ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines an inductive perspective starting from the parishes, over against deductive approaches from theoretical perspectives. It examines the issue from the wider position of the three Churches; a small-scale piece of qualitative research within the Church of England is seen as an integral part of the enquiry for its local and practical focus. The book shows that some of the assumptions from which these questions are drawn are false, thus challenging some of the conventional wisdom concerning Extended Communion, both in the Church of England and by extrapolation into the other Churches that have such services. The book aims to develop liturgical studies by the examination of the text as used in real situations, as a research project in practical theology.
