A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
When it comes to consecrating the elements of Holy Communion, pastors have one job. That job is to unite Word to element. It is our one job. The problem is with innovation. Some guys feel like they have to do object lessons, change the words around to make them more “special,” or move the elements for the sake of convenience.
Read MoreNote: Michael Kiener put together an outstanding downloadable PDF called Reverent Worship: What It Is and Why It Matters, “an educational resource for congregations and those exploring Lutheran liturgical worship.” What follows is his introduction to it. — Ed.
Read MoreOur family made our yearly hajj to one of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's family concerts this past Sunday. These are family friendly, one-hour affairs and many of them have been quite good. It's a rite of passage in our home: you get to start coming along when you turn four.
Read MoreThe words of Mr. Christiansen and Rev. Kieschnick that I quoted in my previous post openly express an aversion to worship customs and practices found throughout Scripture, commanded in the Old Covenant by God, and continued in various forms in the New Covenant by men, angels, and the four living creatures in Revelation.
Read MoreThe importance of Christian freedom is not so much that the Christian is free to do whatever he desires to do, but that he willingly becomes a servant to others.
Read MoreAt first glance, someone might assume that the difference between a Liturgical Divine Service and a Contemporary Evangelical Service is simply a matter of preference: guitars versus organs, praise bands versus hymns, screens versus hymnals. But the chart shows something much deeper. Now, pay attention: The architecture of the services differs because their goals differ.
Read MoreIt 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”…. 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.
— President Walther
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.
— President Kieschnick
For nearly forty years many in our Synod have bought into the idea that Contemporary Worship is the way of the future and that it is what young people desire. But where are they? Our church body has an average age higher than nearly any other church body in the United States. It is past time to admit that the experiment has failed.
Read MoreThe worship wars among us may not be dismissed simply as a case of more or less healthy turbulence to be expected in an age of cultural change and instability. We chatter all too glibly and reassuringly about culture, when in fact the crisis in our cultus goes to the bedrock of our faith, doctrine, and confession. Under the guise of sensible cultural adaptation, we are in fact being robbed of the dogmatical and sacramental substance of the Gospel. It is time to wake up from pleasant delusions, to sound the alarm, to watch and pray, not to be lulled to fatal sleep by soothing untruths.
Read MoreNote: I believe I coined the expression “Tale of Two Synods” in 2021. Here are all eight of the Gottesblog posts that make use of the term. — Ed.
Read MoreWhen those in our Synod who wish to promote non-denominational-coded church practices in their divine services (both the Chief Divine Service and other divine services) use this section of our Synod’s Constitution to defend their rejection of old church customs in favor of church customs originating in heterodox churches, it begs the question:
Read More“What if the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod did what it has always done: send missionaries to start a new church body in order to reach a new nation—even the new and emerging “nation” developing in the US?”
— The Rev. Michael Newman
Both of these discussions about Lutheran liturgy and adiaphora were released on the same day: October 5, 2026.
Read More"... the year was 1616. Johann Georg, Margrave of Brandenburg, converted to Calvinism and sought to enforce Calvinism on his very Lutheran territory. What changes did he demand?
Read MoreEach year our congregation in Cullman joins with the city to help kick off our annual Oktoberfest celebration with a Divine Service in German. This year the service fell on St. Michael and All Angels day
Read MoreIn February 2025, then-Texas District President Michael Newman laid out his blueprint to “The Way to Unity in the LCMS.” I had previously responded to his piece here. But it popped up again in my feed, and I had some further thoughts on it.
Read MoreT. R. Halvorson provides definitive evidence that the position of Lutheran Orthodoxy and the Lutheran Confessions are one and the same, and that the charges against Orthodoxy are shown to be entirely false.
Read MoreEveryone remembers where they were when 9/11 happened. It’s one of those events that is burned in the conscience of mankind. It was a tragic day and it was the time for the Church to stand up and be a witness of the peace that one can only find in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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