Religion Commons^™

Assisting Ministers: Enlisting, Training, And Leaming From The Diversity Of Gifts, Donald H. Williams

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

God of majesty, whom saints delight to worship in heaven and on earth: Bless the ministry of those who serve your people, that we may know the joy of your presence and may worship to the glory of your holy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (adapted, Occasional Services) To serve God by serving his people is the lovely keeping of the Law. Called to love the world, the Church gathers each Lord's Day and Holy Day and as often in addition as desired, to hear again the community's story which proclaims God's victory over evil and the …

Lutheran Theology And Liturgical Acculturation, Karen M. Ward

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The Lutheran churches in the United States have historically reflected Teutonic and Scandinavian culture and heritage. This was a natural phenomenon due to the fact that the earliest Lutheran settlers in this country were of Teutonic and Scandinavian background.

Preaching At Weddings And Funerals, Jerald W. Pipping

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

In his book, Grace Notes and Other Fragments, Joseph Sittler wrote: "Most ministers are aware that it is a tough and delicate labor to insert the lively power of the Word of God into the rushing occupations and silent monologues of human beings." (p. 64) Two occasions at which the insertion of the lively power of the Word of God into the lives of people is a particularly tough and delicate labor are weddings and funerals. In the assemblies gathered to mark these life passages the pastor will, in many cases, be encountering a significant number of persons, perhaps …

It Does Matter What You Do: How Practical Choices Reflect Theology, John O. Nelson

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

We would all, I trust, agree with the centrality of baptism for Lutheran theology and its importance for Lutheran liturgical renewal. Yet, how many of us are from parishes where baptisms, if done during the Sunday assembly at all, are at small, out of the way fonts, with a few drops of water, no candles or oil, and little or no congregational involvement? Certainly, the baptism is valid, but is it salutary? Have we done any more than meet the "lifetime minimum requirement of grace"? Have we lost a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the richness of grace poured out …

Good Stuff To Read This Year, Kathleen R. Mullen

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Reading: "the very word is like a bell/that tolls me back from thee to my sole self." Actually, Keats wrote "Forlorn," but where I wrote "Reading" on the first line of this clean yellow sheet, the rest of Keats' line came unbidden, and since I'm not by nature one to ignore the unbidden, I thought I'd better write it down. Now, why did it come? Well, I'll go with ''words like bells" -and I can think of all kinds of bells: reading's a school hell-as in "I've got to get the reading done" or in "That was a great …

Celebrants Or Celebrities, Worship Or Suicide, David Kocka O.F.M.

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The North American Roman Catholic bishops have suggested that our present age is one of "supreme crises." If this be the state of things, then such a statement goes to reassert the challenging aspect that Christ presented to his hearers. He referred to the scribes and pharisees as "hypocrites," that is "under-thinkers" or rather those who were concerned with the "pseudo-crises," over and against the "supreme crisis." Christ's incarnation caused his hearers to make a judgment whether to live either the "kingdom" or "history." If an age is faced with a similar "Supreme Judgment," then part of that judgment …

Visible Words: The Image Is The Message, Sandra Essex

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

From our earliest existence, we have been creators. We have made images, art, with our hands. We drew on the walls of our cave homes. We formed clay into pottery and decorated it. We took metal from the earth and hammered it into objects of beauty and objects for adornment.

Holy Things: Foundations For Liturgical Theology, Gordon Lathrop

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Christian corporate worship has biblical foundations. This is so, of course, in the most obvious ways: at the heart of the meeting the book called the Bible is read and then interpreted as having to do with us. Sometimes, as ceremonial preface to that reading, the book is carried about, even enthroned. Furthermore, the text of the Bible provides the source of the imagery and, often, the very form and quality of the language in prayers, chants, hymn texts, and sermons. Psalms are sung as if that ancient collection were for our singing. Snatches of old biblical letters are …

Homily At The Opening Service, George W. Hoyer

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

"No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ." It is a measure of the experience of faith when we echo Thomas, "My Lord and my God." It is a measure of the experience of faith when we acknowledge "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner;" when we exclaim, "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes"; when we say with Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"

Diaconalogue, No. 24, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Inc.

