A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
Music that communicates emotions with a Dionysian force is that kind which excites us to enjoy our emotions by being thoroughly involved or engrossed in them with our entire person. Our enjoyment of the emotion then becomes ego-directed, driven by the desire for self-gratification.
Read MoreHere is a remarkable 30 minute, exquisitely beautiful video about restoring the sacred in Chicago's St. John Cantius Church.
Read MoreThe Trinity 2026 issue of Gottesdienst is in the mail!
Read MoreSo, as I said at the eighteenth annual Concordia Catechetical Conference in Waukesha, Wisconsin last Thursday, there is such a thing as Dionysian music, as Dr. Daniel Reuning proposed some twenty-five years ago, and that it is to be discouraged, even disallowed in the Church.
Read MoreA Divine Service with the Sacrament is better than a Divine Service without the Sacrament. In that sense, the Sacrament is more important than the Word; because the Word itself directs us to the Sacrament.
Read MoreQuestions of confessional integrity, theological clarity, and ecclesial life remain perennial concerns for the church — particularly in times of institutional strain and cultural fragmentation. How does a synod faithfully uphold its doctrinal commitments while preserving unity, order, and mutual accountability?
Read MoreThe Chemnitz Forum is meeting in about a week in Brookfield, IL and has a stellar slate of presenters (Schulz, Ziegler, Preus, Rydecki, and Diers) and an important topic, Objective Justification.
Read MoreThe doctrine of the Real Presence asserts that in the consecrated elements of the Eucharist, Jesus is truly and actually present, in body, blood, and full divinity. This teaching is based upon a number of passages from Scripture, including 1 Cor. 10:16-17 & 11:23-29, and especially John 6:32-71
Read MoreBuilding on my previous article, I have a few more thoughts regarding the epidemic of open communion in our synod.
Of course, it is practiced in the name of being hospitable, and is treated as an adiaphoron. But open communion is really hostile, as well as self-contradictory. It is not inclusive, it is exclusive. It is the spiritual version of adultery, and worse yet, it is a form of abusive cuckoldry, complete with gaslighting and shaming of the one who is being wronged (the one who is remaining faithful).
Read MoreFor Lutherans to search out worship forms and hymnody out of a desire to be entertained or "get something out of it" is a very sad confession for Lutherans. Because if we actually believe our Confessions, we get everything out of our traditional worship life together: "forgiveness, life, and salvation" in Christ.
Read MorePerhaps because of this “lowest common denominator” dilemma, in the practical sense, there is the undeniable reality that pop “worship music” gravitates to effeminacy, to a soft and airy sound, with no rough edges. The singers are often young, emotive women, which adds to the genre’s “Boyfriend Jesus” vibe.
Read MoreBy Asher McCall
Read MoreOne of the things that I like about the Gottesdienst Crowd is that we are not advocates for the liturgy because of personal taste or effete sensibilities, or an intellectual devotion to historical marginalia. Pastors and laypeople involved in the life of the church understand that as the blood of Christ is the lifeblood of the Church, Sunday morning Divine Services are the vessels that carry the blood of the Lamb to us.
Hence our name Gottesdienst.
Last week, word broke that Schlitz, “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous,” has been discontinued after more than 175 years. Many of you may never even have heard of Schlitz, which is exactly why you should know their story.
Schlitz is iconic. Or, rather, was iconic. It was a beloved beer that, at its height, passed Budweiser in popularity. But the brand collapsed in the span of a couple of decades because of short-sighted management decisions, many of which are not so different from the questions that bedevil the LCMS pastoral formation conversation.
Read MoreAs a postscript to my earlier piece about liturgical deracination, I have some reflections on the Te Deum Laudamus.
Read MoreLest anyone think preachers have no authority, Jesus says that he is with them when they exercise their office of baptizing and teaching, meaning this: not only authority, but all authority in heaven and on earth is attached to the preaching of the Gospel.
Read MoreSomeone recently observed that I am significantly interested in adiaphora. It's true. Thinking about adiaphora has occupied much of my time and attention for the past decade or more, and that continues to be so; not only from a theoretical perspective, but with very practical consideration.
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