From last Sunday’s service bulletin at Our Saviour Lutheran Church: Hymn singing in church is actually a fairly recent innovation: traditionally, hymns were mainly sung at Matins and Vespers, but not in the Sunday main (Communion) service. The practice of … Continue reading
This post is a development of a couple of Twitter posts as part of this fruitful exchange, initiated by John H. Full disclaimer: I currently celebrate the Sacrament versus populum For most of the Divine Service, there are two ways … Continue reading
The latest Liturgical Titbit: Lutherans, unlike everyone else it seems, stand to pray and sit to sing. Why? The reason for sitting for hymns is almost certainly entirely prosaic. Lutheran hymns were traditionally long, and often sung very slowly. If … Continue reading
From time to time, I add a little section called ‘Liturgical Titbits’ to the service bulletin at Our Saviour Lutheran Church. The idea is that, over time, the congregation’s knowledge and understanding of various aspects of the liturgy will grow—and … Continue reading
Why should the same musical setting be used on Advent Sunday, on Christmas Day, on Good Friday, on Easter Sunday, and on a Day of Humiliation and Prayer, when in each case the spirit and character of the day varies … Continue reading
These shortened forms of hymnic versions of the Lord’s Prayer are symptomatic of our modern age, which is impatient with hymns longer than three or four stanzas and with services of worship that last longer than fifty-nine minutes. But worship … Continue reading
