ritual
Changing liturgies: a comparative research of religious practices in two Protestant churches in Houten (NL)
Present-day ritual forms in Protestant churches are changing considerably, both as the conscious or explorative liturgical expression of a new understanding of faith and faith-community or as emergent ritual accompanying ‘immediate’ experiences. This research is focused on the reflective construction of ‘high’ ritual as well as processes of ritualization of spontaneous experiences in two mainline Protestant churches, i.e. a Protestant Church (Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, hereafter PCN) and a Netherlands Reformed Church congregation. The PCN church can be described as mainstream and plural, whereas the Netherlands Reformed church is conservative Reformed with strong evangelical influences. The research is not only focused on church ritual, but also looks for emerging ritual in small groups and in the private spaces of believers. Objects for study are the core ritual repertoires of Protestantism, i.e. preaching, praying and singing. Attention will be given to the relation between words, acts, embodiment, space and time as well as the role and meaning of music as a ritual form. In particular in this relation changes of ritual forms that have occurred in the last decades can be studied. Changing ritual forms will thus be seen in the context of individualization and detraditionalization, exploring ritual forms as expressive vehicles for individual experience as well as means for the shaping of a new (communal) identity. The way in which the churches under study create experiential spaces through ritual will be given emphasis. The concepts of ritualization (e.g. Catherine Bell; Martin Stringer) and emergent ritual (Ronald Grimes), are important here. Between September 2003 and September 2004 fieldwork will be carried out in both churches. The research will lead to several articles in international refereed journals of anthropology of religion and religious studies.
This research is the continuation of a research project by Ronald Schouten (March 2001 - December 2001).
Key words
Ritual forms
Ritualization
Protestantism
Experience
The Netherlands
Secularization
Links:
Protestantse Gemeente Houten
Nederlandse Gereformeerde Kerk Houten
ND Dossier “Het werk van de Geest” (conservatief-gereformeerde discussie over charismatische vernieuwing)
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