Lutheran Book of Worship: a Gift of the Church

A Gift of the Church. That positive phrase was the title of the first section of the Guide to introducing Lutheran Book of Worship that congregations used back in 1978. I want to suggest some ways in which the LBW indeed has been a gift to Lutheran congregations across North America.

As we consider the short life span of LBW, I always try to put it in the context of the 2000-year-old conversation that we call the Christian liturgy. Assemblies of Christians around word and sacrament were encountering God in the event of communal worship long before this worship resource appeared, but LBW has served congregations in significant ways in this generation.

In his study of Christian worship, Dom Gregory Dix suggests that deep changes in worship patterns generally take from 70 to 100 years.' In a time that invites constant change, it may serve us well, before we dismiss the LBW, to befriend the treasures of the tradition that it has bequeathed to us and cultivate the seeds that still have potential to bear fruit.

Key things that were emphasized in LBW include the following: baptismal accents in various liturgies; centrality of both word and sacrament each Lord's day; a clear Paschal focus; use of lay assisting ministers; fuller congregational participation; variations that provide a spectrum from a simple rite to a festive and full rite; ecumenical convergence; fuller use of psalms; appeal to all the senses; expanded use of the Bible in liturgy and lectionary; new liturgical music and hymns; a strong use of trinitarian language; more inclusive language; a stress on thanksgiving; a fuller resource for daily prayer; rich rites for Holy Week and the Triduum. (2) These and other aspects of the LBW are gifts for the worship life of the church. Gordon Lathrop writes that "the real intention of the gifts of the LBW is the surprising encounter with God ... in the gospel of the crucified and the life of the Trinity." (3)

Baptismal focus

A stated goal of LBW was "to restore to Holy Baptism the liturgical rank and dignity implied by Lutheran theology, and to draw out the baptismal motifs in such acts as the confession of sin and the burial of the dead."' Various rites in the Occasional Services book such as "Recognition of Ministries in the Congregation" or "Affirmation of Vocation in the World" put in ritual form the Lutheran theological stress on Christian vocation that is given in baptism. This has undergirded the use of lay assisting ministers in shared leadership roles with ordained presiding ministers.

Confession and forgiveness have been more closely tied ritually to baptism. While we have stressed theologically that daily confession and forgiveness reflect the baptismal structure or pattern of our lives in Christ, formerly worshipers did not see the connection in worship. As pastors have done the Brief Order of Confession and Forgiveness from the font and invited people to retrace the sign of the cross over their bodies at the baptismal naming of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the connection is being made. (The connection is even clearer when the lids on fonts are removed and water fills the font or pool. After all, we are not into dry cleaning!)

The recovery of the communal dimension of baptism has moved pastors and congregations to include baptisms within Sunday public worship. Private baptisms tended to make baptisms a biological family affair rather than a congregational act. In addition to family sponsors, some congregations are adding congregational sponsors to stress that this newly baptized person is now part of our community and our responsibility.

As I reflect on some nuances and contributions of the baptism liturgy in LBW, I see several things that have enriched worship life of congregations. More biblical images are put before us in Luther's Flood Prayer and remind the baptized that they are now inserted into that story as they pass through this saving flood. As adults come to faith and seek baptism, the missionary or evangelical character of baptism comes to the fore in making disciples. Congregations are rediscovering their "disciple-making mission" and their call to be catechumenal communities. Lay representatives who give the candle, pour the water, and welcome the baptized, and the whole congregation that witnesses the rite, underline that "in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body" (1 Cor 12:13). The gift of grace in baptism draws us into the self-giving of God as we are swept up into Christ's mission for the world; the welcome at the end of the baptismal liturgy led by a representative of the congregation stresses the vocation of all Christians implicit in baptism. The laying on of hands with the "confirmation prayer" for God to pour out the Spirit on the baptized as a new Pentecost takes seriously the biblical call that we "live by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16) as we "have been born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). The possibilities for Christian identity are strong as people recall that prophets, royalty, and priests were anointed and that Christ was "the anointed one." As the newly baptized are anointed, they are reminded that they part of "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" that they "may proclaim the mighty acts" of God (1 Pet 2:9).