As the Church community begins to build upon the potential of its reformed liturgy, Alternative Futures for Worship offers a solid basis, combining the empirical and the theoretical, continuity and innovation. Edward Kilmartin's brilliant essay, which climaxes volume 1, vindicates the modern progress of sacramental theology, from which there is now no turning back.
This work is significant to both Roman Catholics and Protestants because it examines worship at a profound pastoral level and employs the social sciences to understand dynamics of worship that are at work in any living tradition. It thereby provides a practical theoretical base for making liturgical judgements that are grounded in something much greater than the passing fashions of popular culture.
There are no easy answers in sacramental theology, but we have struggled in the past and continue to wrestle with the plan of God and God's unique presence to us in word and signs. This volume takes us a step further in our sacramental wrestling match.