IRILIS news
- Bart Visser, MA starts his doctoral research at PThUIn his project, We don’t do liturgy, he examines, under the supervision of prof. dr. Mirella Klomp, the liturgical theologies of the evangelical movement in the Netherlands.
- Call for papers Societas Liturgica 2027The theme of the 2027 conference is “From Inculturation to Decoloniality.” Paper proposals can be submitted until 31 October 2026.
- Erasmus Mundus programmeThe Centre for Religion and Heritage, University of Groningen (NL), is coordinating a new Erasmus Mundus funded MA programme to educate future heritage professionals with knowledge, skills and competences that answer the needs of a rapidly evolving heritage field.
- In retrospective: EuARe Congress 2026: Adaptive Reuse of Religious BuildingsDuring the EuARe Congress in Rome last June, discussions focused, among other topics, on how churches and other religious buildings across Europe are being repurposed, shared, or adapted to changing religious and ritual practices.
- IRiLiS Board Member Dr Samuel Goyvaerts Appointed Endowed ProfessorGoyvaerts was appointed Special Professor of Cistercian Spirituality, Liturgy and Theology as of 1 October.
- Roel Aalbersberg defended his doctoral dissertation about The Lord’s SupperOn Monday, 19 October, Aalbersberg successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, The Lost Supper: A Study of the Question How, When, Where, and Why the Eucharist Lost its Proper Meal Character, at Utrecht University.
- Call for papers: Liturgy and the SensesIn which ways do Christian and Jewish worship form, employ, invoke and evoke on human sense perception—sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, kinesthetics and proprioception, as well as the imaginative faculties? That is the focus of a conference in April 2027. Those wishing to present are invited to submit abstracts by 10 September.
- Obituary Gerard RouwhorstThe board and management of IRiLiS received the sad news that on 7 January, our former colleague Prof. Emeritus Gerard Rouwhorst passed away at the age of 74. Gerard made a significant contribution to the field of Liturgical Studies, both in the Netherlands and abroad, as well as to our Institute.
- Out now: The Embodied Space of Worship (LC 33) - by Johan BastubackaA new volume in the series Liturgia Condenda has been published, authored by dr. Johan Bastubacka (University of Helsinki) and entitled: The Embodied Space of Worship. Liturgical Signs and Liturgical Bodies in Contemporary Finnish Orthodox Lay Worship. This book focusses on the active, bodily and nonverbal participation of lay people as a defining yet unexplored aspect of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy.
- CfP: From Table to Text or Text to Table?
University of Pretoria, 18-19 September 2025Traditionally, Reformed traditions focus on the text. The mastery of ancient languages is pivotal, as a high priority is placed on the ability to discern the source texts in their original languages. But the question looms whether this is truly practised? Ministers often report not using the source texts in sermons. Some church fathers also had trouble understanding the source languages, for example, Augustine, whose proficiency in Greek was not good, needless to mention his Hebrew abilities. It seems that traditions that do not place a high value on the text, such as Pentecostal traditions, thrive, and are expanding while reformed traditions are in decline. - Out now: Yearbook for Ritual and Liturgical Studies volume 40In December 2024, volume 40 (2024) of the Yearbook for Ritual and Liturgical Studies has appeared.
- Out now: Sing after God a new SongDr. Henk Vogel successfully defended his PhD thesis Sing after God a new song: Ritual-musical appropriations of Psalms in contemporary Dutch and Flemish culture on 28 November 2024.
- Out now: The Visuality of Texts in Calvinist Churches in the Dutch RepublicText panels, such as those depicting the Ten Commandments, are an equally characteristic as overlooked part of historic Dutch Protestant church interiors. This book by dr. Jacolien Wubs (academic coordinator IRiLiS) shows how, after iconoclasm in Dutch Calvinist churches, text decoration evolved into an innovative form of visual culture, and was used to transform church spaces to accommodate Reformed worship.
