During the summer of 2005, an urban congregation of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod went from using Setting 2 from the Lutheran Book of Worship to a movable summer worship without books or formal setting, steeped in ancient liturgy with Eastern Orthodox overtones. Wicker Park Lutheran Church was the congregation, and the worship of St. Gregory […]
Archives for February 2015
It’s About Time
It’s about time. Of course, it is not entirely about time. Worship points to eternity beyond time. In the Eucharist we are given a foretaste of the feast to come. In both Eucharist and the daily office we are gathered with others who have been called and baptized, thus bringing us into the communion of […]
The Challenge of Modern/Postmodern Culture
I have deliberately chosen the terms “modern” and “postmodern” as opposed to “contemporary” culture. This is because “modern” and “postmodern” are specific. Modern can be understood to refer to the culture generated by the mindset of the Age of Enlightenment, which gained momentum in the Age of Romanticism and came to a head in the […]
The Ecumenical Situation in Ireland
Saint Patrick’s Breastplate is a well-known prayer that has echoed throughout many centuries of Ireland’s history. It expresses the hope that Christ will be “in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that […]
Some Ruminations on Art, Church Music, and the Present Cantata
Paul Nicholson, composer, singer, conductor, organist, and Music Director of First St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Chicago, was commissioned by Andrew Lewis, Cantor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Evanston, to compose a cantata for Reformation 2004. This cantata and first performance at Immanuel were made possible through a Worship Renewal Grant from the Calvin Institute […]
Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture
This statement is from the third international consultation of the Lutheran World Federation’s Study Team on Worship and Culture, held in Nairobi, Kenya. 1. Introduction 1.1. Worship is the heart and pulse of the Christian Church. In worship we celebrate together God’s gracious gifts of creation and salvation, and are strengthened to live in response […]
ELCA’s Renewing Worship
Worship is central to who we are as Lutherans. I am very ecumenical, but I think it is important to maintain our Lutheran tradition. It isn’t only justification by faith that makes us Lutheran; how we carry that theme through our worship life is also central. Lutheran worship is really the Mass, and when you […]
Liturgique Boutique
My family is under siege, and our adversary’s strategy for conquest is “divide and conquer.” Amazingly, the context in which this struggle takes place is worship. You see, my family and I have just moved from Chicago, our home of the past eight years, to California. I have never before in my life needed to […]
What Do We Hold Together? What Holds Us Together?
Introduction: I am a Christian sociologist. (My conviction that that juxtaposition is not an oxymoron is something we can discuss later.) I am a member of Immanuel ELCA in Evanston where Frank Senn is my pastor. I joined the church some ten years ago to be nurtured in the naive faith I increasingly experienced in […]
A Flawed Psalter
In October Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) will be rolling off the press and into pew racks. By Advent 2006 Augsburg products will support ELW rather than Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW). That includes bulletin inserts which will include the new cycle of prayers of the day and the psalms. I’m not too concerned about the […]
Gather the Hopes and Dreams of All
Introduction “Gather the hopes and dreams of all,” sing any number of Lutherans every Sunday as they join together in the divine service. Though they be in different church bodies (e.g., the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [ELCA] or The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod [LCMS]), still the common song passes many lips.1 No doubt […]
What Is the Tie That Binds?
Introduction The planners for this Festival gave it an interesting title: What is the tie that binds? I take that formulation very seriously. When I first read the title, I tried to figure out what it was about. Note that the formulators don’t say, “What are the ties that bind?” Presumably they are asking for […]
The Resurrection of Jesus
20th century biblical scholarship was pretty much unanimous in the discovery that the New Testament from beginning to end was written from the perspective of belief in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The entire motive for remembering Jesus and writing down the accounts of his life and teachings, decades after he was crucified, was […]
Conociendo a la Cofradia Catolica-Reformada
La Cofradía Católica-Reformada nació gracias a la necesidad de algunos pastores y pastoras, principalmente Luteranos/as y Latinos/as, de juntarse para fraternizar, compartir amistad entre colegas, intercambiar recursos par-roquiales, nutrir nuestros espíritus con prácticas devocionales como en retiros dirigidos con temas relevantes a los que estamos en el ministerio directamente, realzar nuestro respeto por la religiosidad […]
The Social Dimension of Marriage
“Many lands, many customs,” wrote Martin Luther at the beginning of his Order of Marriage for Common Pastors. He advised pastors not to tamper with local custom since these customs were deeply entwined in the culture of the people. He left many medieval customs intact in his own Order of Marriage, including the announcement of […]
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