Liturgics and Church Music (LTCM)

This is an archived copy of the 2016-2017 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://e-catalog.sewanee.edu.

LTCM 507     Singing the Word  (3)

Music is a force of immense power in the church's worship. This course lays the foundations for students to participate in and oversee the ministry of music in the parish in collaboration with persons skilled in music. It includes theological engagement with music, the role of music in the liturgy and the congregation, a working knowledge of The Hymnal 1982, and vocal techniques for the student's own singing of the liturgy as deacon and priest. Participation in this course is required for functioning as a cantor in the Chapel of the Apostles.

LTCM 511     History of Christian Worship  (3)

This course introduces students to the history of Christian ritual activity. Students acquire a basic knowledge of the history of Christian worship and develop the skills of thinking critically and historically about liturgy. This course also has the attribute of CHHT.

LTCM 521     Pastoral Liturgics: The Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church  (3)

This course introduces students to the history, theology, and pastoral use of The Book of Common Prayer (1979 edition). Through a mix of academic work and practical exercises, students demonstrate mastery of the church's basic liturgical texts.

LTCM 533     The Drama of the Word  (3)

Ancient documents, including those that make up our Scriptures, were in general written to be heard, and what we call "publication" normally implied public performance. The "Drama of the Word" seminar will consider the problems, challenges, and opportunities that face those who take the "performance" aspect of Scripture seriously. What does "performance" imply? What is its significance? How does it differ from study of the text merely as written text? What are the theological implications of that? Biblical texts will be examined in light of such questions, and in the latter part of the seminar, members will work together on presentation of a substantial portion of Scripture.

LTCM 536     Ritual and Worship in the Long English Reformation  (3)

This course examines the role of ritual and worship in the religious history of England, ca. 1530 to ca. 1700. It studies the transformation of a traditional religion based on rituals into a religious system based as much on word as on rite. The course draws connections between these religious changes and the larger political, social, and cultural contexts in which they occurred. This course also has the attribute of ANGL.

LTCM 537     Senior Chant Practicum  (1)

There are over 200 items contained in the Altar Book, its Musical Appendix, and The Hymnal 1982, volumes 1 and 2, which may be sung by deacons and/or priests. This course will provide a broad overview of those sung portions and their place in the liturgy. The student will concentrate on vocal technique and the practical skill needed in the successful performance of the most commonly used of these musical settings.

LTCM 542     Liturgy and Theology of the Eucharist in the Anglican Tradition  (3)

In the Anglican tradition, the eucharistic theology enacted in and implied by our rites and how we formulate eucharistic theology (-ies) in formal treatises and historical documents often live in tension and sometimes in direct contradiction to each other. It is important for students to deepen their experience and skills of integrating and differentiating between liturgical and non-liturgical understandings of the Eucharist. This course also has the attribute of CHHT.

LTCM 543     The Liturgical Music of Johann Sebastian Bach  (3)

This course explores the musical, poetic, and theological contexts of the works Johann Sebastian Bach composed for the Lutheran liturgy from his early career (the cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106) through his final years (Mass in B Minor, BWV 232). Consideration is given not only to the texts Bach sets but also, and more importantly, to the ways in which the music itself comments on and interprets those texts. A working knowledge of basic music notation is helpful for class discussion.

LTCM 544     The Hymn since 1982  (1)

The past half-century has seen an explosion of new hymn texts and tunes; the number of good poets and composers writing hymns is perhaps greater now than at any other point in church history. Additionally, American churches are beginning to sing hymns from a wider range of cultures. This class will examine what has happened to congregational singing since the publication of the Hymnal 1982.

LTCM 545     Even at the Grave: Music and the Christian Funeral  (3)

Since the early church, the order of burial has almost always involved singing. This class will investigate the history of Christian funeral music, looking especially at a series of pieces by important composers, from the earliest polyphonic setting of the Requiem mass (Ockeghem) to twentieth-century masterworks (Duruflé, Britten, and others). The class will conclude by discussing funeral music in the contemporary parish context.

