EDI Committee Update: Listening, Learning, and Building a More Inclusive NAAL

The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee has been spending the past several months listening carefully to members’ experiences and considering how the North American Academy of Liturgy can continue to become a more welcoming, accessible, and equitable community. Much of our recent work has centered on the feedback gathered through the January 2026 seminar self-reflection process.

That process has already proved valuable. Seminar conveners engaged questions about diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, cost, and participation, and the responses have prompted meaningful conversations within seminars. At the same time, the feedback has surfaced several areas where the Academy can continue to grow.

What We Are Hearing

One recurring theme is the importance of racial and cultural diversity within the Academy. Members have expressed a desire for broader representation among presenters, scholars, and perspectives represented in our seminars. The committee is considering ways to encourage more intentional outreach and partnerships that might expand the range of voices participating in NAAL.

Economic accessibility is another significant concern. The costs associated with travel, lodging, registration, and participation can create substantial barriers, particularly for students, early-career scholars, independent scholars, and others without institutional support. We recognize that accessibility is not simply a matter of physical access. It also involves asking who can realistically afford to be in the room.

We have also heard concerns about physical and technological accessibility, particularly in hybrid settings. Experiences at recent meetings have reminded us that technology can either create a bridge or quietly become a moat. Issues such as mobility, room configuration, audiovisual technology, Zoom participation, and access to materials all affect who is able to participate fully.

The committee is therefore working with the Academy Committee to ensure that accessibility considerations become a more intentional part of selecting meeting locations and planning future gatherings. We are also preparing accessibility guidelines for consideration by the Academy Committee.

Beyond Representation: EDI and Scholarship

Our conversations have also raised a larger question: How might EDI become more deeply integrated into the Academy’s scholarship rather than functioning as an additional consideration attached to existing practices?

This question touches everything from seminar topics and reading lists to presenter selection, partnerships, and the scholars whose work is brought into conversation. We are exploring how the Academy might proactively cultivate relationships with scholars and organizations whose perspectives have historically been underrepresented in liturgical studies and related fields.

We are also learning from other academic organizations. The EDI Committee has begun exploring the work of the Academy of Homiletics, including an EDI project they have that is supported by a Wabash Center grant. We hope to learn from their experience and consider whether similar collaborative projects might be fruitful for NAAL.

Worship Matters

Because worship is central to our annual gathering, we are also working to develop practical ways to help the work of the President and the Academy Committee to address representation, accessibility, environmental concerns, and inclusive worship practices at our meetings.

We recognize that meaningful change takes time. Our hope is not simply to make occasional adjustments, but to help establish worship practices that embody the kind of community we want NAAL to be.

Closing the Feedback Loop

Perhaps the most important part of this work is making sure that members can see what happens after they offer feedback.

The January self-reflection process was not intended to become a survey that disappears. We want members to know that their observations are being read, discussed, and carried forward into concrete recommendations.

To that end, we are exploring ways to communicate more directly with seminar conveners about the self-reflection questions and to provide clearer guidance for future seminar planning. We are also considering targeted communications to conveners, who play an important role in shaping the experience of members at our annual meetings.

The EDI Committee will continue reporting on this work.

An Invitation to Participate

EDI work is most effective when it is not the work of a committee alone. We welcome members’ ideas, experiences, questions, and constructive suggestions. We also encourage members to consider participating directly in the committee’s work by joining us. We need an additional member or two.

As we look ahead, our goal is straightforward: to help NAAL become a community in which more people can participate fully, encounter perspectives beyond their own, and experience the study and practice of liturgy as a genuinely shared endeavor.

There is considerable work ahead. Fortunately, we have already begun by listening.

In service,

The EDI Committee 

Ruth Meyers

Rebecca Spurrier

Daniel Rodriguez Schlorff, Chair