Here is a link to our You Tube channel. In the top row you will find both our Video Book
Reviews as well as our CORE Convictions Videos on various topics related to Biblical teaching,
Lutheran theology, and Christian living. You will find these videos in the order in which they
were posted, beginning with the most recent. In the second row you will find links to the
Playlists for both sets of videos. This month we want to feature a CORE Convictions video by
NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung.
A CRITIQUE OF THE WWW.ALTLITURGIES.COM WORSHIP RESOURCE
BY CATHY AMMLUNG
Here is a link to Cathy’s video. Many thanks to her for this powerful presentation.
Cathy writes, “A host of ‘alternative liturgies’ and worship resources are springing up on the
internet. These resources provide rationales and examples for decolonizing, upending, and
disrupting traditional liturgical theologies, practices, and language. They are based on social
justice and intersectionality rhetoric and philosophy. One such resource, called alt.liturgies,
comes from a Lutheran perspective and has gained notice and traction. It, as well as other
resources such as www.disruptworshipproject.com, reflects and promulgates a theological and
liturgical world-view that seeks to dismantle the (supposed) evils of racism, heteronormativism,
ableism, and the like, which infest traditional worship and contribute to the material harm, even
genocide, of vulnerable groups of people.
“I focus my critique of the alt.liturgies website resource centers through the lens of two ‘core
values’ of the North American Lutheran Church: ‘Christ Centered’ and ‘Traditionally
Grounded.’ I do this because the Great Tradition of the Church has been, and always will be,
centered in Jesus Christ, who incorporates wildly diverse, sinful, contentious individuals and
factions into his Body, the Church. From there, I explore concerns with a few of the many topics
and their sub-headings. My conclusion: however well-intended this resource is as it addresses
some legitimate concerns, its fatal flaw is that Christ is not the Center.”
