Living Theology
in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran
Church In America
Volume 7, Number 2
Christmas 2002
Are There Norms for Lutheran Worship?
Not long ago, after a visit
to the Wartburg Castle, I worshiped at the church of St. George in
Eisenach. Though I don’t speak German,
worship in that place on that day was more than familiar to me. There was a rooted ness about it. Perhaps grounded in the baptism of a child
at the font where Bach had been baptized.
Undoubtedly reinforced by the gathering around a table in the shadow of
an altarpiece that Martin Luther surely gazed upon when he was young.
I was drawn into what was
happening there in that place – what had been happening there for hundreds of
years. It must have been the shape of
things that contributed to my sense of belonging. Call it the classic Western liturgy. Call it the ordo. Call it the ‘deep structures’ that run
through so much of the history of Christian worship. Whatever you call it, it was enough to make it clear to this
visitor from afar that I was at home among believers gathered around the means
of grace.
Was there something
normative at work in my experience?
Something that should seem evident when I remember it? Is there something happening in that
historic German parish that should be happening all across the church
regardless of location or moment in time?
Something that lends continuity and cohesion to a diversity of worship
practices? Something that instills that
sense of being ‘at home?’ Something that is not just familiar, but more?
The conversation about
liturgical norms for Lutherans began long before the beginning of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
These days there is a noteworthy intensity to the multi-layered
debate. Can norms really exist? If there are worship norms for Lutherans,
what are they? And who decides?
It is that last question
that is easiest to answer. At least
from my vantage point, it seems clear that the church decides. And by ‘church’ I don’t mean worship staff
in the churchwide organization or teaching theologians with expertise in
liturgical matters. I mean the whole
church, including and especially pastors, other worship leaders and people who
gather week after week in their local assemblies.
It is happening already –
the deciding. In ways that are sometimes
intentional, sometimes spontaneous, in the midst of a sometimes-intense debate,
the church is about the business of deciding what makes worship
‘Lutheran.’ It isn’t always pretty and
it is still not clear where we might end up with regard to agreeing on norms
for Lutheran worship.
To be clear, I think there are norms to be
identified and named if by ‘norms’ we mean descriptors of what happens in most
places most of the time. Again, from my
vantage point, the descriptive approach is preferable to establishing
prescriptions for worship behavior. It
is especially preferred at this moment, as new worship resources are beginning
to take shape. There is wisdom in identifying
certain things held in common. If those
‘things’ are not yet reflected in what happens in most places most of the time,
then let the identification be a starting place. A clearly articulated goal of where we are headed together. A constellation of certain things that, when
evident in the life of a Christian assembly, all who gather can find themselves
wonderfully, perhaps even strangely, ‘at home.’
The Use of the Means of Grace, the ELCA’s statement on sacramental practices
points constructively to what I mean.
The statement “seeks to encourage unity among us in the administration
of the means of grace and to foster common understanding and practice. It does not seek to impose uniformity among
us.” (UMG, principle 4) In other words,
The Use of the Means of Grace lays
out a vision – a descriptive rather than prescriptive vision of a starting
place for Christian assemblies. This
vision is normative in its potential and in the sense that while we would not
impose this vision upon local assemblies, there is widespread agreement that as
the church we are at our best when certain things happen in most places most of
the time.
So with an eye toward The Use of the Means of Grace, what
constitutes the vision? What are the
certain things that provide our starting point? Included are the following convictions:
-Sunday is the primary day
when Christians gather to worship.
-When gathered, the assembly
is the “heart of the church’s identity and purpose” (UMG, 6).
In other words, the assembly is
the church (2, 3) and the entire
assembly participates in proclaiming the Word of God (10).
-The assembly’s worship is
enhanced when lay assisting ministers serve in various roles (41).
-Baptism takes place in the
midst of the faith community (21, 25, 27) and it is remembered each time
believers gather. Remembered as a
once-for-all event, and at the same time as a process that lasts a lifetime
(17, 18, 19, 30).
-Holy Communion is the
coming together of Word and meal (34) celebrated every Sunday and festival (35)
in a manner that reflects “the unity of the Body of Christ and the dignity and
new life of the baptized.” (45).
-Believers gathered around
Word and sacrament are led into mission by these very means of grace (51, 54A).
A disclaimer, of sorts – I
would argue that there is widespread agreement regarding the vision articulated
in The Use of the Means of Grace. But in some corners of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America local worship practice does not reflect an awareness
of or support for such a vision. If
normative means ‘what happens in most places most of the time,’ we are not quite
there. So the vision is still only
normative in its potential, providing the ground for continued
conversation. A starting place for
those who are only now entering the debate.
The conversation does
continue. Sometimes it is intense. Still, I think there is reason to be
hopeful. There are signs that the
debate is shifting away from battles over style, making way for conversations
about more central things. There is
interest all across the church in the ‘quality’ of worship. People want worship to embody what we claim
to believe. This churchwide interest
may add to the intensity but it need not distract us from deciding together
that there really are some things we hold in common, some practices that we
ought to share. There are some central things
that can and should come to expression in most places most of the time.
The conversation and the
effort to live into some normative possibilities are helped by a recently
published volume that every ELCA congregation should have recently received in
the mail. Principles for Worship is a provisional resource, a study document
that has grown out of the early stages of the Renewing Worship project – the
churchwide effort to develop the next generation of worship resources. Reflecting the collaborative work of more
than one hundred voices from across the church, Principles for Worship builds on the foundation provided by The Use of the Means of Grace in an
effort to describe Lutheran worship at its best.
The collaborative voices
were many and varied. Still, bringing many different perspectives
together was not meant to put an end to the conversation. Principles
for Worship, like the entire Renewing Worship project, invites others to
join the discussion. Or more precisely,
to enter into a collaborative effort to describe who we understand ourselves to
be as Lutherans at worship. To identify
and enact the norms for the Christian assembly. In other words, to help certain things – central things – happen
in most places most of the time.
I travel a lot more now than
when I was serving a congregation. Not
long ago I was away from home. A
visitor in a different assembly. The
music was different from what I am used to.
Different instrumentation. There
was a different orientation to the room.
Many different ways of doing things.
Still there was a rooted
ness about it. Perhaps grounded in the
preaching that laid open the gospel.
Undoubtedly reinforced by the loaf and cup so generously shared. Call it contemporary. Call it an alternative reflection of the ordo.
Call it the ‘deep structures’ of Christian worship still running
through. Whatever you call it, it was
clear that the church is still deciding and that though I was a visitor from
afar, I was still ‘at home.’
The Rev. Michael L. Burk,
Ph.D.
Director for Worship
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America