The Liturgy of Politics

"This is a clear-eyed look at the forces of spiritual formation inside and outside of church—and the political discipleship that American Christians too often accept without thinking about it. Schiess offers a powerful call to examine hidden assumptions and false idols, and to explore the whole two thousand years of Christian tradition in order to breathe new life into twenty-first-century evangelicalism."

-Molly Worthen, associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, author of Apostles of Reason 

"This is a powerful challenge from a young heart and a mature mind. Schiess seems to touch every unexamined habit of Christian thought, work, leisure, and worship. With a wide sweep of life's liturgies and church liturgies, of spiritual formation and political responsibility, of Bible reading and communication with others, Schiess goes straight for the heart in relaxed conversation that packs a prophetic punch about our complacency, ignorance of Scripture, cultural conformity, and more. Her urgent message is for communities of Christian faith to repent and turn ourselves over entirely to God, as disciples of Jesus Christ have always been called to do. It is hard to imagine how this young woman has been able to read so widely and think so profoundly about so much of life. Here you'll find fresh insight and compelling hope that will renew your labors for the coming of God's kingdom. Young people, old folks like me, and everyone in between, read this book now!"

-James W. Skillen, author of The Good of Politics, former president of the Center for Public Justice 

"Liturgy is about worship and inner life. Kaitlyn Schiess takes a careful, hard look at how we do our politics and how we should do our politics, viewed from the inside not the outside. The difference is significant, and seeing it may give us a better heart for others. As a result, our politics may change us for the better as we seek to engage a world that needs to see what the gospel looks like in real-life practice."

-Darrell L. Bock, senior research professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, author of commentaries on Luke and Ephesians 

"If all of us are formed by our practices, and politics is a kind of practice, how then are we as disciples of Jesus Christ being ordered through our political participation to the love of neighbor? That is the important question Kaitlyn Schiess has posed in The Liturgy of Politics. I won't spoil the book by giving you the answers here, but let's just say they're likely to catch you off guard a time or two. And if you take her cross-shaped account to heart, you might even find yourself confronted with a need both for repentance and a vision of hope. I think Schiess's book will be widely read and just as widely appreciated."

-Matthew Arbo, associate professor of theological studies and director of the Center for Faith and Public Life, Oklahoma Baptist University 

"How should Christians vote? In the last several years, this question has become a dividing line in the church, polarizing the people of God into opposing camps and fracturing the Christian community along worldly fault lines. With wisdom beyond her years, Kaitlyn Schiess recognizes the folly of centering on this question and instead focuses on a better one: What sort of people are we being formed into? With biblical grounding, theological depth, and the spiritual urgency of a next-generation leader, Kaitlyn lays the groundwork for a better, more faithful approach to political engagement. After finishing this book, here is the one thing I know for sure: we have not seen the last of Kaitlyn."

-Sharon Hodde Miller, author of Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked And How God Calls Us to More 

"What hath the upper room to do with the Oval Office? What does the Spirit have to do with the Senate? In The Liturgy of Politics, Kaitlyn Schiess offers an insightful framework for thinking about these two at-first-glance antagonists. Many evangelicals nowadays seem to be suffering from worldview dissonance—shunning political engagement altogether because it's 'dirty work' or shirking genuine and careful participation because dogmatism and bumper-sticker responses roll off the tongue more easily. Schiess offers a careful and sustained via media that emphasizes the movement, timing, and practices of the church, which instill a vision for gathering community and reforming political participation. With fluent brilliance, Schiess does this by looking to ancient and contemporary voices such as Augustine, Karl Barth, and Jamie Smith. She reminds us that every time we enter that dusty, smelly building with well-worn pews, we throw ourselves at the right way to move and live and have our being—in shared spaces with our neighbor in the world!"

-Kyle David Bennett, associate professor of philosophy and chair of the theology and philosophy department at Caldwell University 

"The Liturgy of Politics is a much-needed discourse on effective leadership in politics and caring for our culture. I have been following Kaitlyn's important voice for some time now, and I am delighted to have her contribution for our journey toward the New."

-Makoto Fujimura, artist, author of Culture Care and Silence and Beauty 

"Many young evangelicals—weary of politics and the culture wars—have begun to disengage from political life. Tired of the narrow-minded politics of the right and left, these evangelicals long for something more—something beyond ideology and sound bites. Katelyn Schiess has answered her generation's call. Drawing on Scripture, history, and contemporary political theology, she offers a robust and accessible political ethic that avoids the old pitfalls of the Christian right and left. She deftly explores how worship and spiritual disciplines can not only liberate evangelicals from destructive political ideologies but actively move them into God's alternative political mission of public justice and shalom."

-Matthew Kaemingk, assistant professor of Christian ethics and associate dean, Fuller Theological Seminary