In the fall of 2021, Lutheran scholars and practitioners, mainly from the United States, were invited to a conversation on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on worship and theology. It resulted in the anthology Church After the Corona Pandemic: Consequences for Worship and Theology. In the introduction to the volume, editor Kyle K. Schiefelbein-Guerrero states that the book assumes that the church will not return to its pre-pandemic life, and its purpose is to discuss the question: How to move forward, “once the current pandemic has ended”? (15)
However, musing about the future amid a crisis is not an easy task. In some ways, this anthology partly falls into the same trap as similar anthologies written at the same time with similar purposes. They turn into documentation of what happened since March 2020 and end up with only general questions or statements. For example, Quintin L. Robertson's chapter on “Worship in the African American Tradition with a View Toward the Future” describes important features of African American worship, detailing how two such churches functioned during the pandemic, and concludes with questions such as “Will the worshippers come back?” and statements such as “The COVID-19 global pandemic will change how we worship. . . . We will forever be a church with both physical and virtual worship.” (42) Three years later, it is not very useful to the reader, except to bear witness to what it was like back then.
With this said, the book is definitely not just a walk down the pandemic memory lane. It originated as a discussion on the impact of technology on theology and worship, and any reader interested in these questions will find plenty.
Readers will find useful concepts and models for further reflection and analysis. For example, the editor’s contribution offers the concept of “polymodality” instead of “hybrid” to describe the blending of online and onsite churches. According to Schiefelbein-Guerrero, “polymodality” aids in understanding the nature of and interaction between different modes of church, and why it would be important to not regress to the onsite mode only after the pandemic. Homiletician Karyn L. Wiseman picks up on that concept too as she sketches the features of post-pandemic preaching.
The volume is also unusual in that it specifically focuses on Lutheran theology and technology. As scholars and practitioners engaged in digital theology know, Lutheran voices are scarce and, as a consequence, the conservation is often ecumenical. Here, Lutherans are in dialogue with Lutherans, digging deep into various sources for Lutheran theology likethe texts in the Book of Concord, Martin Luther’s writings, and various kinds of contemporary Lutheran theology, such as Niels Henric Gregersen’s concept “Deep Incarnation” and Elizabeth Johnson’s “Deep resurrection.” With the aid of these sources, they discuss theological questions and insights raised by the pandemic, such as embodiment and incarnation (Kristin Johnston’s chapter), the ubiquity of Christ (Chad Rimmer’s chapter), sacramental real presence (Timothy J. Wengert’s, Dirk Lange’s, and Deanna A. Thompson’s chapters), pneumatology (Kayko Driedger Hesslein’s chapter), and ecclesiology (Vincent Evener’s chapter).
The rich—and contradictive—nature of Lutheran theology comes across in the various contributions. The authors do not in any way speak with a unified theological voice about digitally mediated worship or technology, Taken together, the collection provides a resource for readers looking for theological discernment or who are in the process of negotiating how to be a post-pandemic, hybrid church.
Finally, the last chapter opens up very important perspectives, reminding US and European readers that from a global perspective, technology and theology were not the biggest concerns during the pandemic. Sivin Kit, a Lutheran pastor in Malaysia and director of the Department for Theology, Mission, and Justice for the Lutheran World Federation, offers insights from the global south, where the pandemic literally was a struggle to survive. He also points out that in Asian countries that had already lived through epidemic outbreaks such as SARS, churches had already made the theology/technology negotiation years ago. Kit concludes with what might be the most important insight for the church after the Corona pandemic,the interconnection and interdepencence of all life, and the churches’ call to contribute to healing and creative solutions in a time of crisis. However, as Kit points out, this is more of a rediscovery or a reaffirmation: “This is who we are now as a Church going through Corona, and this is who will become as a Church after Corona” (192).
In sum, Church After the Corona Pandemic is a book that follow up on its promises to provide the reader with theological tools to move forward in the post-pandemic world. As such, it is highly interesting not only for Lutheran readers, but for all theologians who take the challenge of a global crisis seriously and are not satisfied with going back to business as usual.
Frida Mannerfelt is a postdoc in practical theology at Lund University (Sweden).
Frida Mannerfelt
Date Of Review:
September 13, 2024