief study designed for parish use by Benjamin Stewart considers ecological symbolism (water, food, care for the body, death) and its signifi cance in the context of Lutheran worship. 4
Ecological theology has also not expended much energy on analysing liturgy, although several texts call for a fuller study or point to its importance. Th us, Celia Deane-Drummond devotes one chapter to liturgy in her introductory text on ecological theology, in which she calls for a greater engagement with liturgy and suggests that the Orthodox liturgical tradition, as well as new creation liturgies, might have something to off er. 5 Denis Edwards, in a brief
2 G. Lathrop most fully explores such themes of sacred space in his Holy Ground: A Liturgical Cosmology
(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003). See also H. P. Santmire ’ s Ritualizing Nature: Renewing Christian Liturgy in a Time of Crisis (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008).
3 L. Mick, Liturgy and Ecology in Dialogue (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1997). A Festschrift for
H. Boone Porter with the promising title Creation and Liturgy: Studies in Honor of H. Boone Porter , edited by R. McMichael (Washington: Pastoral Press, 1993) focuses primarily on art and creativity, not on nature or environmental questions, although it does contain an interesting historical article on the Jewish off ering of fi rst fruits and their infl uence on Christian liturgy.
4 B. Stewart, A Watered Garden: Christian Worship and the Earth ’ s Ecology (Minneapolis: Augsburg
Fortress Press, 2011).
5 C. Deane-Drummond, A Handbook in Th eology and Ecology (London: SCM Press, 1996), p. 85.
chapter entitled ‘ Worship and Practice ’ , focuses primarily on the Eucharist. 6 Elizabeth Th eokritoff ’ s treatment of the ecological potential of the Orthodox tradition includes one chapter on liturgy and one on sacraments. 7 Freda Rajotte and Elizabeth Breuilly point to the importance of liturgy for a new theology of liberation in a consideration of the church ’ s role in environmental action. 8 Drawing on tribal experience in the Philippines, Sean McDonagh gives examples of new liturgies of earth and fi re. 9 Several other thinkers also call for new liturgical texts that would be more consciously inclusive of the earth and all its creatures. 10 More generally, sacramental language is oft en used in ecological texts, or a recovery of a sacramental attitude towards nature counselled. John Habgood contends that sacramental signifi cance can be widened to include the rest of creation. 11 Many feminist scholars wish to treat the earth as a sacramental gift . 12 Elizabeth Johnson, for example, stresses that ‘ we need to appreciate all over again that the whole universe is a sacrament ’ . 13 Arthur Peacocke also argues for this larger sacramental vision grounded in the ‘ sacramental use of bread, wine, and water ’ . He appeals to Byzantine liturgy as particularly useful for recovery of this sense of the world as sacramental. 14 Indeed, several Orthodox thinkers stress this larger sacramental dimension. 15
6 D. Edwards, Ecology at the Heart of Faith (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2006). Th ere is also a chapter
entitled ‘ Why We Worship ’ included in S. McFague, A New Climate for Th eology: God, the World and Global Warming (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008), pp. 101 – 20, but it contains no explicit consideration of liturgy.
Ecology of the Spirit (Lanham: Catholic Truth Society, 1994), pp. 61 – 73 (68). African tree-planting rituals are oft en cited as an example of such new liturgies. See M. L. Daneel, African Earthkeepers, Volume Two: Environmental Mission and Liberation in Christian Perspective (Pretoria: Unisa Press, 1999), several essays in R. R. Ruether, Women Healing Earth (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1996), such as the chapter ‘ Th e Gikuyu Th eology of Land and Environmental Justice ’ by T. Hinga, pp. 172 – 84.
11 J. Habgood, ‘ A Sacramental Approach to Environmental Issues ’ , in C. Birch, W. Eakin and
J. B. McDaniel (eds.), Liberating Life: Contemporary Approaches to Ecological Th eology (Maryknoll:
Orbis Books, 1990), pp. 46 – 53.
12 For one example, see A. Primavesi, Gaia ’ s Gift : Earth, Ourselves and God aft er Copernicus (London:
Routledge, 2003).
13 E. A. Johnson, ‘ Losing and Finding Creation in the Christian Tradition ’ , in Hessel and Ruether
(eds.), Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), pp. 3 – 21 (18).
14 A. R. Peacocke, Creation and the World of Science (Oxford: ClarendonPress, 1979), pp. 290, 298.
15 E.g., D. Staniloae, ‘ Th e World as Gift and Sacrament of God ’ s Love ’ , Sobornost 5/9 (1969), pp. 662 – 73; N.
Nissiotis, ‘ Th e Church as Sacramental Vision and the Challenge of Christian Witness ’ , in G. Limouris (ed.), Church, Kingdom, World: Th e Church as Mystery and Prophetic Sign (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986), p. 110.
