In the Current Issue: "Rites for Wounded Communities"

The issue of Liturgy entitled “Rites for Wounded Communities,” guest-edited by David Hogue, explores a wide range of responses in which churches and chaplains have engaged in order to help people affected by disasters and violence come to terms with the after-effects and the on-going trauma. As a professor of pastoral care for many years, Dr. Hogue offers his own insights in addition to the writing of others whose work he solicited. This excerpt is from his Introduction to the issue.–– Melinda Quivik

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Two articles will orient readers to the focus of this volume. Pastoral theologian and psychologist Kate Wiebe describes collective trauma and describes common phases of response to community disasters; she emphasizes how liturgical practices must evolve at each stage of the process.

Disaster Assistance Specialist with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Kathy Riley focuses on the distinctive trauma caused when sacred spaces are violated by natural or human causes. She also provides invaluable ecumenical resources for liturgical responses. Both writers emphasize the importance of recognizing that individuals grieve and lament at different paces. . .

Hebrew Bible scholar Denise Dombkowski Hopkins and pastoral theologian Michael Koppel next illustrate the powerful ways trauma studies of the past decades have informed our understanding of our sacred scriptures. . .

Liturgical scholar Nadieszda Kizenko provides a detailed description of the ways Orthodox churches in Ukraine have acknowledged the realities of war, both recent and historic, drawing on centuries of rich liturgical tradition. Seemingly subtle changes in ancient liturgical language and practice can attend to new realities of national trauma.

Other informal communities may rely on the hospitality of nearby venues and neighboring communities. Seminary intern Elizabeth Elliott describes the immediate responses of one Colorado Springs, Colorado, congregation to the unprovoked shooting of patrons at Club Q, long known as a “safe space” for the local LGBTQ + community. She emphasizes the importance of hospitality, of pivoting in the moment, and particularly of ensuring that the voices of members of the wounded communities speak for themselves.

Pastoral theologian and psychotherapist Danjuma Gibson provides compelling evidence that the displacement of black and brown communities, particularly in urban settings, is a distinct form of violence against marginalized communities, along with the physical violence that accompanies it. He notes black congregations that call on long-standing practices such as prayer and “townhalling” (local debriefing conversations) that give voice in the face of collective trauma.

Rabbi and social worker Steve Kaye draws on his experience as a regional coordinator of Disaster Spiritual Care for the Red Cross. Employing Rabbi Mordecai’s notion of “transvaluation,” he describes the way familiar rituals take on new meaning in the face of life-altering disaster.

Episcopal priest Lauren Stanley shares the story of the Lakota residents of the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota and their decades-long struggle to return the remains of children held at the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania. Her reflections on the strength of indigenous ceremonies to honor and embrace those children forcefully removed from their own homes demonstrate the healing power of ancient practices. This is particularly the case when those ceremonies were central to a culture that white officials had worked to obliterate. . .

Finally, such a wide range of communities, collective wounds, and liturgical responses begged for reflection. The final epilogue was a late addition, prompted by the weight of the stories being told in this collection. I found myself moved by the many conversations with colleagues old and new leading up to this volume. . .

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The full essay including references is available now in the digital and print editions of Liturgy. All of the essays in Liturgy 39, no. 2 are available by personal subscription and through many libraries.

David Hogue, “Introduction: Rites for Wounded Communities,” Liturgy 39, no. 2 (2024): 1–3.