Department
Biological Sciences
Location
Bethel University
Document Type
Poster
Start Date
2-25-2026 4:00 PM
End Date
2-25-2026 5:00 PM
Abstract
Churches and laboratories describe both physical locations and communities oriented around ritual practices. Similarly, religion and science are both bodies of knowledge and ways of knowing. I propose that these analogical relationships between places of worship and places of inquiry extend to the development of liturgy, such that laboratories can become worshipful places. This presents novel opportunities for joy in scientific praxis through course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). CUREs provide formative opportunities to developing scientists, in contrast to conventional “cookbook” laboratory instruction that emphasizes information and isolated skills. In the context of Christian higher education, iterative laboratory work becomes liturgy, and can be applied to novel scientific questions. For the CURE presented here, students developed a cost-effective and time-efficient phagocytosis assay to test claims about the anti-inflammatory efficacy of essential oils. The semester culminated in proof-of-concept experiments wherein the spectrophotometric assay developed by the class proved to have comparable efficacy to well-documented microscopy-based methods. The liturgical nature of the laboratory work enabled students to move deeper into laboratory practice; this familiarity promoted increasing depth of thought about this specific CURE and about the practice of science in general in ways analogous to Christian liturgical practice. In future CUREs, I will explicitly analyze the liturgical nature of scientific praxis with students. This instructional model not only connects specific scientific topics to Christian spiritual formation, but also demonstrates principles of laboratory-based worship to the next generation of Christians studying creation through the biological sciences.
Recommended Citation
Doan, Ellis, "Liturgy and the Laboratory: Practicing Science as Worship through Course-Based Undergraduate Research" (2026). Wednesday, February 25, 2026. 11.
https://spark.bethel.edu/dayofscholarship/spring2026/spr2026/11
Terms of Use and License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Liturgy and the Laboratory: Practicing Science as Worship through Course-Based Undergraduate Research
Bethel University
Churches and laboratories describe both physical locations and communities oriented around ritual practices. Similarly, religion and science are both bodies of knowledge and ways of knowing. I propose that these analogical relationships between places of worship and places of inquiry extend to the development of liturgy, such that laboratories can become worshipful places. This presents novel opportunities for joy in scientific praxis through course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). CUREs provide formative opportunities to developing scientists, in contrast to conventional “cookbook” laboratory instruction that emphasizes information and isolated skills. In the context of Christian higher education, iterative laboratory work becomes liturgy, and can be applied to novel scientific questions. For the CURE presented here, students developed a cost-effective and time-efficient phagocytosis assay to test claims about the anti-inflammatory efficacy of essential oils. The semester culminated in proof-of-concept experiments wherein the spectrophotometric assay developed by the class proved to have comparable efficacy to well-documented microscopy-based methods. The liturgical nature of the laboratory work enabled students to move deeper into laboratory practice; this familiarity promoted increasing depth of thought about this specific CURE and about the practice of science in general in ways analogous to Christian liturgical practice. In future CUREs, I will explicitly analyze the liturgical nature of scientific praxis with students. This instructional model not only connects specific scientific topics to Christian spiritual formation, but also demonstrates principles of laboratory-based worship to the next generation of Christians studying creation through the biological sciences.