Louis Weil

Louis Weil looks back on his work shaping the liturgical life of the Episcopal Church through his involvement with the development of The 1979 Book of Common Prayer— and looks forward to the future of the church and its liturgical life. Through stories and first-person anecdotes, Weil does “narrative theology” as only he can. Although most points of reference are to the 1979 BCP, the book is aiming at a more fundamental level—not just Episcopal or even Anglican liturgy, but liturgical rites as such: how do they “do what they do”?—or NOT do when they are done badly! “Liturgical Sense” is two dimensional: both the “common sense” of liturgical rites and also their “aesthetic sense.” It is Dr. Weil’s contention that in American culture we have an inherent inability to “think symbolically.” Dr. Weil seeks to encourage a return to “liturgical sense” across the church.

In this exploration of the foundations of Anglican worship, Louis Weil invites the laity to claim their true baptismal role and serve alongside the ordained as ministers and celebrants of the liturgy. He explains how the contribution of the people of God has steadily diminished over the centuries and why it is necessary to reclaim it today in the midst of Anglicanism’s increasing multiculturalism. Since Anglicans are no longer primarily English-speakers worshiping in Gothic cathedrals, Weil challenges us to engage new forms of culture, music, liturgical prayers, and dance in order to renew Anglicanism for the new century.