Service books and liturgies

[joyfulthanks]

Can someone give me a brief rundown of the different service books and liturgies used by Lutherans, and a quick overview of how they differ?

Thanks for your help.

 

[latebloomer]

Not having any hymnals handy....this is LCMS
LSB--Lutheran Service Book, 2007, the new burgundy hymnal
LW--Lutheran Worship, 1980s, blue hymnal being replaced by LSB
TLH--The Lutheran Hymnal, 1940s, the old red or blue hymnal

Matins, Divine Service I through V(?) My church uses Matins and Divine Service II most of the time, (pages 158 & 208 in LW) Old favorites are pages 5 and 15 in TLH.

Someone else will have to explain the differences. Like I said, no hymnal handy.

 

[DaRev]

Can someone give me a brief rundown of the different service books and liturgies used by Lutherans, and a quick overview of how they differ?

Thanks for your help.

It might help me a little if you could be a bit more specific of what it is you're looking for. Are you looking for the histories of the liturgies used in the Lutheran hymnals, or the histories of the hymnals themselves? Or perhaps a breakdown of the different service orders like Divine Service, Matins, Vespers, Compline, etc. Or just the meanings of the different parts of the liturgy...

 

[joyfulthanks]

Sorry to have been so vague. Someone once told me that in the Lutheran church they attended, the choice of which service book was considered the "correct" one to use was apparently a big deal. I just wondered what was difference was between the red, green, and burgundy service books, and what the use of the burgundy service book (which is what the church I've been visiting uses) indicates about that church (if anything).

I dunno', maybe the different versions are all pretty much the same in the LCMS. But in other areas of mainstrem protestantism, new hymnals often mean scary changes - things like referring to the Lord in feminine terms. I definitely want to stay away from churches that are moving in that kind of ahistoric, revisionist direction.

 

[DaRev]

A little history of hymnals in the LCMS is in order.

In 1941, the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America (made up of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches) produced and published The Lutheran Hymnal (known as TLH or "the red hymnal").

In the mid 1960's. the LCMS and the SELC began to work on a revised hymnal. There was this push to "modernize" the hymnal. This led to the LCMS (the SELC had merged with the LCMS in 1971) to join together with the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada to form the Inter-Lutheran Comission on Worship. The ILCW produced the Lutheran Book of Worship (known as LBW or "the green hymnal") in 1978. The LCMS in convention rejected the LBW as the official hymnal of the LCMS. Thus in 1982, the LCMS published a revision of the LBW called Lutheran Worship (also known as LW or "the blue hymnal"). LBW (the green hymnal) later became the official hymnal of the ELCA.

Because of the "modern" feel of LW, many congregations refused to use it and thus continued to use TLH (red hymnal) which they felt was more traditional. Some congregations used both TLH and LW. There were also issues with LW, such as the hymnody being difficult to sing, the orders of service being difficult to follow, etc. In many ways, TLH and LW were radically different. The LCMS became a synod of two hymnals.

The LCMS then developed the new Lutheran Service Book (LSB or "burgundy hymnal") published in 2006. It is basically a combination of the best parts of TLH (red) and LW (blue). It's a hymnal that every congregation could use regardless of which of the hymnals (red or blue) congregations used. The hymnody more closely resembles that of the red TLH hymnal which is much easier to sing and is more traditional. It also contains a number of newer hymns. The orders of service are very traditional and are printed in such a way that they are very user and visitor friendly.

When LW was introdiced in 1982, it was very different from TLH and required people to learn new orders of worship and new styles of hymns. The Lutheran Service Book (LSB) is not so much a "new" hymnal as it is a combination of the better parts of the previous two, thus people don't have to learn completely new orders of worship or hymns. It's reception among LCMS congregations has exceeded the LCMS' expectations. When the hymnal was first published there was a huge back order so more could be printed. Personally, I think LSB is a beautiful hymnal that reflects our traditional Lutheran worship and hymnody.

