I.C.M. - SW MN WordAlone

CWA: WORSHIP

Scott Grorud

Worship comprised a major part of the Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee. A service of Holy Communion was held every day and, in many ways, they were very impressive. They were full of pomp and pageantry, the music was uniformly excellent and the preachers were energetic and engaging.

Underneath that splendid exterior, however, the content of worship was quite troubling. Neither the liturgy nor the preaching reflected confessional Lutheran belief and practice.

While the details of each service differed, the basic liturgical form never varied. It reflected the liturgical reform movement, which looks to a supposedly common form of worship from the early church as the basis for how all worship should be done. The problem is, that common form clearly reflects Roman Catholic theology about the nature of worship.

For example, the liturgical reform movement sees confession and absolution as a sort of psychological preparation for worship, rather than its central and most important act. So, there was no public confession and forgiveness of sin until the sixth communion service of the assembly (This is also why the "Brief Order" stands outside the service and is "optional" in the Lutheran Book of Worship). At another service, a prayer petition for the dead was offered, a common Roman Catholic practice, but unheard of among Lutherans.

The liturgy also clearly suggested that Holy Communion is our sacrifice of thanks to God, not Christ’s coming to us by his grace and promise. The pulpit and altar were on opposite sides of the room and a grand procession moved from one to the other after the sermon. It signified a sharp division between Word and Sacrament, whereas Lutherans have always believed that the Lord's Supper is the Word in visible, concrete form.

The Words of Institution were always enclosed in a eucharistic prayer to God, rather than proclaimed to the people. And, at one service, the presiding pastor leaned over the altar and spoke the epiclesis* clause directly into the bread, reflecting Roman Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox, and Episcopal Church USA) theology that the priest (i.e.: a properly ordained mediator) must call down the Holy Spirit in order to transform the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood. In many ways, the content of the liturgy was far more Roman Catholic than Lutheran.

Likewise, the preaching did not reflect confessional Lutheran theology or the proper distinction between Law and Gospel (The one stellar exception was Saturday’s sermon by the Rev. Dr. Mary Hinkle of Luther Seminary who allowed the Word to do its own work, rather than serve an agenda, through clear proclamation of Law and Gospel). Indeed, there was a marked tendency simply to skip over the second article of the creed entirely, moving from God’s good creation to how the Holy Spirit is leading us in new directions, with hardly a word about sin, forgiveness or Jesus. The sermons were mostly what one participant called "cheerful exhortation," a call to get out there and transform the world by our efforts.

This kind of theological erosion echoed throughout the assembly and became, for me, one of the most disturbing aspects of it. It was clear evidence of why the ELCA desperately needs reform and renewal and why the work of WordAlone is so vitally important.

Scott Grorud is one of the pastors at Gloria Dei in Redwood Falls, MN

*“Epiclesis” Defined: A Greek word usually translated as "invocation." It’s a prayer in the liturgy for the Lord’s Supper which asks God to send the Holy Spirit who then changes the bread and wine into the body & blood of Christ.

Traditionally, Lutherans have insisted that God makes himself present by his Word and promise, so that the Holy Spirit doesn't need a specific invitation by priestly mediation to "empower" the sacraments.

In the LBW, it’s included as a prayer (“Send now your Holy Spirit, the spirit of our Lord…”) in an optional format (rubric 31) for the Lord’s Supper.