NAAL Newsletter
Fall 2007
- Letter from the President: Ruth Duck
- Registration for Savannah
- Information about the Savannah Meeting
- From the Delegate for Seminars: William (Bill) Kervin
- Travel Tips for Savannah
- Celebrating the Love Feast in Savannah
- Wilderness Explorations Offered
- Baltimore-Washington Members
- News about NAAL Members
- Publications by NAAL Members
Letter from the President
Savannah beckons, as plans proceed. Here are some highlights of our progress toward Savannah:
- Crawford Murphy has been working to design and invite people to fabricate art for us, including a standard for use in the opening procession and future meetings. The “local” arrangements committee will meet in Atlanta in October to continue planning for the service. (“Local” is in quotation marks since the committee will be chaired by Patty Hughes of Michigan and only Fr. Michael Kavanaugh, a gracious non-member volunteer, actually lives in Savannah; other members include Crawford, Melva Costen, Don Saliers, and Kim Long).
- Stephanie Perdew and Rabbi Arnold Belzer of Savannah have met to plan our Friday morning prayer; the synagogue is also arranging for our breakfast that day.
- Melva Costen has arranged for an outstanding group of Gullah singers, the Darien County Shouters, to be with us Saturday morning, and for Rev. Griffin Lotson, coordinator of the Darien Shouters, to be our lecturer at First African Baptist Church. The church is providing a light breakfast for that day.
- In June, after considering all nominations sent us by the Academy, the Academy Committee selected Paul Bradshaw as 2008 recipient of the Berakah award.
- Mark Miller, an outstanding contemporary composer with influences from jazz, classical music, and African American tradition, has agreed to work with me on creating a new table prayer.
I will do something different for what has been called the “President’s Eucharist”: presiding at a Love Feast Friday evening, since the origin of the Methodist Love Feast is in Savannah. (See Robin Knowles Wallace’s article giving the history and nature of this ritual). Second, even though I am ordained and often preside at Eucharist, I appreciate the unifying aspect of a Love Feast, which does not require a particular creed or authorized presider, only people who are willing to testify to God’s grace in their lives. Thus, it seemed appropriate for an interfaith setting with a wide range of practices in regard to women’s ordination, and also in regard to the roles of deacon and elder, as a witness to our unity in the midst of all these differences and an expression of the values of my denomination, the United Church of Christ.
The work of the Academy goes on, as we prepare to welcome visitors, receive new members, and as we continue to work on upgrading the website and keeping an accurate list of members. Thanks to so many of you who have given of your time and wisdom toward this work.
God’s peace,
Ruth Duck
President, North American Academy of Liturgy
Registration for Savannah
Registration forms for the Annual Meeting in Savannah will be sent to you shortly. For planning purposes, please note that the registration fee will be $195 for members and $220 for visitors registering before November 20. The conference rate for the Hyatt Regency Savannah is $119 per night (single) and $129 (double), and it is available from January 2 through January 7, 2008. The deadline for registering for a hotel room at conference rates is December 11, 2007. Please make your hotel reservations by contacting Hyatt directly through this link: http://savannah.hyatt.com/groupbooking/savrsbibl2008
Information about the Savannah Meeting
Savannah Schedule. The schedule for the Annual Meeting in Savannah will be posted on the NAAL Website.
Deadlines to Keep in Mind.
Apply for membership by September 15.
Apply for visitor status by November 15.
Pre-meeting coordinators: contact Courtney Murtaugh as soon as possible at murtaughs@ameritech.net.
Sidebar Conversations: If you want to lead a sidebar conversation, contact Ruth Duck as soon as possible at Ruth.Duck@garrett.edu.
Late Night Madness. The Academy Committee has expanded the hours when exhibits will be open, in order to give you more time to browse the displays and make purchases. There will be an opportunity for late night shopping during the President’s Reception on Thursday, January 3 from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Need a roommate for the meeting in order to economize? Contact Don LaSalle (donlasalle@fastmail.fm) and he will put you in touch with others who are looking to share a room.
