Worshiping Lutheran

 As far as I know, on November 26, 2019, I worshiped in a Lutheran church for the second time.  The first time was at a Lutheran church in Gainesville, Florida.  I was a member of a presbyterian church (PCA) at the time.  I had read some about Martin Luther and some of Luther's writings, and I was curious about the Lutheran tradition.  There are three Lutheran churches in Gainesville, and I'm not sure which one I attended.  It was an evening service of installation of a new pastor.  Honestly, the service made no impression on me whatsoever.

I recall the thoughts of a musician with whom I played in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Band.  He said he was a Lutheran because the Lutheran service had the most music in it.  That doesn't strike me as the best reason to become a Lutheran, but his observation is correct, in my experience.

On November 26, 2019, I worshiped at Grace Lutheran Church in my hometown of Vestal, NY.  The worship was according to the Lutheran Service Book, the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.  Released in 2006, the LSB offers four services for holy communion, along with hymns, other services, and other resources.

On that day at Grace Lutheran, the first thing that I noticed was that the order of worship was similar to worship in Anglican churches.  That's not surprising, given that the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, was one of the sources for the LSB, as it had been for earlier Lutheran books for worship in the United States.

The service began with an opening hymn, then a confession of sin, and then, the Introit, a portion of a psalm that was sung by the congregation.  This was followed by the Kyrie, a song of praise, and then the readings.  Between the readings were hymns.  Following the readings from the Old and New Testaments, was the gospel, just as in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.  The sermon followed the readings.

On later occasions, I found that the order of worship varied.  For example, in one service the creed, generally the Nicene Creed, preceded the preaching.  Following either the preaching or the creed, was the prayers.  The approach to the prayers was similar to the Anglicans.  Then it was on to the offering/offertory, and into the communion service.  

The bottom line is that Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and those from other liturgical traditions will find nothing all that foreign in Lutheran worship.  This makes sense, since we all draw from the same ancient liturgical sources.  Adjusting to the Lutheran forms of worship was no issue for me, and I would suspect that it would be pretty natural for those coming from other liturgical traditions.  Lutheran worship has a beauty to it that comes not only from the form, but also from how each element is handled.  

As my musician friend observed, there is a lot of music in Lutheran worship.  For those from so-called high church traditions, the fact that much of Lutheran worship is sung will be most congenial.  For those of us from other, less formal traditions, it can be an adjustment, but not a difficult one.  I find Lutheran worship to be dignified and a worthy expression of our love for God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.