BOOK: The Liturgy of Politics

By Kaitlyn Schiess | Amazon.com | 216 pages
Published in September of 2020

SUMMARY: From the common false gospels of today to the excellent recommendations for liturgies and sacraments to orient one towards Jesus, Kaitlyn Schiess covers a lot of ground in the well researched The Liturgy of Politics. Chapters 5-8 standout as chapter 5 details where the church has gone wrong and what it can do to change while chapters 6, 7 and 8 say that our politics and theology should be intertwined.

Schiess gives examples of rhythms (the church calendar), sacraments, (the communion table) and liturgies, (hospitality and prayer) to orient the church towards Jesus. We like that she says that these are suggestions, will be different for each congregation and will always fail in some way as they are human made. Nonetheless, there is unique value in each ritual as they remind us that God is at work in our everyday life and it help us connect to our Christian brothers and sisters in the past.

Since it is so well researched the book does slow down at times and we would have liked more personal stories to break up the theological deep dives, but if you like a little bit of theology mixed with your politics in your non-fiction reading, then this book is for you.

KEY QUOTE: “We need need to unlearn our bent toward a private religion and a public politics – and see our participation in political life as a reflection of our very public faith.”

BONUS: Visit IVPpress.com for a discussion guide (PDF) and the excellent practices (PDF) and prayers (PDF) for the election season

BONUS II: Listen to Schiess talk about her book on the ChurchLeaders podcast. She is a great interview.

DID YOU KNOW? We have distilled the media we have curated into five guided learning paths to help you learn about politics — from a Christian perspective — in your preferred learning style.

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