Worship in an Age of Ecological Crisis: Constructing an Ecocritical Hermeneutic of Liturgy
Project period
May 2023 – September 2026
Supervisors
- Professor Tom Sverre Bredal-Tomren (VID)
- Professor Sigríður Guðmarsdóttir (Háskóli Íslands)
About the project
As environmental degradation proceeds at unprecedented rates, many Christian churches are beginning to integrate concern for the more-than-human world into their worship. Despite the enormous growth of ecotheology in recent decades, however, these liturgical practices remain surprisingly under-researched. If liturgy is, as this thesis argues, a key site where ethical formation occurs and where worldviews and imaginaries are shaped, this represents an important gap in contemporary theology.
This project addresses that gap by critically examining emerging eco-liturgical practices and exploring how Christian worship might respond to the ecological crisis. As an article-based thesis, it approaches the topic from several perspectives: analysing concrete eco-liturgical texts and practices, tracing their historical development, and proposing a constructive model for reading, critiquing, and reforming eco-liturgies.
The overall aim is to clarify the theological conditions for eco-liturgical reform in contemporary churches and to contribute to deeper reflection on what Christian worship might look like in an age of ecological crisis.
Background
Cand.theol., VID Stavanger, 2020
Research groups
- Ecotheology, Sustainability and Education (EcoSE)
- Church and Practice (CAP)