A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture
A pastor and academic theologian is invited to perform a devotional service at a marksmen’s festival in a small German village. Unaccustomed to this kind of festive culture, he also finds himself confronted with theological and ethical questions: Is it possible to provide a place of shooting with ri...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| author | Sabine Joy Ihben-Bahl Traugott Roser |
| author_facet | Sabine Joy Ihben-Bahl Traugott Roser |
| author_sort | Sabine Joy Ihben-Bahl |
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| description | A pastor and academic theologian is invited to perform a devotional service at a marksmen’s festival in a small German village. Unaccustomed to this kind of festive culture, he also finds himself confronted with theological and ethical questions: Is it possible to provide a place of shooting with rifles and pistols with a prayer service and thus shape it liturgically as a place of God’s blessings? One could also ask: is it not <i>necessary</i> for theology to engage with communal forms of festivity, not just theoretically, but <i>performatively</i>, if Christianity itself is fundamentally festive? According to practical-theological reasoning, <i>occasional services</i>, i.e., celebrations of life rites, accompanying liminal situations and transitionary events of human life are growing in variety and importance and “new occasional services” are being developed. Also, the church and (public) theology continuously search and find their role in civil society. After all, there are many life situations in which <i>God’s blessing should be clothed in a festive garment</i>. But in which way is the marksmen’s festival to be considered? Two theologians explore these questions—autoethnographically and theoretically—and thus shed light on the marksmen’s festival as a theological topic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d16667d044404b0fb9e7bf7e6cf11d51 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
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| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-d16667d044404b0fb9e7bf7e6cf11d512025-08-20T03:43:51ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-03-0116337210.3390/rel16030372A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival CultureSabine Joy Ihben-Bahl0Traugott Roser1Faculty for Protestant Theology, University of Münster, Universitätsstr. 13-17, 48143 Münster, GermanyDepartment of Protestant Theology, Institute for Practical Theology and Religious Education, University of Muenster, 48143 Münster, GermanyA pastor and academic theologian is invited to perform a devotional service at a marksmen’s festival in a small German village. Unaccustomed to this kind of festive culture, he also finds himself confronted with theological and ethical questions: Is it possible to provide a place of shooting with rifles and pistols with a prayer service and thus shape it liturgically as a place of God’s blessings? One could also ask: is it not <i>necessary</i> for theology to engage with communal forms of festivity, not just theoretically, but <i>performatively</i>, if Christianity itself is fundamentally festive? According to practical-theological reasoning, <i>occasional services</i>, i.e., celebrations of life rites, accompanying liminal situations and transitionary events of human life are growing in variety and importance and “new occasional services” are being developed. Also, the church and (public) theology continuously search and find their role in civil society. After all, there are many life situations in which <i>God’s blessing should be clothed in a festive garment</i>. But in which way is the marksmen’s festival to be considered? Two theologians explore these questions—autoethnographically and theoretically—and thus shed light on the marksmen’s festival as a theological topic.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/3/372festival cultureheortologyoccasional services |
| spellingShingle | Sabine Joy Ihben-Bahl Traugott Roser A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture Religions festival culture heortology occasional services |
| title | A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture |
| title_full | A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture |
| title_fullStr | A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture |
| title_short | A Religious Garment for a Marksmen’s Festival? On the Theological Compatibility of Local Festival Culture |
| title_sort | religious garment for a marksmen s festival on the theological compatibility of local festival culture |
| topic | festival culture heortology occasional services |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/3/372 |
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