Worshiping Lutheran, Part Two

 There are 1.7 million members of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, according to the latest statistics that I have seen.  Those members worship in 5,826 congregations.  I have worshiped in four of them.  That's a really small sample size, but even so, what I've found in those four congregations is some variety of worship practices.

In our two local congregations where I've worshiped, Holy Trinity in Chenango Bridge, my home church, and Grace Lutheran in Vestal, the worship is according to the Lutheran Service Book.  Grace uses projection screens, but other than that, the worship in the two congregations is similar.

At Immanuel Lutheran Church, in Madison, Wisconsin, the worship is similar to our local congregations, but at Calvary Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, it's a whole different story.  In fact, the worship at Calvary is even closer to Anglican worship, my previous tradition, than the other three churches.  The following is from an article from the LCMS Commission on Worship, published in 1996:

In recent years a significant debate has emerged in our Synod concerning our way of worship. Partly out of a desire to communicate the Gospel more effectively both to members and to the unchurched, a number of congregations have altered the orders of service provided in our hymnals. For some this foray into what is commonly called "contemporary worship" entails substituting new materials for various parts of the liturgy. For others the services go well beyond altering existing worship patterns; rather, they have chosen to design services that clearly depart from the historic pattern of worship that has been handed down to succeeding generations of Christians for nearly 2,000 years. [Reflections on Contemporary / Alternative Worship, p.2]

That was 28 years ago, but given the glacier-like speed that churches generally approach change, that is fairly recent.

What Calvary in Silver Spring, Maryland does is contemporary by LCMS standards, but would certainly not be considered contemporary for churches like those I've encountered in the wider evangelical world.  For example, at Two Rivers Church in Binghamton/Johnson City, contemporary music might be something that was written this year.  For Calvary, contemporary means Taize music, which was published in the 80s.  

As an Anglican pastor, I was supportive of what has been called "blended worship."  Blended worship uses the framework of the given liturgy with hymns from the approved hymnal, but adds contemporary music.  In 2008, Rev. David A. Johnson, the executive director of the LCMS Commission on Worship, reported that nearly 60% of LCMS congregations subscribe to CCLI, a licensing agency for contemporary Christian music [https://reporter.lcms.org/2008/100-worship-praise-songs-approved/].  My Anglican church did, as do a number of churches in the Anglican Church in North America.

Who will find Lutheran worship meaningful?  Those who have an appreciation for a liturgy with ancient roots.  Are "new materials" needed to reach beyond those who are already worshiping with us?  Maybe.  I do think that "the historic pattern of worship that has been handed down to succeeding generations of Christians for nearly 2,000 years" has significant value.  Whether that historic pattern needs a refreshing through new music is a question that every congregation must face.  Otherwise, where will any LCMS congregation be in ten years time, or twenty, or...