Augsburg Lutheran Churches
Worship  & Liturgry Guidelines

Lutheran worship is God-initiated, where the union of God and His people is consummated in the giving and receiving of the gift of justifying faith through the proclaimed Word and sacraments.  Weekly worship is not basically evangelistic, but edifying for the assembly of believers.  Evangelism, however can occur in various aspects of the divine service.  We come before God to confess our sin and receive absolution, hear God’s word, and respond with faith and prayer. 

At a minimum, divine worship includes confession of sin and absolution, the proclamation of the Word in law and gospel and prayer. The Creed and the Lord’s Prayer are desirable inclusions.  Of primary importance are the sermon (understood as absolution) the Word proclaimed, and the Words of Institution. We retain what is best in the tradition of the church. The traditional worship order is based upon the mass and is a treasure in Lutheran worship. The ordinary, or consistent, parts include the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.  Other prayers, psalms, responses, and scripture vary with the season of the church year.  Hymns which emphasize the scriptural themes may be of musical styles preferred by the congregation and provide variety in worship. Of lesser importance are which musical settings are used for the parts of the service.

The weekly repetition of the Lord’s Prayer and the creed ( and other parts of the service) are edifying to the worshippers. The invariability of these spoken or sung parts benefits even children and the disabled, enabling them to participate in worship in meaningful and faithful ways.  The person ultimately responsible for worship is the pastor whose office was divinely instituted to preach the Word and administer the sacraments , the basis of Lutheran worship. Proclaiming the gospel and forgiveness of sins are the pastor’s primary tasks. The sermon is no less than God‘s Word.  Dynamic preaching requires careful, prayerful preparation and is the best evangelism tool.

When Holy Communion is offered, the Words of Institution are proclaimed alone, not within a eucharistic prayer. The host is Lord Jesus, and the direction is from God to the people. The elements of communion are placed upon the altar before the service, again to prevent the impression and belief that God’s people sacrifice anything that adds to Christ’s one-time sacrifice.  Pre-consecration and use of a tabernacle to hold the elements of communion are not scriptural.  “The Liturgy” or divine service with its basic order is the standard for weekly worship, although other orders (such as matins) may be used.

We encourage variety in musical settings for the ordinary parts of the service.

Devotions
are posted on the The Castle Church Door Discussion Board

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