New Zealanders attending the biennial Societas Liturgica Congress in Paris this year have reported it was an inspiring encounter with some of the world's best in the field of liturgy.

"It was exciting to be in the midst of so many well-informed people, committed to promoting ecumenical dialogue on worship, informed by solid research." said Ven Dr Michael Wallace, reporting there was plenty to learn from the "amazing assemblage of liturgists" from around the world on how well-ordered worship in different spaces can preach the gospel, enliven renewal and build unity amongst Christians.

"It was inspiring to consider how we offer liturgy in sacred buildings, in the beauty of Creation, and in places of protest." he said.

Societas Liturgica President Prof. Gilles Drouin opened the Congress held at the Catholic Institute of Paris(ICP), where he is Director of the ICP Higher Institute of Liturgy and advisor to the Archbishop of Paris for the liturgical planning of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Fr. Gilles showed how local history affects Christians' relationships with worship spaces, noting that the Congress venue was a former Carmelite Convent that became a prison during the French Revolution. There, in September 1792, more than 110 clergy and religious were executed for refusing to submit to the secular state.

Fr. Gilles directed attention to religious art in the venue chapel of "St. Joseph of the Carmelites" which despite its proximity to a massacre, still hosts worship today. He highlighted the painted chapel cupola that shows Elijah's mantle falling from the prophet's hands ready to be taken on by each new generation of disciples.

Panel discussions and presentations reflected on "The Liturgical Assembly in its Spaces"- looking at worship in churches of many kinds, in natural settings, in settings of ecological crisis and in cyberspace.

One paper came from Rev Bosco Peters from the Diocese of Christchurch who presented on “The Internet as Sacred Space” looking at worship and spirituality in digital space, and the impact of digital communications on spirituality and worship in physical spaces.

Bosco was pleased to see liturgy in Paris conducted less as 'celebrant and audience', and more as the whole gathered community celebrating together. 

"The primary best-practice dynamic is of imaging clearly that the gathered community is the celebrant at worship – not, as is still often the impression, that the presider is the real one who is celebrating."

Two liturgies took place in St. Ignatius’ neo-gothic church which has been radically reordered to seat congregants on four sides of its central altar.

" ...For Eucharist, then, that sense of all gathering around the table in these buildings was enhanced by normally having a square altar table – in contrast to what we often experience, the priest standing behind a bar-height barrier and the congregation being more passive recipients."

Helen Peters enjoyed the multilingual services and the community of diverse scholars from around the world.

She was inspired by the way Notre Dame de Paris designed its interior space to channel all visitors into a pilgrimage: carrying them through the Old Testament stories, into the life of Christ, and out through the lives of the saints.

The Parisian churches that hosted Congress liturgies gave more chances to ponder the congress theme of worship space.

Alongside the "musically stunning and lengthy" opening worship at Notre Dame, liturgy at the visually plain French Protestant church (Temple du Luxembourg) was refreshing for Pastor Sophie Ollier's warmth and inclusion, while Orthodox Vespers took place in the dark and inaccessible Orthodox crypt church below Saint Sulpice.

More insights into liturgical space came from French architect Jean-Marie Duthilleul in his presentation on ‘Liberating liturgical space’, and from Congolese Roman Catholic priest Richard M. Tambwe in his presentation on ‘An African Vision of Sacred Space’.

Orthodox laywoman and Yale University academic Nina Glibetic spoke on ‘Sacred Space Between Inclusion and Exclusion: The Dynamics of Liturgical Access in the Christian East’ picking up on the surprising role of female deacons in Iran's Orthodox churches.

Brazilian Anglican priest Luiz Carlos Texeira Coelho talked about ‘Mapping segregation in liturgical space as urban metaphor’, while American cultural historian Jeanne Halgren Kilde looked at changes in 20th-century US church architecture in her talk ‘From Sacred and Profane to Spiritual Space'.

Archdeacon Wallace said the shared liturgies highlighted that full access is always critical.

"It was a reminder that no matter how glorious the liturgy sets out to be, liturgists must attend to good physical accessibility, good sound systems, clear directions, good lighting, and music that's easy to sing and linked to the theme of the liturgy."

Rev Bosco Peters and Helen Peters (Christchurch) and Michael Wallace (Dunedin) joined from Aotearoa New Zealand, while four New Zealanders now living overseas joined the conference from Dublin (Margaret Daly-Denton), Cairns (Barry Craig), Würzburg (Joseph Grayland) and Melbourne (Nathan Nettleton).

The next Societas Liturgica congress will be in Rio De Janiero in Brazil in 2027, where the International Anglican Liturgical Commission will meet and the congress focus will be on liturgical inculturation - the task of Christians embodying worship in their own languages, cultural practices and worldviews.

For more information on the Societas Liturgica Congress go to: https://www.societas-liturgica.org/