DOI
10.32436/2475-6423.1213
Abstract
A small-scale qualitative study in a Catholic parish situated in Ottawa, Canada,
offers insights into the complex relationship between that community’s worship
and its commitment to social justice. This article brings the lived theology of
this community into dialogue with the academic and magisterial perspectives
on the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life. The dialogue is
framed by the Theological Action Research Network’s four voices of theology:
operant, espoused, formal, and normative. This framework helps to center the
marginalized theology of the faithful in the pews. In this case, the parish of-
fered a dynamic theology of welcome across its liturgical and social practices.
This emphasis on being a welcoming community bridges perceived gaps in the
congregation’s lived theology. Drawing on Susan Bigelow Reynolds’s concept of
ecologies of ritualizations, the article proposes a new metaphor—the Eucharist
as a keystone species—to nuance the relationship between the liturgy and social
outreach. This metaphor helps to embed the Eucharist more deeply within the
network of ritualizations that form and are formed by the community.
Recommended Citation
Sorensen, Erik S.J.
(2026)
"From Source and Summit to Parish Practice: A Qualitative Analysis of Eucharist and Social Outreach,"
Journal of Global Catholicism:
Vol. 10:
Iss.
3, Article 6. p.150-176.
DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1213
Available at:
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/jgc/vol10/iss3/6
Included in
Aesthetics Commons, Africana Studies Commons, Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Caribbean Languages and Societies Commons, Catholic Studies Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Comparative Philosophy Commons, Cultural History Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Eastern European Studies Commons, European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, Feminist Philosophy Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Folklore Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Hindu Studies Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, Oral History Commons, Other Anthropology Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Practical Theology Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Rural Sociology Commons, Slavic Languages and Societies Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons, South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons, Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons, Women's History Commons, Women's Studies Commons