Diaconalogue

No abstract provided.

Diaconalogue, No. 25, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Inc.

Diaconalogue

No abstract provided.

Valpostscripts (Winter 1989), Karl E. Lutze

ValPostScripts

Keeping the Focus

Readers tell us they have appreciated past issues when members of our campus family have shared their thoughts on readying themselves for a meaningful observance of Christmas. Here are this year’s:

Valpostscripts (Fall 1989), Karl E. Lutze

ValPostScripts

Good to be Back

The summer months passed swiftly; not swiftly enough for some of our students who could hardly wait to come back and to greet the friends they'd been missing. The reunions provide a kind of euphoria, lasting not much longer than the moment first assignments of the semester are made and reality sets in.

It's a new term, too, for those people of the community who avail themselves of the services of our Speech, Language, Hearing Clinic. They’re eager to resume session. One such, a five year old client, felt good about returning too. As his mother …

Diaconalogue, No. 21, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Inc.

Diaconalogue

No abstract provided.

Valpostscripts (Early Summer 1989), Karl E. Lutze

ValPostScripts

The Final Service

Once again the Chapel of the Resurrection was filled — people standing along the walls —as relatives and friends of the graduating class gathered for the 1989 Baccalaureate Service.

Diaconalogue, No. 20, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Inc.

Diaconalogue

No abstract provided.

Valpostscripts (Spring 1989), Karl E. Lutze

ValPostScripts

Swift to its Close...

With the academic year speeding to its end come thoughts about this year’s graduation ceremonies— and reflections on last year’s.

Speaker for the occasion was the Rev. Charles Mueller of Roselle, Illinois, invited to receive a doctoral degree honoring him for the many years of significant and devoted service to God and to God's people.

The Vanguard (Vol. 36, No. 6), Nov-Dec 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

When an ecumenical gathering of 30 clergy arid lay persons circled Jorge, a Guatemalan refugee, on Sept 15, 1983, in front of the altar at Cross Church, Milwaukee, and an ecumenical congregation of 250 stood in solidarity with them to prayerfully inaugurate sanctuary at Cross Church, we at Cross Church knew we had done the right thing. We were convinced that the Spirit had been leading. We felt confident that our action was part of the coming of Christ's Kingdom of justice and peace.

The Vanguard (Vol. 36, No. 5), Sep-Oct 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, is Director of Program and Associate General Director of Church Women United. Born and educated in Cuba, she has lived in the United Stares since 1960. A Roman Catholic, Ms. Isasi-Diaz is an accomplished linguist and has written extensively in both Spanish and English. The following is the text from her keynote speech at the LHRAA Summer Institute "Andando Juntos."

I am most grateful for the invitation to be here with you. It has given me the opportunity to reflect on the issue of ministry among Hispanics and to put in writing some of the understandings and …

The Vanguard (Vol. 36, No. 3), May-Jun 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

AMERICA'S LARGEST RELIGION IS more often blamed for creating our environmental problems than credited with helping to solve them. Indeed, ever since historian Lynn White, Jr., published "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis" (Science magazine in 1967), the anti-earth nature of Christianity has become standard doctrine in environmental circles. (Mother Earth News, Nov/Dec issue, repeated this truism in their "Open Road" column.)

The quote above from the first chapter of Genesis forms the backbone of White's-and others'-arguments that Christianity is an anti-ecological religion. And certainly, the notion of subduing the earth and taking dominion over its creatures does sound …

Diaconalogue, No. 19, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Inc.

Diaconalogue

No abstract provided.

The Resurrection Of Our Lord Series C, Frederick A. Niedner Jr.