Maybe the most signifi cant, albeit fairly brief, discussion of a practice related to worship for its ecological implications is J ü rgen Moltmann ’ s consideration of the Sabbath as the feast of creation in his God in Creation . 16 Th is is not an exposition of liturgy as such, although he does briefl y suggest at the end of the book that Christians might recover Jewish Sabbath traditions by reducing consumption on Sundays. 17 Moltmann argues that in Genesis the Sabbath is the crown of creation and that hence humans must join in the praise of all of creation. Th is is a sacramental task, in which humans off er praise on behalf of creation, as a vehicle for other creatures to adore God through them. Humans are those who ‘ prepare the feast of creation ’ as they participate in the ‘ joyful paean of God ’ s creation ’ . 18 His treatment culminates in a fi nal chapter on the Sabbath as feast of creation, in which he relies heavily on Jewish conceptions and practices, as outlined by Rosenzweig, Heschel and others. Moltmann ’ s suggestion has been taken up by several other theologians and biblical scholars who propose recovering not only Sabbath practices but even such notions as the Jubilee year and point to the ecological and social dimensions of these ancient Jewish traditions. Michael Northcott draws extensively on the practices of the Sabbath and Jubilee years for his proposal of a new ‘ moral climate ’ . 19 Christoph Uehlinger affi rms that ‘ the land itself is to keep sabbath for Yahweh ’ in order to be regenerated. Respect for the land is rooted in the Sabbath tradition. 20 Moltmann himself already points out that ‘ this “ Sabbath year of the land ” makes it clear that the Sabbath is not merely a feast for human beings. In the seventh year the land celebrates ’ . 21 Gabriele Dietrich and Sun Ai
16 J. Moltmann, God in Creation: An Ecological Doctrine of Creation (London: SCM Press, 1985). In
his Creating a Just Future: Th e Politics of Peace and the Ethics of Creation in a Th reatened World (London: SCM Press, 1989) he speaks of shalom as ‘ hope of peace for all peoples and all creatures ’ (p. 40). Th e Sabbath as ‘ feast of creation ’ should be ‘ divine therapy ’ , a celebration that restores harmony in the community of creation (82).
17 Moltmann, God in Creation , p. 296.
18 Ibid., pp. 71, 190, 197.
19 M. Northcott, A Moral Climate: Th e Ethics of Global Warming (London: Darton, Longman & Todd,
2007). Similarly, S. Clark affi rms the importance of the Sabbath in his How to Th ink about the Earth:
Philosophical and Th eological Models for Ecology (London: Mowbray, 1993), p. 112. C. Deane-Drummond calls for living ‘ from the Sabbath ’ for transformation and renewal of the covenant at the conclusion of her Eco-theology (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2008), p. 183.
20 C. Uehlinger, ‘ Th e Cry of the Earth? Biblical Perspectives on Ecology and Violence ’ , in L. Boff and
E. Virgilio (eds.), Ecology and Poverty: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1995), pp. 41 – 57.
21 Moltmann, God in Creation , p. 289 (emphasis his). Clark also stresses that ‘ the land belongs to God –
which is to say, not us – and is owed its Sabbaths. No more than animals or hired servants or any without human protectors may the land be exploited wholly for our profi t. If we forget that iron rule (as, of course, we have forgotten it), we may justly expect expulsion ’ . See Clark, How to Th ink , p. 140.
Lee-Park call for policies and practices inspired by the Jubilee year in the case of India and Korea, respectively. 22 Oft en the appeal to Sabbath or Jubilee years has eschatological connotations and becomes linked to the prophetic vision of shalom , which is also interpreted to have great ecological potential. 23 Deane-Drummond claims that ‘ the hope for the future encouraged by an ecological spirituality is one which is rooted in the biblical concept of shalom , or right relationships of justice and peace ’ , although she warns that a full instantiation of shalom is not possible. 24 In contrast, Northcott calls for such eschatological feasting: ‘ Perhaps one may imagine the conceptual language of preparation in terms of preparing for a joyous banquet, a wedding feast, or even better, preparing for the festive celebration of the weekly Sabbath, the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee in anticipation of the wedding banquet of the Lamb that was slain, of the eschatological feast which we do not need to prepare because God has prepared it for us. ’ 25 Norman Wirzba also explores the meaning of the Sabbath for escaping the treadmill of constant work and consumerism and recovering a healthier, more holistic and more environmentally conscious way of living. 26 In fact, in the Jewish tradition the promise of ‘ shalom ’ in particular has important messianic implications for the redemption and restoration of the land. It is oft en linked to the observance of the Sabbath in the promise that if one Sabbath is perfectly kept, the Messiah will come, the anticipation of the return of Elijah at the end of the Sabbath (e.g. in Jewish havdalah ceremonies), and in various Rabbinic commentaries about Sabbath practice that link it to an anticipation of the Messianic age. 27 In the Jewish tradition, some ecological writing is beginning to be grounded in this liturgical observation of the Sabbath. Unfortunately, Christian appropriations of the Sabbath oft en lose these liturgical connotations. Th e Sabbath as a biblical idea (but not a current