From the Delegate for Seminars: William (Bill) Kervin
1. Deadline for Seminar information: Print Deadline - October 15, 2007. Seminar Conveners must submit to me their seminar’s agenda (i.e., titles of papers/presentations or a brief description of general topics to be considered) by October 15 for publication in the Academy program (in addition to any changes to their seminar Mission Statement/Description). After Oct. 15 further updates will appear on the website only.
2. Meeting Room requirements: Conveners are also asked to indicate, by Oct. 15, their expectations regarding numbers and any other meeting room needs (e.g., screens for projection use, etc.).
3. AV requirements: All seminars are responsible for arranging for their own projectors. (This will save us about $3,000.) We can provide extension cords and power bars. Seminar presenters should be in touch with their Convener to coordinate any such needs.
4. Photocopying for Seminars. The Academy Committee has agreed on the following policy for reimbursing the seminars’ photocopying expenses. The cost of copying materials for seminars will be reimbursed if it is done at designated copy centers. (Information on local copy centers will be provided by the Delegate for Seminars.) If the hotel’s (more expensive) copying services are used, these expenses will not be reimbursed, because this practice is not good stewardship of our resources.
5. Visitors should contact Seminar Conveners directly (see web site for contact information) with any questions they may have regarding participation in Seminars.
6. Contact information. Conveners are asked to please keep me informed of any changes to their contact information.
Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions.
William (“Bill”) Kervin, Delegate for Seminars
Emmanuel College, Toronto
416-585-4546
Travel Tips for Savannah
Savannah is a lovely old city, Georgia’s First City, as a matter of fact. It’s a wonderfully walkable city. Along with the history comes a historical way of paving streets and sidewalks…stones and bricks in the historical district where we will be staying. So don’t forget to bring your sensible walking shoes so you have cushioned soles and good ankle support for uneven pavement here and there!
Savannah is also a small city, only around 150,000 people. With that comes a small airport and, depending on your point of departure, smaller airplanes. So, book your flights early. Atlanta’s airport is a good 4-5 hours drive away.
Savannah is a city bounded on the north by the Savannah River, and when we stay at the Hyatt Regency, that river flows three stories below us. In fact, during our meeting, we may hear an occasional horn blast of sea-going vessels as they head out to the Atlantic Ocean. Colorful tug boats and paddle-wheel boats dock alongside River St. This stone-paved street runs between the river and the bluff on which the hotel is located. Hotel elevators will transport us down to the river level. Whether we turn east or west on River Street, we will find a wealth of restaurants and taverns, art galleries and shops await our investigation. Walkways along the river make this a pleasant option for a bit of exercise and bird and boat watching, even if you don’t indulge in the tempting treats (pecans, peanuts, ice cream, taffy, bakery sweets and more!) across the street.
There are plenty of reasons to add on an extra day or so to enjoy this charming city. Check out the Savannah tourist website for more information! http://www.savannahvisit.com/.
Note: Delegate Eileen Crowley has prepared these travel tips. Eileen has collected other helpful information, including tips for the budget conscious, which will be posted on the website and will be included in the Meeting Folder.
For a recent New York Times article on visiting Savannah, click on 36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.
Celebrating the Love Feast in Savannah
In January, members of the North American Academy will celebrate a Love Feast in Savannah, the place where John and Charles Wesley came to adopt the practice, inspired by Moravian Christians. The Wesleys came to the colony of Georgia as missionaries early in their pastoral careers. While Charles served as secretary to a British official and served a church on St. Simon’s Island, John worked in and around Savannah, serving the Church of England and meeting with the Moravians, other Christians, and potential converts. John was particularly moved by the strong faith of the Moravians, their hymn singing, and their revival of the apostolic agape meal as a love feast for worship and Christian fellowship.
