Lutheran Service Book

Cheerful He to suffering goes?

March 1, 2010

The following is an article I wrote for our parish’s newsletter, Tidings, published in March 2010. A favorite Lenten hymn of many is “My Song Is Love Unknown.” It’s one of my wife’s favorites, too, and I remember fondly one year while we lived in Illinois Kassie suggesting we work at memorizing it during Lent. [...]

Read the full article →

Schmücke Dich, o liebe Seele (or, The enduring legacy of Lutheran Book of Worship)

December 17, 2009

Rev. Charles McClean recently pointed out to me that the version of Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness which appears in Lutheran Service Book (#636) has some disconcerting anomalies. LSB’s stanzas 5 and 6 are simply two different translations of Johann Franck’s original stanza 7 – the first is from the paraphrase in Lutheran Book of [...]

Read the full article →

Be a mensch

October 30, 2009

I play the piano at our Wednesday evening services. When we have Holy Communion, the piano bench blocks the aisle for communicants returning from the altar. For years, I could never remember to push in the bench after the Hymn of the Day. Kassie tried gentle reminders. I forgot. She tried admonitions. I ignored them. [...]

Read the full article →

Apple customer service

October 25, 2009

I came home today to a disappointment after a wonderful Reformation service and Oktoberfest at Immanuel. Our Divine Service this morning followed Lutheran Service Book’s Divine Service, Setting Five to the letter, the congregation singing all of the chorale ordinaries. I was completely overwhelmed by the incredible grace of the pure doctrine of the Gospel [...]

Read the full article →

Pour in oil and cleansing wine

September 2, 2009

This Sunday is the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Trinity 13), and I was thinking about having Immanuel sing “Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing” (LSB 421). I was looking at it out of LSB and couldn’t find the lines that made it in the past a must-sing for this Sunday. Here’s the line from [...]

Read the full article →

Consecration of Deacons

August 9, 2009

At Immanuel, I inherited a practice of a permanent order of men who assist the pastor in the reading of Holy Scripture and distribution of the Sacrament in the Divine Service. They also assist in other ways, such as crucifer for processions and helpers at Holy Baptism. I love and trust these men; they are [...]

Read the full article →

Poisoned Chalice?

July 29, 2009

Parishioner Mollie Ziegler Hemingway recently wrote about reactions to swine flu among eucharistic Christians (shouldn’t that be redundant?) and its treatment in the press. She noted the CNN web headline: “Poisoned chalice? Swine flu hits church wine.” That, it turns out, is inaccurate fear-mongering. Mrs. Hemingway observes: It … makes it seem as if, well, [...]

Read the full article →

Simple Prayers Every Christian Should Know

April 21, 2009

I want to make a list for adult catechumens of simple prayers they should know by heart. I want it to be a short list, but I think what I have so far is too short: Simple Prayers Every Christian Should Know: Our Father Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on [...]

Read the full article →

Quirinius conundrum [updated]

December 23, 2008

Sometimes living 10 miles from church really stinks. It would be nice to skateboard over there and check out Just’s Luke commentary, see what Fr. Brown has to say, and look at the CPH lectionary book. I think that the Luke 2 gospel for Christmas Eve gives Luke 2.2 as saying something like, “This registration [...]

Read the full article →

Ready for His visitation

December 23, 2008

Because it’s appointed for Christmas Dawn, this collect is probably rarely used, but it is quite a good one for us to be praying: Most merciful God, You gave Your eternal Word to become incarnate of the pure Virgin. Grant Your people grace to put away fleshly lusts, that they may be ready for Your [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries