Liturgy 39.2: Rites for Wounded Communities
Issue 39.2 of Liturgy is entitled “Rites for Wounded Communities” and is guest-edited by David Hogue. What follows is an excerpt from Hogue’s introduction to the issue.
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This volume samples just a few of the many ways human beings respond to tragic loss collectively. Writers have been invited from among dozens of practitioners, scholars, and religious leaders who have faced trauma in the context of community and shared their stories with me. Several have focused their professional careers on disaster response, while others were drawn unexpectedly into the reality of collective trauma in their own communities.
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. Acknowledging the utter disorientation resulting from trauma, they counsel patience and careful attending.
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. From their forthcoming book, Biblical and Pastoral Bridgework: Interdisciplinary Conversations (Pickwick Publications, 2023), they present deepened interpretations of three Psalms in ways that inform worship and preaching, emphasizing the expression of a range of emotions such as revenge, confessions of responsibility, and anger over divine abandonment.
Some wounded communities are liturgically rich, with traditions, ceremonies, and rituals ready-made for responding to the unexpected devastation of collective trauma. At times those liturgies must adapt to the disruptions like those of war. 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. She also demonstrates the power of being included in some of these ceremonies as a representative of one group that was likely complicit in the original removal.
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; I was reminded of my own closeness to trauma at points in my career as a pastor, hospital chaplain, psychotherapist, and seminary professor. I needed to process my own reflections on these stories, my own reactions, my own learning. I sensed this would become a larger project for me, this timely, needed pastoral response to the pain of communities. I wanted to imagine next steps.
Our collective rites give voice to lament for the familiar world which has been lost; we protest the personal and systemic injustices that enabled and empowered the trauma; we grieve the loss of cherished persons and objects. Our gatherings can indeed point us toward wholeness at some point in the future, moving us from isolation to connection, from alienation to belonging again, from rupture to reunion, even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
It is my hope that this volume will inform and inspire, challenge and motivate all who share in the privilege of leadership in our communities, and prompt ongoing collaboration.