On Monday, 8th August 1737, John Wesley recorded in his journal at Savannah that, after evening prayers, his group joined with the Moravians in one of their love-feasts: “It was begun and ended with thanksgiving and prayer, and celebrated in so decent and solemn a manner as a Christian of the apostolic age would have allowed to be worthy of Christ” (Frank Baker, Methodism and the Love-Feast [London: The Epworth Press, 1957], 9-10).
While neither the Moravians nor the Wesleys ultimately proved successful in Georgia, the cross-fertilization that occurred from their worshiping and conversations together led to the continuing usage of the love feast throughout Methodism in England and the colonies. Methodist bands, classes, and societies held love feasts to encourage testimonies, inspire holy lives, and to provide an alternative to drunken parties. Faithful Methodists received tickets for love feasts as they did tokens for communion.
In the colonies, love feasts were an important part of quarterly gatherings of Methodists for preaching, business, and revival. Lester Ruth describes the energy and power of the early love feasts in his book A Little Heaven Below (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2000, 116): “On those occasions [when the “work of God” had broken out], when the love feast was concluded and the door opened, the bystanders eagerly flooded into the space in order to experience the gracious power of God.”
Love feasts are still a strong tradition in the Moravian Church. The Moravian Book of Worship (Bethlehem, Pa.: Moravian Church in America, 1995) begins with love feasts for various themes and seasons of the liturgical year. Several denominations in the United States participate in love feasts, including Church of the Brethren, Baptist, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian, and various Wesleyan churches including the United Methodist Church, which has provided print and internet resources for the celebration of love feasts.
While it might be tempting to re-create a historic love feast for the North American Academy of Liturgy at its 2008 meeting, the love feast is relevant to today’s world; and our inclusion of it, in addition to honoring the work of John Wesley and the inspiration of the Moravians here in Savannah, attempts the following:
- To praise God and testify to God’s goodness
- To provide a unifying experience for people of varying religious backgrounds
- To provide space for holy conversation that is not simply academic work
- To represent the ecumenical and egalitarian commitments of the United Church of Christ, our President Ruth Duck’s denomination
- To introduce the love feast (for those who haven’t experienced it) as something that continues to be meaningful and can be replicated in large or small worship settings
The Love Feast will be celebrated at Trinity United Methodist Church in Savannah on Friday, January 4. In the Wesleyan/Moravian tradition we will follow, participants will gather around tables. A beverage (water or fruit juice) and simple buns are served. There will be times for the entire congregation to sing and pray together, as well as times to share one’s witness to God’s goodness around the table.
There will be no charge for participation, but it will help us in our planning if you indicate on your registration form that you plan to attend.
Robin Knowles Wallace, coordinator of the Love Feast for NAAL 2008 in Savannah
Wilderness Explorations Offered Following the Annual Meeting in Savannah
In the last newsletter, I gave general information about tours available from Wilderness Southeast. Here is more specific information; please indicate on your registration form if you want to take part in one of these trips, so that we can request enough guides. By indicating your first and second choice, you will make it possible for us to reassign you if there are not enough people to fill a particular tour. Please make your reservations for these tours by December 1, 2007.
Ruth Duck
Sunday, January 6
11:00-4:00 p.m. Blackwater Paddle Trip through and enchanted world of cypress and tupelo trees. A leisurely trip suitable for novice paddlers. $70 per person, less with your own transportation to the starting point. Minimum 6; Maximum 14 people.
11:00-2:00 p.m. Alligators and Anhingas at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. $55 per person. Minimum 6, Maximum 14 people.
11:00-2:30 p.m. Beaches and Borders trip to Tybee Island, observing the array of life in a tidal creek, explore sand dunes, learn about marsh life and conservation. $55 per person. Minimum 10; maximum 14 people.
Monday, January 7
8:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wild Island Exploration at Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge, $82 per person, $67 if group provides own transportation to the starting point. Minimum 6; Maximum 6 people.
