SOCIETAS LITURGICA

Societas Liturgica came into existence by the initiative of Wiebe Vos, a pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Church. In 1962 he had founded Studia liturgica, "an international ecumenical quarterly for liturgical research and renewal." In 1965 he convened a conference of 25 liturgists from Europe and North America at the Protestant community of Grandchamp, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. With J. J. von Allmen in the chair, the conference discussed Christian initiation and resolved to found a Societas Liturgica, "an association for the promotion of ecumenical dialogue on worship, based on solid research, with the perspective of renewal and unity." As an ecumenical society, membership is open to all Christians who are engaged in teaching and doing research in liturgical and related studies, as well as those who make significant contributions to the liturgical life of their churches.

The foundation meeting of Societas Liturgica took place at Driebergen, Holland, from the 26th to the 29th of June, 1967. That meeting studied Vatican II's Constitution on the Liturgy and recent work on worship by the World Council of Churches' Faith and Order. Thereafter the Societas has held congresses at two-yearly intervals. The papers delivered at these congresses have been published in English in its journal Studia Liturgica.

Bibliography: e.s. brown, "New Faces on the Scene: Societas Liturgica," Christian Century 84 (Aug. 23, 1967) 1080–1082. d.s. henderson, "First International Conference of Societas Liturgica," Studia Liturgica 6:4 (1969) 189–190. w.l. mcclelland, "Societas liturgica: from Grandchamp to Montserrat, 1965–1973," Studia Liturgica 10:3–4 (1974) 77–87. t. berger, "The International Congresses of Societas Liturgica: A Bibliographical Survey," Studia Liturgica 19 (1989) 111–114. g. lapointe, "The Societas Liturgica: Towards International Ecumenical Research in Liturgy," Ecumenism 122 (1996) 28. b. bÜrki, "Societas Liturgica: Tracing Its Journey So Far," Studia Liturgica 27 (1997) 129–151.

[g. wainwright]