Making Liturgy: Creating Rituals for Worship and Life (Book)
Dorothea McEwan, Pat Pinsent, Ianthe Pratt, Veronica Seddon, Editors.  Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2001.

What happens when the language, symbols, and space of the church stop making sense? According to Making Liturgy, they need to be recreated and reclaimed, so that the larger worshiping body can be engaged. This book, written from a feminist perspective, examines how we can both do the work of the church and be authentic to ourselves.

By first describing the problem with traditional uses of liturgy—involving non-inclusive language, symbols that have lost meaning, and worship space that fails to engage—the editors put forward the need and plan for creating new ritual. Aspects that are brought into the conversation include creating liturgies for small and large groups, selecting music for specific liturgies, and the focus or theme of the liturgy.

The second and larger part of the book provides sample liturgies. This section is particularly helpful, since the editors show the reader how these changes and processes are put into practice. The multiple themes that are covered (within larger headings such as "Seasonal" to "Topical") show the potential breadth in the creation of ritual.

The last section is a list of resources dealing with scripture, poetry, liturgies, and music, all helpful in writing liturgy.

Challenging the male perspective of leading worship, this book will help the church see worship through a different set of eyes.

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