Biographically Anchored Liturgies as a Starting Point for Liturgical Formation

The liturgical professional development project for pastoral workers and clergy in the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart has been developed in collaboration with the Department of Liturgical Studies at the University of Tübingen. The concept of biographical learning is the innovative element that explores a new type of liturgical formation (Bildung) where the learning content explores the participant’s unique biography of learning, faith development, and theological education and the impact of these on their understanding of the liturgy and their liturgical practice. The learning process aims to equip professional pastoral theologians to reflect on and be responsive to the liturgical–pastoral contexts in which they work. The Department of Liturgical Studies provides the learning structure and context, while the diocese provides the teaching space and enables the participants to attend. The learning outcomes are unrelated to a specific professional or employment structure or associated with a points system, management, or career progression process. The project provides a learning process rather than a program of learning, distinguishing itself from many traditional approaches to liturgical formation. The challenge for the teaching team is to provide the participants with conceptual or theoretical material to reflect on their biographical narrative of theology and then apply this concept of biographical learning in their specific and diverse pastoral contexts. As part of the biographical learning process, participants contribute to “feedback loops” to the diocese and the teaching team. This paper does not address the competency framework for career development, employment assessment, or learning comprehension. All evaluations of professionalism, role attainment, career development, and competency are employment matters and are the purview of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. However, the learning process provides participants with frameworks for self-assessment and feedback loops to evaluate the teaching team, the process, and the content.