Worship in Communion with Creation: Recognizing a Broader Participation

In honor of Teresa Berger, we are invited to consider the heights and the depths of worship in common with creation.

What if at the heart of the created universe lives the worship and praise of the Creator? And what if everything created finds its fulfillment in turning to this Creator God in worship? In a time of environmental crisis, Psalm 148 is a bold reminder that all of creation--heavenly beings, stars and planets, earth's landforms and water bodies, flora and fauna, humans young and old--have a capacity for worship, to join in praise to and of their Maker.

Written in honor of the prolific liturgical theologian Teresa Berger, the essays included in this collection affirm this biblical witness in studies theological, liturgical, and artistic by offering perspectives and examples from Christian antiquity to the present and by identifying ritual and musical expressions from both the Christian East and West. The contributors also consider the cosmic and the earthly, to recognize the heights and the depths of worship in common with creation. Berger's 2025 Berakah Award address to the members of the North American Academy of Liturgy is also included.

Contributors include:

Antonio Eduardo Alonso
Kimberly Hope Belcher
Teresa Berger
Harald Buchinger
Nathan P. Chase
Nina Glibertic
Phoenix Gonzalez
Willie James Jennings
Andrew B. McGowan
Gabriel Radle
Markus Rathey
Mark Roosien
Melanie C. Ross
Bryan D. Spinks
Benjamin M. Stewart
Kathryn Tanner
Karen Westerfield Tucker