 

[joyfulthanks]

That was incredibly helpful, DaRev. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question in detail.

 

[LutheranHawkeye]

It might help me a little if you could be a bit more specific of what it is you're looking for. Are you looking for the histories of the liturgies used in the Lutheran hymnals, or the histories of the hymnals themselves? Or perhaps a breakdown of the different service orders like Divine Service, Matins, Vespers, Compline, etc. Or just the meanings of the different parts of the liturgy...

My turn, what are the historic origins of each service. In my home parish we use Divine Service 3 of the LSB, and at my college parish we mainly use 2, 4, and 5 of the LSB. I'm wondering if it's more common for campus ministries to use these over the third, and which types of congregations would use which service. Big question I know but I faith in you Rev.

 

[DaRev]

My turn, what are the historic origins of each service. In my home parish we use Divine Service 3 of the LSB, and at my college parish we mainly use 2, 4, and 5 of the LSB. I'm wondering if it's more common for campus ministries to use these over the third, and which types of congregations would use which service. Big question I know but I faith in you Rev.

This will take a little digging.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

This will take a little digging.

Rev will come through; he has a big shovel. (Which is usually used for digging through other "stuff" that we throw at him!)

I can't find it, but when I attended the LSB introduction seminar, we recieved a printed booklet, which gave the background and some of he history of the various services and many of the hymns.

I'll check and see if this info is on line anywhere.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Found some stuff:

Divine Services: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=2735

Other Services: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=2749

And some history regarding LCMS Hymnals: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=710

Hope this helps!

Mark

 

[DaRev]

Rev will come through; he has a big shovel. (Which is usually used for digging through other "stuff" that we throw at him!)

The last real digging I did was through rock hard (and I mean ROCK hard) clay in west Texas to plant a couple crepe myrtles. My right arm is still not right from that.

 

[joyfulthanks]

DaRev,

My parents live in west Texas. I know what you mean about the soil. It is rock hard. How did your crepe myrtles do? I didn't think crepe myrtles grew too well out there.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

The last real digging I did was through rock hard (and I mean ROCK hard) clay in west Texas to plant a couple crepe myrtles. My right arm is still not right from that.

The toughest digging I've ever done was when I looked after my old Church Cemetery. Hard blue clay, with little round stones mixed in every 3 or four inches. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall you have to "pick" every inch, then scoop it out with a shovel.

At the time I had a Funeral Home, and had a Funeral at our Church, so did all the Funeral Stuff, then after everyone left, got the Coleman Lanterns, pick and shovel and went at it. Finished about 3:30 am. Would have been done about a half hour sooner, but Pastor came out with a beer about 11:00.

It rained through the night so I went out about 9:00 to check for water, and bail if necessary.

Some joker(s) beat me to it, and had filled it back in. Pastor helped (he was a big Norwegian from Minnesota), but what a joy re digging with all that greasy, sticky, wet slimy clay. It was a long couple of days.

I never did find out for sure which of my dear friends were responsible, but I do have an idea.

Pastor's opinion of my "friends" can not be posted here.

 

[porterross]

DaRev,

My parents live in west Texas. I know what you mean about the soil. It is rock hard. How did your crepe myrtles do? I didn't think crepe myrtles grew too well out there.

Right now, they're cold, but they actually grow very well here and are a favorite. Of course, we are sitting on huge concentration of ground water and have such good spring water that everyone else who drains the Edwards aquifer wants it!

 

[DaRev]

Right now, they're cold, but they actually grow very well here and are a favorite.

And they're purdy, too.

 

[joyfulthanks]

I'm in Texas, too, but not west Texas. We have a crepe myrtle in our front yard, but it got some powedery mildew on it this year and isn't looking too happy.

 

[LutheranHawkeye]

Thanks that answers a lot, but it doesn't answer the whole issue about which service is more applicable to which type of ministry. Like would an inner city parish be more prone to using different divine services than rural parishes?