In addition, it is hoped that the ADR would be able to offer assistance with undergraduate teaching and so broaden the courses available at this level. The estimated cost to support this post for five years is approximately 250,000. Liturgy does not exist in a vacuum. Like all that is sacred, it has its life within the social, political and secular context in which it develops. Liturgies are read, sung, danced or performed by men and women who belong to communities other than religious ones, and whose affiliations extend beyond the institutions of organised religion.
Liturgies are complex symbolic systems mapped onto other complex symbolic systems.
Social and political transformations have occurred and are occurring still. We must either acknowledge that our liturgies too must change and seek ways to change them, or we must show why they should remain unaffected. This mini-conference addressed the questions raised by gender for contemporary liturgical activity. Already within some religious cultures there has been considerable debate. This conference provided a focus for the assessment of that debate and forum where people from different religious traditions could explore its broader social, political and theological implications together. .