Collection of Lutheran hymns
Lutheran Worship
(
LW
) is one of the official
hymnals
of The
Lutheran Church?Missouri Synod
(LCMS). Published in
1982
by
Concordia Publishing House
in
St. Louis, Missouri
, it is the denomination's third English-language hymnal and was intended to replace
The Lutheran Hymnal
(
TLH
). Additional hymns and service music are contained in the companion,
Hymnal Supplement 98
.
Dissatisfaction with various revisions has led numerous congregations to continue using the previous hymnal, and according to a 1999 LCMS Commission on Worship survey,
The Lutheran Hymnal
was still used by 36% of churches in the Synod as their primary hymnal. The publication of another new hymnal,
Lutheran Service Book
in 2006, has restored many of the former hymnal's features in the hope that more widespread use can be achieved. A supplement,
With One Voice
(
WOV
), contains additional hymns and service music.
History
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Lutheran Worship
is, essentially, a revision of the green-covered
Lutheran Book of Worship
of 1978 that was the common liturgical book and hymnal of the old
Lutheran Church in America
,
American Lutheran Church
, and
Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
, which later merged in 1988 to form the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
. The LCMS began work on the
LBW
in 1965 as a revision of
TLH
of 1941 and the other Lutheran churches' book, the
Service Book and Hymnal
(SBH) of 1958 and invited other
Lutheran
denominations
in North America to participate in the creation of the hymnal. Due to disagreements and compromise with some of the other denominations involved in the project, however, the
LBW
was published in
1978
without the endorsement of the very church body which initiated its production, when more conservative leaders assumed leadership after 1974 amidst a theological controversy and schism. Following the rejection of the
LBW
, the LCMS quickly set about revising the new hymnal to remove the objectionable content, and
LW
was published in 1982.
Lutheran Worship
includes orders for
Holy Communion
entitled
Divine Service
I (a revised and updated version of the old
The Common Service
liturgy of 1888, which influenced the further development of American Lutheran liturgies and was incorporated in
The Common Service Book
of 1917, adopted by the old
United Lutheran Church in America
, a predecessor of the LCA to 1962), Divine Service II (two settings, very similar to liturgies included in the
LBW
), and Divine Service III (a brief outline of a service based on
Martin Luther's
German Mass). It also includes orders for
Matins
,
Vespers
, and
Compline
, as well as services for
Holy Baptism
and
Confirmation
. There is also Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, the Bidding Prayer, the
Litany
, the
Lectionary
,
Luther's Small Catechism
,
Confession
(Individual and Corporate), and a collection of
Psalms
. The bulk of the hymnal consists of 11
canticles
and
chants
, 491 hymns, and 18 spiritual songs.
Despite the revisions undertaken by the LCMS, many members and congregations still rejected
LW
due to what many viewed as unnecessary and awkward modifications in language to well-known materials. Objections centered on the modifications made to Divine Service I and a number of well-known hymns. Following the precedent set by the
LBW
and the common trend around North American
Christianity
at the time, archaic language was widely updated, resulting in worshipers frequently stumbling over hymn verses and passages that had been familiar to them for many years. Examples of hymns that were significantly altered in the new hymnal include "My Faith Looks Up to Thee", "I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus", and "We Give Thee But Thine Own", all of which are well-known and familiar hymns among Lutherans but were heavily modified in
LW
("My Faith Looks Up to Thee" is perhaps the most notorious example of all, as its first line was changed to "My Faith Looks Trustingly"). Additionally, many familiar hymns were set to new melodies that proved unpopular. Examples include "Ride On, Ride On in Majesty", "The Day of Resurrection", and "God Loved the World So That He Gave". In many ways,
LW
proved to be a major contributor to the controversies that tore at the LCMS in the later part of the twentieth century, as the synod suddenly found itself lacking unity even in the hymnal used in its congregations. By 1999, only 58% of the synod was using
LW
as its primary hymnal, with the majority of the remaining congregations retaining
TLH
and a handful of others using
LBW
or other hymnals such as
SBH
.
Lutheran Worship
is commonly referred to as the "Blue hymnal," because of its bound cover in contrast with
TLH
(or the
SBH
of 1958) - the "Red hymnal". The one notable exception to "Lutheran Worship" being blue is in the case of Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, whose founding pastor, the Reverend Doctor Guido Merkens, insisted at a synodical meeting that he wanted green covers. Not wanting to ruffle the feathers of the man who at that time had the fastest-growing LCMS church in the nation, a popular syndicated TV show known as "Breakthrough," and a "Television Sunday School" with a wide audience, the Synod and publishers relented, and hundreds of "Lutheran Worship" hymnals were produced in a dark green color to match the color scheme of Dr. Merkens' church. A new hymnal published in 2006,
Lutheran Service Book
, is intended to replace both
LW
and
TLH
as the common hymnal of the LCMS. Concordia Publishing House has announced that all
LW
-related supplemental materials, including specialized accompaniment and large-print editions and the agenda, will go out of print when current supplies are depleted, although the pew edition will continue to be produced for the foreseeable future.
LW
remains an official hymnal of the LCMS, and it is unlikely that it will ever be formally decommissioned.
See also
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References
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External links
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