22 See Ruether, Women Healing Earth , pp. 95, 113.
23 See the extensive discussion in U. Duchrow and G. Liedke, Shalom: Biblical Perspectives on Creation,
Justice, and Peace (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1989).
24 Deane-Drummond, Handbook , 146. See also her ‘ Living from the Sabbath: Developing an Ecological
Th eology in the Context of Biodiversity ’ , in D. Edwards and M. Worthing (eds.), Biodiversity and Ecology as Interdisciplinary Challenge (Adelaide: ATF Press, 2004), pp. 1 – 13. Gosling also warns that shalom is an important vision, which is ‘ celebrated in worship whereby Christians off er the world to God and pray that it might achieve its destiny ’ , but not ultimately attainable. See D. Gosling, A New Earth: Covenanting for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (London: Council of Churches, 1992), p. 9.
25 Northcott, Moral Climate , p. 229.
26 N. Wirzba, Living the Sabbath (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006).
27 See L. Hoff man, Beyond the Text: A Holistic Approach to Liturgy (Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1987).
practice) is read as having signifi cant ethical implications, but is not explicitly linked to liturgy in any obvious way. 28
Th ere has been little explicit work, then, on the specifi c potential of Christian liturgy for ecological theology. David Gosling, summarizing the World Council of Churches process, says: ‘ Little has been said about worship, but there is a major task for the churches to express liturgically just about all of what has been said in these chapters. . . . the liturgical affi rmation of the totality of all creation could have a revolutionary eff ect on conventional worship in terms of its content. ’ 29 One of the diffi culties with liturgy is that it is hard to make general comments about it, as its practices diff er greatly among the various Christian confessions. Eastern Orthodox liturgy has not changed much for several centuries, while many Protestant liturgical practices are relatively fl uid although certain liturgical patterns are observable even in very extemporaneous evangelical services. Nevertheless these traditions appear to have little in common apart from celebrations of the Eucharist – and even these celebrations are understood very diff erently theologically. Talking about liturgy in the abstract or in the most general terms tends to lose much of its theological force and the resulting refl ections lack specifi city and make concrete applications much more diffi cult. A further diffi culty is presented by the metaphorical language and symbolic dimension of liturgy. When the psalms – eminently liturgical texts – speak of mountains praising God or trees clapping their hands, are we to understand these natural phenomena as real ‘ characters ’ literally engaged in worship and what concrete environmental implications are we to draw from such statements?
Th ese questions cannot all be resolved here, so I will merely indicate briefl y how I handle them in this particular context. In regard to the diversity of liturgical traditions, I will seek to strike a balance by fi rst making some general observations that apply broadly to all Christian liturgical practice as it is discussed in liturgical theology. I will then focus on one specifi c liturgical tradition – Eastern Orthodoxy – and explore how concrete ecological insight can be gained from this particular tradition and its liturgical texts and practices
28 See my extensive critique of this appropriation of Sabbath language and attempt to rethink the
relationship between Jewish and Christian traditions more carefully in ‘ Sabbath and Eighth Day:
On the Messianic Dimensions of Ecological Practices ’ , Sobornost 33/2 (2011), pp. 56 – 94.
29 Gosling, New Earth , p. 102.
in the hope that this concrete example will provide inspiration for other scholars exploring the ecological potential of their own traditions. In regard to the second diffi culty, I will here assume, following various theological and philosophical treatments of the issue, that metaphorical and symbolic language and action conveys meaning (oft en even a surplus of meaning). 30 While they need not and probably should not be taken literally, liturgical words and actions convey truth and open a poetic space, which we are invited to enter and to inhabit. Th is liturgical space is created through the words and actions of the liturgical practices and seeks to guide and even transform us as we enter into and participate within it. While its language may not be a factual statement in a scientifi c sense, it creates a universe of meaning where its words and actions signify and convey truthful insight. Just like the biblical texts, which, aft er all, are read within liturgical settings and have arisen out of them, liturgical texts and actions require careful interpretation and such interpretation occurs against the contemporary horizon of meaning of our lives and the world in which we live. 31 Th is world is one marked by ecological devastation and consequently environmental considerations are part and parcel of the universe of meaning that we bring to our interpretation of liturgy.