02/07/2026 17:20 - 19:30

HALL: Pola - A204

Contact: Alfsvåg K.

Chair: Kessel T.B.

It is an essential aspect of the Christian church that believers meet to worship. In this panel, we will investigate different aspects of Christian worship both as a universal phenomenon and as a phenomenon with local manifestations.


1) Christian worship understands God as really present in the midst of the worshippers. One of the papers investigate the understanding of what is here called liturgical realism in the context on contemporary systematic theology.


2) The understanding of the Eucharist defines the understanding of worship but has also created a lot of controversy. Two distinct voices in this context are Martin Luther and Jean Luc Marion. This paper investigates the theology of the Eucharist in Luther and Marion, aiming at finding common elements with ecumenical potential.


3) The sacrament of confession is also an important aspect of the liturgy. Originally a Roman-Catholic practice, variations of it has been adopted in traditions as different as Orthodoxy and Pietist Lutheranism. This papers investigates confessional practices in these three traditions, looking for similarities and differences.


4) Some African churches are growing very rapidly. One way of handling the scarcity of clergy this creates is volunteer ministry, and one of the contributions investigate how this is done within the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.


5) The Women's World Day of Prayer (WDP) is a global ecumenical movement led by Christian women. One of the papers investigate how liturgical material from the International Committee organizing WDP is adapted in a particular context.


6) Environmental advocacy may take liturgical practices into new areas. One paper investigates this phenomenon, arguing that it should not be understood as the instrumentalization of liturgy for political ends, but as a mode of action that renegotiates the boundaries between worship, witness, and ecological responsibility.