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Luke's empty tomb story has several typically Lukan features. First, the scene has an aura of calm when compared to Mark's report that the women ran away frightened and dumbstruck, or Matthew's picture of the angel who comes and scares the soldiers to death. This same calmness was in evidence throughout Luke's passion narrative. Second, the two men whose clothing reminds the reader of the Transfiguration in Luke (9:29-30), and whose question to the women reminds the reader of the ascension scene in Acts (1:10-11), speak a message which is one of Luke's most consistent themes: "It was necessary …

The Ressurrection Of Our Lord Series A, Frederick A. Niedner Jr.

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The shorter Johannine lesson takes up two of John's most prominent agendas, namely, the relationship of sight to faith and the problem of elitist leaders in the church. In John, someone else is invariably closer to Jesus than Peter, and it is most often the anonymous "disciple whom Jesus loved." Here the two of them race to the tomb, and predictably, Peter not only loses the footrace, but though he sees first what is (or is not) inside the tomb, the other disciple believes first. John's point for elitists in the church seems to be that what makes a …

Identity And Witness: Liturgy And The Mission Of The Church, Walter R. Bouman

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

The text for this lecture is a provocative aphorism which I owe to Stanley Hauerwas. In a 1987 presentation at Trinity Seminary, he said: The church has missionary power in direct proportion to its liturgical integrity. I cite this because Liturgy and Mission are often perceived as unrelated, if not actually opposed, to each other.1 Manuals and exhortations on evangelism often do not relate the Church's mission of evangelization and conversion to the administration of Holy Baptism. Programs and advice on "outreach" which focus on inviting persons to the Sunday gathering of the Church often do not assume that …

The Ressurrection Of Our Lord Series B, Frederick A. Niedner Jr.

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Mark's curious ending seems a mystery of sorts and has earned his gospel a reputation as somehow defective in comparison to the others. What kind of way is that to conclude a gospel, with the women running away afraid, saying nothing to anyone? We are left hanging with too many questions. Did the women eventually tell their story? Did they ever find Jesus? If Jesus is risen, where is he now and what is he doing?

The Moon And The Mystery: Expanding Our Horizons, Phillip H. Pfatteicher

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Easter arrived early this year. Only rarely does the festival come on its earliest possible date, March 22. (It last did so in 1818 and will not do so again until 2285.) But not uncommonly Easter comes toward the end of March; it was March 26 this year as it was in 1978 and 1967. It fell on March 25 in 1951.

Liturgy And Culture: Overcoming The Tensions, Mary Kay Oosdyke O.P.

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

Recently a Danish film was shown in theaters around the country called "Babette's Feast." The setting of the film is a small village in a remote section of Denmark where the people belong to a strict religious sect. Their life, their food, and their religious practice reflect the austerity of the surrounding land. The leader and founder of the sect is a widower with two daughters, both of whom are attractive and gifted. The story is about their lives and the life of the little community.

Arts And The Liturgy: With Countless Gifts Of Love, Mark P. Bangert

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

"With Countless Gifts of Love:" like a mantra these words flow through our lives. At some point we begin to realize that the countless "gifts of love" are primarily people, and one such person, Herbert Lindemann, we are all privileged to acknowledge these days.

The Way Of The Gift, Ralph F. Smith

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

In his classic work on stewardship Helge Brattgard said that "it is only as the Spirit of God, working through Word and Sacrament, leads [people] to be grateful for spiritual and material gifts received, and to see their responsibility for the administration of these gifts, that congregational life can result."1 Unfortunately, after making this wonderful assertion, he like most other writers on stewardship remained surprisingly silent about how liturgical action a~d the broader life of the Christian shape one another.

Liturgy And Social Justice, Barbara K. Lundblad

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

As a prelude to this vast subject, I would like to read a passage which is becoming part of my contemporary canon, a scene from Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. She describes a worship service--though it is indeed quite different from most of our liturgies! This service is led by a holy woman named Baby Suggs. She is an elderly black woman, born into slavery and later bought into freedom by her son. Now, she lives in her own home on her own piece of ground near a little town in Ohio. Every Saturday, when warm weather came, Baby Suggs …