Bricolageliturgie: Liturgical Studies Revisited

Abstract

This article examines a fifth trend, complementary to the four identified in a previous article, in contemporary liturgy visible in churches in the Netherlands as well as South Africa. Drawing on the specific case in the Netherlands of a service in which a minister was ordained, the tendency to mix liturgies is highlighted. This “cut-and-paste” liturgy can be described as “bricolage liturgy”. The term “bricolage” is not new: its use by Claude Lévi-Strauss and Jacques Derrida is investigated in order to better apply the term to liturgy. Bricolage liturgy is a-centrical and a-typical. Jesus Christ, then, is the point of departure for understanding the rituals of liturgy, without restricting a service to a set pattern.