Divine Services

Greetings - I can't tell you if WELS has different terms (I'm a member of the LCMS) but I'll try and answer your questions as far as a lectionary and a litany are concerned.

A lectionary is a book which contains the Scripture readings for the Church year. That is the first and second lessons along with the Gospel reading for a given Sunday. Properly speaking, a simple list of readings for the year is not a lectionary. There are two lectionaries used in the Lutheran Church, the historic one year lectionary (where each Sunday is the same every year) and the Revised Common Lectionary which contains 3 rotating lists (year A, year B, year C, repeat). The advantage of the one year lectionary is that there are historic resources for it (Luther's sermons) as well as the ability to promote Scripture memorization to keep a "flow" with the Church year. The advantage of the RCL is that more Scripture is read.

A litany is a set written prayer with a number of petitions. When Lutherans speak of the Litany they mean this prayer (http://steadfastlutherans.org/pdf/TheLitany-pamphlet.pdf) also known as the Great Litany. There are different Litanies in different denominations. It is also significant in the historical development of the Liturgy as the Exhortation and Litany by Thomas Cranmer was the first vernacular service produced in Western Europe.

bach90 said:

and the Revised Common Lectionary which contains 3 rotating lists (year A, year B, year C, repeat).

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The RCL is not the only three-year lectionary. The LCMS does not use the RCL but has its own three-year lectionary.

A litany is a set written prayer with a number of petitions. When Lutherans speak of the Litany they mean this prayer (http://steadfastlutherans.org/pdf/TheLitany-pamphlet.pdf) also known as the Great Litany.

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This is not the only litany used in the Lutheran Church.

Does anyone out there pray Matins and Vespers? This is something I have come to appreciate, discovering it a few years back in the 1941 Hymnal/Service Book. I like the daily readings for morning and evening and our liturgy is really very rich with historic responses and antiphons from the scripture.
"Where Christ is, There May I be also"
Nina

DaRev said:

The RCL is not the only three-year lectionary. The LCMS does not use the RCL but has its own three-year lectionary.



This is not the only litany used in the Lutheran Church.

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Oops! Thanks for the correction Pastor.