The People's Work: A Social History of the Liturgy - Hardcover

"Thanks be to God! Senn has turned his encyclopedic mind and wit to the dynamic of God's people at worship, moving liturgical studies into the camp long inhabited by biblical studies, drawing on the social sciences and cultural anthropology. Weaving a prodigious witness from the cultural and socio-political forces impacting the worshiping community throughout Judeo- Christian history, Senn charts the lively, often elusive, but always creative interchange between the faith community and the world it is called to inhabit... In an era of liturgical foment, the author offers sage reflection and even words of hope for a Church not always sure of its path yet bearing the promise of the Spirit's enlivening, anchoring presence in the midst of the upheaval." -- Dr. Robert D. Hawkins, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC "This is an important book. We have needed liturgical history to begin to do this work. Reading Senn will make us long for more." -- Gordon W. Lathrop, Emeritus, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

In this first book to document the full history of ordinary Christians' liturgical expression, distinguished liturgical historian and theologian Frank Senn ventures behind the liturgical screen, behind the texts, and behind the rubrics to reconstruct the structures of everyday religious expression in Christian history.