The Role of Liturgy and Music in Formation

Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) Network Online Event

The Anglican tradition has come to be known in a particular way for its liturgical and musical heritage. In fact, it would be difficult to find someone who entered this tradition who does not identify this as one of the main features that drew them. The liturgy (BCP and music) also carries peculiar theological freight for Anglicans, in part because we do not have the kind of teaching magisterium as with the Roman Catholic Church, nor did we go the way of comprehensive catechisms and confessions as with the continental Protestant churches. Catechesis specifically, and formation more generally, are often more associated with traditional lectures, catechisms, and classrooms than with liturgy and music, chapels and choir stalls. In this panel drawn from the Episcopal Church and the Church of England, lay and ordained, musical practitioners and theologians will explore the wide variety of ways in which liturgy and music form persons and communities.

Panelists Include:

• Jeremy S. Begbie, Ph.D. - Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Director, Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts (DITA), Senior Member, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Affiliated Lecturer, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge; Durham, North Carolina

• Marty Wheeler Burnett, D.Min. - Associate Professor of Church Music and Director of Chapel Music, Virginia Theological Seminary; Alexandria, Virginia

• Matthew S. C. Olver, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Liturgics and Pastoral Theology, Nashotah House Theological Seminary, Member of the Task Force on Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision for the Episcopal Church; Nashotah, Wisconsin

• Timothy O'Malley, Ph.D. - Academic Director, Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, Editor, Church Life Journal, Associate Professor of the Practice, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, Indiana (Moderator)

• Geoffrey Williams, D.M.A. - Assistant Professor of Church Music and Director of St. Mary’s Chapel, Nashotah House Theological Seminary, Founder and artistic director of the GRAMMY-nominated male classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony; Nashotah, Wisconsin

The Anglican tradition has come to be known in a particular way for its liturgical and musical heritage.