114 - The Sacraments in Religious Education and Liturgy: An Ecumenical Model

The Sacraments in Religious Education
and Liturgy: An Ecumenical Model
By Robert L. Browning and Roy A. Reed
Birmingham, Religious Education Press, 1985. 313 pp. $14.95.

Many pastors and educators have been engaged in some aspect of worship change and reform. Unsatisfied with rites and structures unintelligible to the modern mind and unmoving to the modern spirit, we have sought meaning and relevance in the worship and liturgies of the past, the practices of ancient and recent tradition, and in the human wisdom of sociology and psychology. This reviewer has been a part of the popular search for meaning and method in liturgies and sacramental observances of the church today-in my case as a developer of denominational programs and resources for confirmation and as a workshop leader and author of books on children, worship, and the sacraments. This volume by two professors at the Methodist School of Theology in Ohio comes as a timely gift, like a well-charted road atlas for a pilgrim in need of guidance. What many of us have intuited, or learned in bits and pieces, Browning and Reed have presented in orderly and comprehensive fashion, based on biblical, theological, and historical information and familiarity with related disciplines such as psychology, communication, and education. The authors articulate for us questions and possible solutions to issues in the central activities of the worshiping community, the sacraments.

The book begins with a description of the "quiet revolution" going on in the church-Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. There is movement away from a substantialistic understanding of the sacraments to a phenomenological view-from an emphasis on the "objects" of

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sacramental practice to the "action." Rather than being seen as religious rites by which God breaks into our secular lives, the sacraments are experienced as symbols of God's presence in all of life. In the sacraments, there is unity of word and sacrament, and today there is increasing unity through ecumenical dialogue (in contrast to the usual emphasis on differences) and through dialogue between religious education and liturgical practice, The authors want the church to move away from conceiving the sacraments as sacramentum-consecratory acts and obligations-and toward viewing the sacraments as mysterion-active symbols which reveal the presence of God, modeled upon Christ as mysterion. For Browning and Reed, the sacraments are "action parables of the Kingdom of God." Thus, the sacraments are dynamic, relational, and action-oriented. They ought not to be object-centered rites subject to intellectualized or legalistic definitions. The authors boldly suggest that the classic Augustinian definition, "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace," is no longer helpful, often leading to a platonic substantialistic understanding and reinforcing the false dichotomy between sacred and secular. The sacraments "do" the very opposite-they reveal the presence of the holy in all life.

The biblical, historical, and theoretical treatment of the sacraments is followed by sections relating the celebration of the sacraments to human and faith development, and describing each of the seven traditional sacraments in terms of theological concepts (grace, vocation, reconciliation, etc.) as understood and appropriated at each stage in life development. As one example, the material on confirmation is informative and provocative. There is a helpful explanation of what Erik Erikson and James Fowler have to say about what is happening in the lives of adolescents, and how the intended meanings of confirmation are experienced and understood by young persons. Readers will be led to rethink what is appropriate for adolescents. The authors point out teenagers are capable of abstract (and theological) thinking, but do not always engage in it during this time of intense concentration on personal identity formation. Adolescents will rethink their faith and beliefs in order to make personal commitments they can call their own. But adolescent faith is essentially conventional and conforms to community norms. It is not until young adulthood that faith and beliefs are critiqued more deeply and thoroughly, in the context of broad social, global, philosophical, and theological categories. Readers will be provoked to consider if confirmation ought to be, as the authors suggest, a "repeatable sacrament" with particular appropriateness for young adults and adults experiencing growth in understanding and commitment.

The final section of the book considers various models of the sacraments (page 120, listing eight presuppositions of current models, is worth the price of the book), and then describes how religious education and liturgical practice are integrated in each of the seven traditional sacraments. Even for those who currently observe two sacraments, there is much to agree with. What is being proposed are worship reforms

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moving away from the substantialistic view to a more dynamic revelatory and participatory view. In my case, some of my hunches have been confirmed; a number of the points I had been making in workshops and articles will need to be revised; and several possibilities will need to be mulled over-the idea that the eucharist is open to all who "seek [the) saving fellowship with the Lord through eating the bread and drinking the wine," and is not limited to those who are baptized; or the idea of' footwashing as a sacrament. These are ideas I may eventually embrace, but not yet. However, the authors have intrigued me.

Several intentions result from the reading of this book. I will use it as a compatible reference on the sacraments, human and faith development, religious education, and education about worship. The footnotes are a goldmine of scholarly resources. And I intend to buy several copies to give to colleagues with whom I wish to engage in dialogue about how to help the church celebrate the sacraments.

David Ng
National Council of Churches
New York, New York