A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
As I prepared these past weeks for this talk there repeatedly came to mind some words of T. S. Eliot in his poem, “Little Gidding,” words which have become very important to me as one who has returned to the church of his Baptism after far too long a sojourn in another part of Christendom.
Read MoreAdvice for remembering to pray when ask and for the particular duty of prayer in the pastoral office
Read MoreNote: This issue comes up again and again, and this is my 2013 argument against flags in the sanctuary. ~ Ed.
Read MoreThis article, written by the Rev. Dr. Korey Maas (a four-time guest on The Gottesdienst Crowd) published by the Acton Institute, is a helpful reflection on the Seminex walkout. For far from being a long-over LCMS historical tempest in a teapot from the distant past, we are still dealing with the fallout: the same fungal liberalism that crops up periodically like mushrooms in humid places. Like even the faithful kings of the Old Testament, our tolerance of the high places and the Asherim continue to plague us.
Read MoreFor many thoughtful Lutherans this is a time of great angst. We followers of Luther are struggling to justify taking up space on the ecclesiastical planet. We’ve never quite fit it. Like your slightly eccentric cousin with the quirky habits, we seem to put a damper on ecumenical gatherings, the Lutheran compromisers notwithstanding. This anxiety is nothing new. Doctor Luther struggled with the not unjustified question, “Are you the only one who is right?”
Read MoreJudging from some of the honest feedback I have received, I must conclude that my unguarded, generalized comments were in need of clarification.
Read MoreIn response to some recent discussions about “Romanizing,” I posted a video blog at Rumble.
Read MoreNote: This is Dr. Eckardt’s reaction to being surprised with a festschrift in his honor in 2021. It is entitled Leitourgiae Propria Adiaphoria Non Est: Essays in Honor of the Rev. Dr. Burnell F. Eckardt on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday. It is available here for $20. ~ Ed.
Read MoreThank you to the Rev. Fr. Mark Braden and Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church - Detroit for their hospitality in hosting the 25th St. Michael’s Liturgical Conference on Monday, September 30, 2024. And thank you to Gene Wilken for videoing the presentations - which he uploaded to his YouTube channel: Flaneur Record (where you will find years worth of Gene’s professional quality video of conferences, papers, and sermons).
Read MoreThe beauty of the “Our” that begins the prayer that Jesus invites us into is that while it is intensely personal, it is far from the private myopic “just me and Jesus” thinking sadly prevalent in much of present-day Evangelical Christianity. The “Our” of the “Our Father” lives out in the spoken Word the reality sent by the resurrected Christ through Mary Magdalene to the disciples: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Read MoreA stroke of genius on someone’s part has us hear the opening verses of the Book of Proverbs as we consecrate to the Lord and place in His hands the ministry of Harold Ristau as founding president of Luther Classical College.
Read MoreSeveral years ago, I was visiting our seminarian in St. Louis. I attended the Divine Service with him and his wife. As I was sitting and waiting for the bells to chime, I flipped through the bulletin to find a page titled, “The Family Altar.” It’s goal was to provide simple devotional material for the home that’s purpose was to prepare for the week ahead.
Read MoreIf you are a Lutheran, lay or clergy, I urge you to read Be at Leisure: A Lutheran Approach to Outreach by the Rev. Andrew Richard. It is a mere 43 pages, but is pure gold. You can download it free here, or purchase a paperback here (cost: $3.10).
Read MoreAt the beginning of July, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod held the 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church Music at Concordia University Nebraska. You can find the Reporter article here, but this author would like to offer some of his own (belated) recollections, both as an attendee and as one who served as a conference chaplain.
This year’s conference was centered around the psalter, with all 150 psalms sung or spoken (mostly sung) over the course of four days. There were over 500 attendees — largely LCMS, but not entirely. This author had lunch one day with a few attendees from the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, had a great chat with an Apostolic Lutheran, heard tell of some Australian Lutherans, and a few friends attended a workshop by a Reformed professor from New Saint Andrews College in Idaho.
Read MoreNote: This beautiful little reflection on the structure of our beloved Augsburg Confession was offered up by Fr. Dodgers in 2020. ~ Ed.
Read MoreThe call for peace by the very ones who have assaulted the church and her doctrine comes from the same spirit that led Jezebel’s henpecked husband to name faithful Elijah “the Troubler of Israel.” So might a thief accuse his victim of breaking the peace by protesting at being robbed.
Read MoreTo those who had not attended the assembly; on the apostolic saying, “If thy enemy hunger feed him,” and concerning resentment of injuries. From Bishop John Chrysostom, Constantinople, 4th century.
Read MoreStanding in front of the used religious book section in the Value Village thrift store in a town near my home in Canada, I was amazed (although perhaps should not have been) at how many books there were on prayer amongst the discarded volumes on various forms of spirituality. They were, for the most part, of the typical evangelical variety directing their readers to the life-changing power of truly personal and heartfelt prayer. Some touched on the power of communal prayer. Others, like the Prayer of Jabez volumes, promised a surefire way to guaranteed worldly happiness and success if you followed their tenets.
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