Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music
Charles Martin is pursuing a Master of Sacred Theology in liturgical studies at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music with Prof. Melanie Ross. His thesis explores modern baptismal theology and practice in the Episcopal Church. A Wisconsin native, he holds degrees in chemistry and a Master of Divinity from the University of the South (Sewanee). He is a priest of the Diocese of Colorado.
Christian liturgy invites its participants to consider something larger than themselves: it is a community exercise that is transgenerational and even cosmic. The anamnesis of the Eucharist draws participants into relationship with the past, present, and future as time collapses upon itself. Liturgy, therefore, has power to encompass all of creation in this act and shape the consciousness of the Church with respect to the more-than-human world. Liturgy itself is an act of creativity, as new liturgical texts are created and then as they are enacted anew with differing places, times, and people. How does the creative enaction of the liturgy speak to the continual creative movement of God in the universe? In this paper I will investigate the theologies of creation embedded in liturgical texts of the Episcopal Church, primarily the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and the 2024 Season of Creation materials. These materials are used widely within and beyond the Episcopal church, providing a good case study for the ways creation theology is incorporated into the liturgies of mainline Christianity more broadly. I will ask what role the liturgy can play in developing a conscious cosmology for the people of God and suggest how continued liturgical creativity might create space for liturgies that include all of creation.