A Simplified Guide to Worshiping As Lutherans

+++

A Simplified Guide to Worshiping As Lutherans. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2009. Paper. xvii + 136 pages. $14.40.

Published earlier this year, this book offers a simple explanation for what it means to worship as a Lutheran Christian. Based entirely on Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, it offers the reader a traditional view of worship without dismissing newer worship developments in the church today. There are bullet points that summarize the contents of each chapter, and at the end of each chapter there are discussion/study questions. It’s a short and easy read, and would be a good entry point for discussing worship in your congregation. (Discounts for multiple copies are available upon request from the publisher.)

To read more about A Simplified Guide to Worshiping As Lutherans, click here.

+ sdg +

The National Catholic Reporter on the LCMS Theses on Worship

+++

This is certainly a bit behind the curve, but I want to draw your attention to this anyway. The National Catholic Reporter posted a brief report on the LCMS Theses on Worship shortly after the Theses were published. The article is titled, “Lutheran leaders declare worship wars ’sinful’”.

To quote the article: “‘Congregations that changed their style of worship had greater levels of conflict than those that did not, but especially in those congregations in which the conflict never became serious, they also had higher levels of vitality,’ wrote Hartford Seminary scholar David A. Roozen in ‘Faith Communities Today 2008: A First Look.’” The article also states: “. . . some changes in worship, including an embrace of more contemporary styles, have led to increased worship attendance.” It’s worth a look.

+ sdg +

WorshipConcord Journal

+++

The November issue of the WorshipConcord Journal is now online. In this issue is an analysis of the LCMS Theses on Worship by the senior editor, Pastor James Waddell. Here is a preview of “Observations and Comments on the LCMS Theses on Worship” . . .

“The first thing that needs to be said about the Theses on Worship prepared by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Council of Presidents is that this is a document that is long overdue. The COP is to be commended for its leadership of the church in providing these theses for study, reflection, and furthering the conversation. . . .

“There are three evident strengths of the Theses on Worship. . . .”

To enter the conversation click here.

+ sdg +

All Saints

+++

O almighty God, by whom we are graciously knit together as one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Jesus Christ, our Lord, grant us so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which you have prepared for those who unfeignedly love you; through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

+ sdg +

The Lutheran Forum on the LCMS Theses on Worship

+++

The dust hasn’t settled yet on the recently published LCMS Theses on Worship. Comments and analyses are still appearing on the blogs. Two weeks ago I drew your attention to the commentary at WORLDmag.com. On Thursday Phil Secker published his analysis at the Lutheran Forum online titled, “A Response to the LCMS ‘Theses on Worship’”.

Secker offers a number of interesting critiques of the Theses. For example, he writes that, “A great strength of the Theses is their recognition of the confessional teaching that faith is the ‘true worship’ of Christ.” Secker criticizes the Theses for referring to faith as the highest form of worship, since this implies that there are other “forms” of worship alongside faith. He points out that the Lutheran Confessions do not speak this way, that they only refer to faith as the ‘true worship’ of Christ. Okay, fair enough.

The greatest difficulty I have with Secker’s commentary on the LCMS Theses on Worship is the metaphor he uses to control his entire critique. He argues that the Augsburg Confession presents a “conservative liturgical principle” in Article XV. Well, you can read this for yourself. I disagree with Secker that Article XV requires a “conservative liturgical principle” in the same way Secker understands it. I will say more about this in my own forthcoming comments and critique of the LCMS Theses on Worship.

I think the greatest value of  Secker’s “response” is the inclusion of several quotes from Arthur Carl Piepkorn. These quotes clarify Piepkorn’s point of view on liturgy, a point of view that, Secker argues, has been “widely misunderstood.”

JAW

+ sdg +

Reformation

+++

October 31, 1517 is traditionally recognized as the date on which Martin Luther launched the sixteenth-century reformation of the church. On the eve of All Saints, Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. These Theses addressed the dozens of theological (and practical) abuses brought about by the sale of indulgences, the proceeds of which were used to support the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Now, you wouldn’t expect worship to be included in Luther’s list of indulgence abuses. However, in a backhanded sort of way, ceremonies are mentioned in Thesis 55. “Indulge” me. Maybe Luther’s statement quoted here reveals just a hint of how his point of view on humanly instituted ceremonies in liturgy was germinating already in 1517. This translation is from the Project Wittenberg site.