8:00 am.-12 noon Wild Island and Estuary Exploration in a covered 45-foot pontoon boat through tidal creeks, going ashore on Williamson Island, $65 per person, less with your own transportation to the starting point. Minimum 18; maximum 28 people.
Baltimore-Washington Members
Contact Vice-President Judith Kubicki to be a part of the local committee for the 2009 Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Kubicki@Fordham.edu
News about NAAL Members
Fred Graham’s Recovery Continues
Embraced and strengthened by the prayers and good wishes of colleagues and friends around the globe, Fred Graham survived three major rounds of surgery in the month of June, all connected with receiving a portion of his daughter’s liver. Jessica too is well on the road to recovery.
Fred received first-class medical care over a period of nine weeks, and was released from the rehab center in early August, ahead of schedule. He has the support of his faith communities, community agencies and family in this time of strengthening and adjustment. The weekly tests are more than satisfactory; his body weight and muscle condition are improving steadily. Medical supervision goes on, but he looks forward to returning to partial duties in early December, and to his teaching and administrative roles at Emmanuel College, Toronto when the January semester commences.
To quote A New Creed of the United Church, “We are not alone…” it is obvious that this miracle did not happen in a lonely context; all who read this are part of the “we” whose petitions and support meant so very much. Laus Deo.
Contact: fred.graham@utoronto.ca
Rev. S. Anita Stauffer
1948-2007
The Rev. S. Anita Stauffer died at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois, on June 26, 2007; she was 59.
Pr. Stauffer was ordained on June 3, 1973. She received a BA in English from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1969, an MDiv from Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1973, and took part in graduate studies in liturgics and church architecture at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, in 1986 and research in liturgical and architectural history in Europe, England, and North Africa.
In 1969, Pr. Stauffer served as a legislative assistant to Congressman John B. Anderson. She was pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, from 1973 to 1978. From 1978 to 1987, she served as Worship Editor and Consultant for the Lutheran Church in America, and Specialist for Worship and Architecture for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) from 1988 to 1991. From 1991 to 1992, she served as Interim Coordinator for Worship for the ELCA, and in 1992 she became Study Secretary for Worship and Congregational Life, Department for Theology and Studies, Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, Switzerland; she held the position until 1996. In 1996, she returned again to Chicago on disability retirement.
Widely published, Pr. Stauffer was the North American correspondent for Studia Liturgica from 1988 to 1992, and wrote and edited numerous articles and chapters and over ten books, including Worship Wordbook (with Ralph R. Van Loon; Augsburg Fortress), Altar Guild and Sacristy Manual (Augsburg Fortress), Baptismal Fonts, Ancient and Modern (Grove), and the volumes of the Lutheran World Federation Worship and Culture study series. She was the principal author of the widely quoted "Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture."
She was long a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy, becoming inactive only when her illness forced her to do so.
She will be remembered as a careful scholar of baptismal history, as an articulate advocate of responsible liturgical inculturation, and as a faithful friend.
By the mercy of God, may she rest in peace.
(Memorial provided by Gordon W. Lathrop.)
Publications by NAAL Members
Richard D. McCall. Do This: Liturgy as Performance
In this ambitious work, McCall follows the rise of dramatic interpretation of the early Christian liturgy from its beginnings through such elements as costumes, interpretative text, and gesture. He then examines the development of performance theory, focusing on the work of Victor Turner and Richard Schechner. Three views of liturgical theology, especially that of Aidan Kavanagh's, set the stage to construct a definition of liturgy as a mode of performance.
McCall brings Aristotle's categories in the Poetics to bear on liturgical action. In the final chapter he analyzes the Gregorian Sacramentary and the actions described in Ordo Romanus I.
"In this splendid contribution to liturgical theology, Richard McCall provides an excellent analysis of liturgical memorial through the lens of performance theory. In the course of the book McCall constructs a profound account of the liturgy as Trinitarian theology." -John F. Baldovin, S.J., Weston Jesuit School of Theology
RICHARD D. MCCALL is associate professor of liturgy and church music at the Episcopal Divinity School
