Practices of memory and the formation of identity: Ethnographic study in Orthodox faith communities

SUMMARY: “Practices of memory and the formation of identity” presents ethnographic research in a modern Orthodox Jewish community and an Eastern Orthodox Christian congregation, conducted between December 2024 and May 2025 in Washington, D.C. Through immersion into the field (worship services and community life) and narrative interviews, the study inquired about the characteristics of practices of memory, the narrative of hope that they convey and their impact on the individual. The data suggests the following arc, or better spiral: The story (encompassing history and theology) of a faith community finds its embodiment in practices of memory that create peoplehood (community) and personhood (identity); more specifically, those practices are multisensory experiences that connect to (and across) people, place, and time and establish a person’s identity (integrated into the story and expressed through practices.

PRESENTER: Lena Maria Lorenz, PhD, is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Georgetown-Howard Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice in Washington, D.C. With a desire to integrate theological, biomedical and therapeutic perspectives and approaches, Lena first went to the University of Leipzig where she gained a bachelor's and master’s degree in special education and theology, and worked in different contexts of special education and psychiatry. In 2016, she attended the Spirituality, Theology and Health Research Workshop (3-day intensive in Europe) and started to pursue further study in the field. She has a MSc in Spirituality, Theology and Health and a PhD in Theology and Health from Durham University, UK. A revised version of her PhD thesis on hope in the context of chronic, physical pain will be published later this year by Routledge.