A Tale of Two Presidents: In Their Own Words
Whenever the Divine Service once again follows the old Evangelical-Lutheran agendas (or church books), it seems that many raise a great cry that it is “Roman Catholic”: “Roman Catholic” when the pastor chants “The Lord be with you” and the congregation responds by chanting “and with Thy Spirit”; “Roman Catholic” when the pastor chants the collect and the blessing and the people respond with a chanted “Amen.” Even the simplest Christian can respond to this outcry: “Prove to me that this chanting is contrary to the Word of God, then I too will call it “Roman Catholic” and have nothing more to do with it. However, you cannot prove this to me.”
If you insist upon calling every element in the Divine Service “Romish” that has been used by the Roman Catholic Church, it must follow that the reading of the Epistle and Gospel is also “Romish.” Indeed, it is mischief to sing or preach in church, for the Roman Church has done this also . . .Those who cry out should remember that the Roman Catholic Church possesses every beautiful song of the old orthodox church. The chants and antiphons and responses were brought into the church long before the false teachings of Rome crept in. This Christian Church since the beginning, even in the Old Testament, has derived great joy from chanting... For more than 1700 years orthodox Christians have participated joyfully in the Divine Service. Should we, today, carry on by saying that such joyful participation is “Roman Catholic”? God forbid! Therefore, as we continue to hold and to restore our wonderful divine services in places where they have been forgotten, let us boldly confess that our worship forms do not tie us with the modern sects or with the church of Rome; rather, they join us to the one, holy Christian Church that is as old as the world and is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
— The Rev. C.F.W. Walther, 1st president of the LCMS, from Der Lutheraner - Vol. 9, No. 24, p. 163, July 19, 1853.
So, my thoughts about that are these—and, and again, I don't experience this personally as much as I do anecdotally, but I've talked to a lot of people. A lot of people talk to me, and I've heard the complaint. It's not just an observation, it's a complaint that particularly many of our recent seminary graduates—but not only recent, I don't know how you define recent, but our seminary graduates—do a lot of things that have a Roman flair to them, Roman flavor, like chanting. And I don't know anything inherently against chanting, I don't. It's okay, it can be beautiful if done properly. Not all of our pastors who think they're great chanters really are great chanters, I'm just saying. Genuflecting, prostrating before the altar. I went to a church, I went to a church with a pastor, I looked around, he was flat on the ground. He was on the ground prostrating before the altar, venerating the Host, requiring private confession and absolution, not just suggesting it. And I've noticed also adding the Corpus Christi, the body of Christ, to our otherwise typically, generally vacant crosses. You know, that's one of the things that we've done a lot for years, for decades, for centuries—well, for decades. And our crosses are empty, symbolizing the resurrection. Jesus isn't on the cross anymore, but adding the body of Christ back.
— The Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, 12th president of the LCMS, from Unite Leadership Collective, Lead Time, 30:20 ff, May 21, 2024.