“It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.”

+ sdg +

A Reformation Teaser

+++

As Reformation Day approaches (tomorrow), I thought this quote from Luther’s Latin Mass was appropriate. It is amazing to me how this view of Luther’s has somehow slipped through the cracks in the discussion today.

“The Scriptures prescribe nothing in these matters, but allow freedom for the Spirit to act according to his own understanding as the respective place, time, and persons may require it.”

+ sdg +

Luther’s early liturgical reforms

+++

On this day in 1525 Luther introduced the first mass held entirely in German in the Wittenberg city church. In January the following year Luther published his Deudsche Messe und ordnung Gottis diensts (German Mass and Order of Divine Service), for other churches to benefit from. What follows are the first three paragraphs of Luther’s German Mass from the American Edition of Luther’s Works (53.61-62). The image is a leaf of a 1526 edition of Luther’s German Mass, from the special collections of the Concordia Seminary Library; this is the German Sanctus followed by the Thanksgiving Collect after the distribution of Communion.

“In the first place, I would kindly and for God’s sake request all those who see this order of service or desire to follow it: Do not make it a rigid law to bind or entangle anyone’s conscience, but use it in Christian liberty as long, when, where, and how you find it to be practical and useful. For this is being published not as though we meant to lord it over anyone else, or to legislate for him, but because of the widespread demand for German masses and services and the general dissatisfaction and offense that has been caused by the great variety of new masses, for everyone makes his own order of service. Some have the best intentions, but others have no more than an itch to produce something novel so that they might shine before men as leading lights, rather than being ordinary teachers — as is always the case with Christian liberty: very few use it for the glory of God and the good of the neighbor; most use it for their own advantage and pleasure. But while the exercise of this freedom is up to everyone’s conscience and must not be cramped or forbidden, nevertheless, we must make sure that freedom shall be and remain a servant of love and of our fellow-man.

“Where the people are perplexed and offended by these differences in liturgical usage, however, we are certainly bound to forego our freedom and seek, if possible, to better rather than to offend them by what we do or leave undone. Seeing then that this external order, while it cannot affect the conscience before God, may yet serve the neighbor, we should seek to be of one mind in Christian love, as St. Paul teaches [Rom. 15:5-6; I Cor. 1:10; Phil. 2:2]. As far as possible we should observe the same rites and ceremonies, just as all Christians have the same baptism and the same sacrament [of the altar] and no one has received a special one of his own from God.

“That is not to say that those who already have good orders, or by the grace of God could make better ones, should discard theirs and adopt ours. For I do not propose that all of Germany should uniformly follow our Wittenberg order. Even heretofore the chapters, monasteries, and parishes were not alike in every rite. But it would be well if the service in every principality would be held in the same manner and if the order observed in a given city would also be followed by the surrounding towns and villages; whether those in other principalities hold the same order or add to it ought to be a matter of free choice and not of constraint.”

+ sdg +

Melanchthon on the relationship between ceremonies and doctrine

+++

This from Philip Melanchthon is taken from his 1543 Loci Communes, trans. J.A.O. Preus II (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992) Locus 21, Human Ceremonies in the Church, p. 228, col. 1. Here Melanchthon actually speaks of human ceremonies in the church as existing below doctrine and good works.

“Now we shall speak about that level of works which belong in a much lower position, beneath the doctrine and works of which we have spoken above. We shall speak of ceremonies which have been developed by human authority in the church, among which there is a very great difference. For some are useful for good order. . . . in the public gatherings of the church, the nature of men requires some kind of order.”

+ sdg +

Blended Worship Resource

+++

I draw your attention to John Kehl’s web site, Blended Worship Resource. John is making a solid effort at BWR to be faithful to our Lutheran theology while exploring new ways of proclaiming the Gospel in worship and song. John is a musician who brings many valuable insights to the questions surrounding blended worship in Lutheran congregations. He is also affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Again, it’s nice to know that our WELS friends are making these efforts.

 

+ sdg +