The Rabbit Room

When we think of liturgy, we tend to think in terms of a church service or “responsive reading,” as it was called in the tradition I grew up in. But the word actually means “the work of the people” —and that’s why we want to invite you to participate in the creation of Every Moment Holy.

Author Doug McKelvey has almost half of the book’s liturgies already written, and he’s hard at work on completing the project, but from the beginning it’s been part of the plan to open the brainstorming up to you, the people.

To that end, we want to invite you to suggest topics for liturgies you’d like to see Doug write for the book. Are there ordinary moments of life for which you wish you had a specific prayer? What milestones or annual events might your family want to mark with a liturgical reading? Are there daily or seasonal rituals and routines, or fleeting incidents whose importance is too often overlooked and might be well served by a liturgical moment of preparation?

We’re interested in any and all suggestions. We’ll gather your ideas together and give them careful consideration to determine which are best in line with our vision for the book, and if we choose one of your topic suggestions to use, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of the finished book as our token of thanks (we’ll contact you via the email on your comment if we choose to use your suggestion).

Disclaimer: Doug already has a list of well over 100 liturgies he’s drawing from, so as the Rabbit Room community makes suggestions, we’re looking for new ideas we like better than the ones he’s already planned. We anticipate that as you submit topic ideas, there will almost certainly be some overlap with what we already have—but don’t let that stop you from brainstorming! We’ll give credit where credit is due.

Note that we aren’t asking for the liturgies themselves (that’s Doug’s job), just potential subjects or titles, like “A Liturgy for Sunsets,” or “A Liturgy for the First Day of School,” or “A Liturgy for a Meal Eaten Alone.” (Those are all liturgies that will appear in the book.)

Leave us your ideas in the comments section, and if you like someone else’s idea, click the like button on their comment to let us know. Suggest as many as you like. We won’t necessarily pick those that get the most likes, but it’s a great way to let us know what you’re interested in (and who knows what may follow in volume 2—yes, we’re already thinking about volume 2).

Don’t forget, all donations to the project during the month of May are being matched by a generous donor! Help us put this over the finish line financially. Your contributions—both financial and liturgical—are what is making all this possible. Click here to visit the campaign page.

Oh, and please share the project with your friends (click here)!