INCULTURATION AND LITURGY (LSST-4181)

Inculturation is a work of justice and liberation by which Christian communities grow into the richness of their mature identity and participate in the mission of the church. Today, it is essential that inculturation be deeply aligned with the church's move toward synodality as a constitutive dimension of the church of the present and future. In a unique timing, the course unfolds this year as the international Synod on Synodality will be meeting in Rome.  Both inculturation and synodality flow from Vatican Council II's affirmation of cultural and racial diversity as essential to the church's life and liturgy. In a unique way, the option for synodality invites the voice, creativity, and expressiveness of all people, walking together, lay and ordained, responding to the Spirit's guidance regarding each community's unique mission of service in the Kingdom of God, and engaged in the necessary revision of structures of participation and decision-making within the local and larger church.   Course readings and visual resources draw on emergent theologies from around the globe, key church documents, and narratives of communities engaged in inculturated worship. Discussion and reading will explore Asian, African, Latin American, Asian American, Latino, and African American perspectives and practices in light of the central themes of inculturation and synodality. [Faculty Consent required; 14 max enrollment]