C.F.W. Walther On Church Ceremonies

“We do not deny that we are geared up to retain the external worship service as it has long been retained for centuries by the ancient Lutheran Church, in its characteristic, constituent parts and to certify it as such to our congregations. We do not deny, however, that we intend to have no connection at all with the other church fellowships, nor to conform to any of the ceremonies characteristic of the Reformed, Methodists or others. Finally, we in no way consider those who nowadays abandon all the distinctive ceremonies of our church and in their place accept those of foreign churchly fellowships to be true Lutherans.”

(From: “Does Old Lutheranism Lead to Rome?”, a series of articles by C.F.W. Walther in Der Luteraner, Vol. 3, pp. 20f, 27f, 33f, 39f, 45f, 60f, 77f, 79f, 130f.  Translated by Fr. Joel Baseley, Assistant Pastor, Emmanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Dearborn, Michigan)