Walther and Small Churches
In a culture fixated on bigger is better, it was refreshing to read a selection from C.F.W. Walther over at Mercy Journeys with Pastor Harrison on the relative unimportance of congregational size.
The highlight from Walther was this:
The smallest congregation is just as important as the largest one, and the largest is no more important than the smallest, because every congregation is great only because Christ is present in it.
Higher Hymnody: The Gifts Christ Freely Gives
Here’s a good article by Jonathon Kohlmeier over at Higher Things on hymnody. In particular, he takes a look at Kantor Richard Resch’s hymn “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives” (LSB 602) and comments on the gifts we receive in the Divine Service. Thanks Jonathon!
Habits of Highly Effective Liturgies
The last few months I have been rereading an essay by Joseph Herl entitled “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Liturgies: Insights from the Sixteenth through the Eighteenth Century” which was included in the 2005 publication of “Thine the Amen: Essays on Lutheran Church Music In Honor of Carl Schalk.”
Read on for a real worship experience.
Nurturing Future Church Musicians
A few months back in the Lutheran Witness (official periodical of the LCMS), the issue was centered around the need for pastors and how we can encourage men to consider this vocation. The August 2008 edition of the Lutheran Witness has an article that explores the need for church musicians and encouraging children to consider the vocation of church musician. A portion of this article can be found here – “Music to the Ears: Inspiring Children to Enrich Worship“.
The article spread begins with this “teaser” to draw us in:
“I am constantly getting calls from pastors, especially pastors in our smaller parishes, who have no organist,” says Rev. Jon Vieker, assistant director of the LCMS Commission on Worship. “They tell me their organist is 85 and can’t play for services anymore, and there’s no one to take her place. Now what are they going to do?”
Hymn Boards and Their Use in Early Lutheranism
“Hymn Boards and Their Use in Early Lutheranism.” That sounds like the title of a dissertation on an obscure facet of Lutheran history. While I have no idea if anyone has actually researched the history of the hymn board, I did find a passing reference to it in my latest lunch time reading – a book based on a PhD dissertation – “Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism” by Joseph Herl.
The Treasure of the Lutheran Church (according to Lohe)
For those of you not familiar with Wilhelm Lohe, the current edition of Logia focuses on the Lohe Bicentennial and has a number of good articles.
This evening I was reading the article entitled “Why Do I Declare Myself for the Lutheran Church?” by Lohe himself. He enumerates a number of reasons of why he holds fast to the Lutheran Church. The following excerpt caught my eye.
Christ (or lack thereof) in the Sermon
If your church uses the 3-year lectionary from Lutheran Service Book, you heard the gospel lesson from Matthew 13 which began “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.” Alas, sometimes the treasure is so hidden that it doesn’t even really make it into the sermon.
If you are a frequent listener of Issues Etc., you probably have heard Todd Wilken do sermon reviews of the likes of Joel Osteen and Rick Warren and some good Lutheran pastors (with some good sermons). Todd provides a “3 Step Plan” for diagnosing a sermon and adds a bonus 4th Step.
The Hammer of God – The Pastoral Attitude
In my previous post I shared a snippet of the Hammer of God related to the communion liturgy. In the first novella we find a pastor who is maturing in his vocation. Savonius begins as a reluctant academic, but eventually ends with a better understanding of Law and Gospel and how he applies/preaches this to the flock.
The Hammer of God – Heaven on Earth
Periodically I will take a well worn paperback book off the bookshelf. Over the years the binding has begun to crack and some of the pages are loose (I’m not too worried since I have a duplicate copy in the overflow box of books in the garage). And what is this book? “The Hammer of God” by Bo Giertz.
I discovered it about 9 years ago when I was boxing up my father’s office after he unexpectedly joined the church triumphant a few short days before Christmas. During that time I found that it was the English translation of 3 novellas by the Swedish Lutheran bishop Bo Giertz. Each novella focused on the spiritual growth of a pastor and the surrounding Swedish community. I’ve heard that it’s required reading in seminary (at least it was for my dad back in 1975), but it’s still a good read for the layperson (check out the Amazon.com reviews).
LCMS Approves 100 "Worship / Praise" Songs
In 2006, the LCMS through the Commission on Worship published its new hymnal Lutheran Service Book. Now it looks they have moved on to a new project – reviewing “worship and praise songs” for use in LCMS churches. According to a Reporter (official LCMS newspaper) article, 100 “worship and praise songs” have successfully made their way through the Synod’s doctrinal review process (13 of them appear in LSB or earlier publications). And more are on the way. In the future these songs will be sorted based on the church year.
And what are these 100 songs? The list has yet to be released — it isn’t on the Commission of Worship’s website. Evidently, they used CCLI data from LCMS churches to determine frequently used songs. I am interested to see what songs made the cut of the Synodical reviewers — what do these songs proclaim?
Share your thoughts . . .