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The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship

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From preface: New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship by Paul Bradshaw (Westminster John Knox Press) Although this dictionary is very obviously closely related to the Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship edited by J. G. Davies (SCM Press, London 1972, 2nd ed. 1986), it is not merely a further edition of that work, but rather its successor. While the vast majority of the headings used in that earlier volume have been adopted here, some have been deleted, new ones added, and other subjects rearranged. For example, `experimental forms of worship' has been eliminated because it now seems an outdated category, and for a similar reason `feminist liturgical movement' subsumed within the wider category of `women and worship'; while entries referring to more recent developments, like `praise and worship movement', have been inserted. The broad entry on `liturgies' has been replaced by two separate entries, on `eucharist' and on `word, services of the'. In some cases entries have been placed under new headings that would be more commonly used today. Thus, for instance, `year, liturgical' has been substituted for `calendar'; `daily prayer' for `canonical hours'; `eucharistic prayer' for `anaphora'; `inculturation' for `indigenization'; and so on.
All entries have been entirely rewritten, and in nearly every case by a new contributor. Contributors have been chosen on the basis of their expertise in the particular subject, in some instances from within the particular worship tradition under discussion, in others from outside, since both views shed valuable and complementary light. All the entries, except the shortest, have been broken up into numbered sections with sub-headings for ease of use and provided with bibliographical resources for further study. Where appropriate, the literature listed has been divided into selected texts and studies, with works containing a more extensive bibliography indicated by the symbol (bib.). It is the editor's earnest hope that with these changes and improvements the volume will serve as a comprehensive guide to the subject for future years as well as Davies' work has done for the last thirty years.