Carnival: Liturgy and Reconciliation

Welcome to The Cross Reference for the October 2008 installment of the Christian Reconciliation Carnival. Tonight is "wristband night": one low price for a wristband and you may read all the blog posts you want.

Our theme this time was the role that liturgy plays (whether by assisting or hindering) in reconciliation between Christian confessions.

• Posts along the theme of liturgy:

Mark, the Pseudo-Polymath, spends some time "Considering Liturgical Chaos" and asks how "non-liturgical churches hold precious and fast to the important events in Church history in the absence of liturgical remembrance?"

The Weekend Fisher has caught our attention with two posts on the liturgy. First, Anne explains "Why I am pro-liturgy", confronting that old canard about liturgical worship being un-Scriptural (or even anti-Scriptural) with a multitude of examples of Scriptural texts directly used and Scriptural concepts coming alive in Lutheran liturgy. Next, she gives us a rundown of the "Common Service" as an aid to "Comparing Liturgies".

Your host gladly takes her up on her offer, describing "The Once and Future (and Present) Liturgy" of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. (For a bare-bones look at the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, also see "The parts of the Mass and their purpose".) I also address a question raised by Anne in her second contribution: "Are differences in the service used to highlight differences in theology?"

Halden, at Inhabitatio Dei, shares a quote from Sergius Bulgakov on the seriousness of liturgy in the aptly titled "On Taking Liturgy Seriously".

• In the realm of ecumenism in general:

Fred, safely nestled in Deep Burrows, gives us his perspective, as a Catholic, on participation in "Protestant VBS" (Vacation Bible School).

We find clinging to Henry's Web a post about the high level of suspicion with which some Christians regard anything coming from a denomination other than their own in "Denominationalism - The Disease".

Anne completes her contribution trifecta with an exhortation to beware of "The spiritual hazards of debate", reminding us to stay on guard against the adversarial spirit with which it infects us, and the adverse effects on reason, doctrine, and fellowship.

Bill of The Thinklings comments on the refreshing anti-hate message he read from a Christian of another denomination, as "A Progressive Christian Injects Some Wisdom Into a Conversation".

Here are two posts of mine from July in which I engaged in a dialogue with two other Christians (one from the Church of Christ, and the other an Independent Baptist) and two separate occasions. In the first, we discuss the Catholic practice of praying to saints; in the second, I try to answer a series of allegations against the Catholic faith in general.

• Lest you fear we've exhausted the Internet's resources, we also have a post from elsewhere in the blogosphere:

The Singing Owl channels Susan Powter (and don't pretend you don't remember her...) as she asks her denomination to "Stop the (Charismatic) Insanity!".