Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Bored with the Liturgy? pr. Hall has some advice.

Since St. John's will soon be moving to the new LCMS Hymnal, Lutheran Service Book I thought this comment from Rev. Christopher Hall at his blog "This Side of the Pulpit" was appropriate.

Wisdom! Let us Attend

Find yourself growing bored with the liturgy?

Is it getting stale, saying the same things week after week?

Does every Sunday service seem the same?

Desire something a little different, you know, to mix it up a little bit?

There is a certain cure for this ennui: pay attention to what you are saying, and what is being said to you.

Thanks pr. Hall.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pr. Watt, is the new LCMS hymnal an unmitigated disaster like all the ELCA liturgical and musical innovations of the last decade?

wattswhat said...

wb; Actually the new LCMS hymnal is VERY good. It isn't perfect but many who are using in even say it is better than The Lutheran Hymnal (1941). And it certainly outshines Lutheran Worship by scads. It contain over 600 hymns re-introducing many of the removals in LW (i.e. Jesus name, masculine pronouns for God, etc.). There are 5 communion services 2 from LW (lightly updated), old 5&15 from TLH, one from the 98 supplement, and and filled out update of Luther's "German" mass. Matins, vespers, and morning and evening prayer are lightly updated restoring some of what was removed in LW. The book contains services for Baptism (with Luther's flood prayer added), Confirmation, and (new to this book) Funerals and weddings.

All in all it is a very conservative revision / combination / addition of the best of previous LCMS Hymnals. (long answer, short question... but that's what you get when you ask a preacher a question).

wattswhat said...

Here's a nice overview (more info than you want) by the LCMS commission on worship.

Christopher D. Hall said...

Thanks for the "bump"!

Unknown said...

I really love this hymnal. I wish the WELS church I now go to would consider using it. Sadly where I live, the LCMS churches have abandoned the liturgy for more evangelical mumbo jumbo. So I now find myself a Missouri Lutheran in exile in the Wisconsin Synod .