LTCM 594     Directed Readings in Liturgics and Church Music  (1 to 4)

A Liturgics and Church Music topic developed by the student and a School of Theology faculty member to meet an educational goal not met through existing courses.

LTCM 625     Mapping Ritual Structures  (3)

A seminar on the ritual patterns of the Christian Initiation and Holy Eucharist with attention to the evolution and theology of effective pastoral practice for the church today. Readings will emphasize current pastoral practice against the background of grounded liturgical theology.

LTCM 626     Ordination and Eucharist: the Theological Foundations of the Presider's Role  (3)

The content of this course will be a theological and historical overview of the ministry of eucharistic presidency, with attention to developments in the Church's contextual situation which shaped the theological and pastoral understanding of that ministry.

LTCM 627     Liturgical Time  (3)

A seminar on the history, theology, and pastoral practice of the church's articulation of sacred time. The rhythms of day and week, season and year, paschal pattern and sanctoral cycle, will be examined from the standpoint of their origins and development, theological content, and best practices for ritual enactment in parish life.

LTCM 628     Liturgy and Moral Imagination  (3)

We will examine some of the major rites of the BCP and ecumenical sources asking the question: in what ways does liturgy both shape and express life of a congregation in the moral life? Sources such as Rowan Williams, Iris Murdoch, Madeline L'Engle and Stanley Hauerwas will come into play. Considerations will also be given to the role of musical settings of prayer.

LTCM 629     Ritualizing Relationships  (3)

This course considers ways in which the church ritualizes relationships between persons, looking principally at the marriage liturgies and their cognates, official and unofficial. Students will begin by examining foundational issues in gender and sexuality. Students will examine the historical evolution of the marriage rites and ancillary marriage practices, before examining emerging frontiers in the ritualizing of relationships. The purpose of this inquiry is to enable students to assess critically the marriage rites of the 1979 prayer book and the growing number of blessing rites for other sorts of relationships, as well as to understand the historical development of marriage rites.

LTCM 630     Eucharistic Theology  (3)

This course examines Eucharistic theology and practice as the sacramental source and summit of Christian life in community and its individual members. Study of historical and contemporary sources encourages the development of a critical appreciation of what liturgy does, a constructive theology of the faith revealed in symbol and ritual, and why this all matters ecclesially, pastorally, and ethically.

LTCM 631     Major Texts in Liturgical Renewal from Ecumenical Perspective  (3)

This is an advanced seminar in pastoral liturgy designed specifically for those in the liturgy track, but open to others as an elective. The seminar explores a variety of texts from the mid-19th century to the present that have had significant impact on liturgical renewal. Treatises, papal encyclicals, acts of ecumenical bodies, denominational position papers, and similar documents, are examined in order to trace the development of current thinking, the crossovers and interchange between traditions, and the relevance of these documents as we move into the new phase of liturgical revision.

LTCM 632     Contemporary Liturgical Theology  (3)

This course on contemporary liturgical theology examines six 20th- and 21st-century theologians who have attempted to develop a theology that has liturgy as its source, including three Roman Catholics (Kilmartin, Fagerberg, and Chauvet), one Lutheran (Lathrop), one Reformed/Evangelical (Boersma), and one Methodist (Saliers). The course includes some lectures on additional 20th-century liturgical theologians, but is conducted mainly as a seminar consisting of student presentations and class discussions. Each student is expected to lead a class presentation, providing both an outline and questions for discussion.

LTCM 633     Liturgical Renewal Movements in Anglicanism  (3)

This course explores five centuries of Anglican liturgical renewal. The liturgical changes wrought by the English Reformers, Puritans, Laudians, Oxford Movement, and Liturgical Movement are examined through primary sources (prayer books and other texts on liturgical practice from each period). Consideration is given to how each of these five groups interpreted what their predecessors had achieved and failed to achieve enables discussions at an advanced level of both the history and historiography of liturgical development.