Attend congregations of the LCMS and you’ll see a great variety between parishes, sometimes even in the same parish from Sunday to Sunday.
Originally this was not the case for the Missouri Synod. The constitution of the LCMS states one objective of the Synod is to “Encourage congregations to strive for uniformity in church practice, but also to develop an appreciation of a variety of responsible practices and customs which are in harmony with our common profession of faith.”[1] The objective of synod is uniformity in practice that allows for variety that is not at variance with the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions.
Such uniformity in worship between parishes serves two purposes. First, it demonstrates doctrinal unity. If churches believe the same thing, they should worship the same way. Second, it’s confusing to people when churches of the same fellowship worship in very different ways. Maintaining this uniformity is part of each District President’s duties. Bylaw 4.4.4(b) states: “In his official visits he shall seek to bring about to the greatest possible degree the achievement of the Synod’s objectives as expressed in Article III of its Constitution,”[2] including the objective of encouraging uniformity in worship practices.
This desire for uniformity can be seen in Article VI of the LCMS constitution. The fourth condition for membership in the Synod is “Exclusive use of doctrinally pure agenda, hymnbooks, and catechisms in church and school.”[3] The use of doctrinally impure agendas, hymnbooks, and catechisms, would destroy not only the uniformity in worship sought by members of the Synod. It would destroy the unity of doctrine held by members of the Synod. To encourage the exclusive use of doctrinally pure worship materials, the Synod recognizes several service books and hymnals as official. Former bylaw 3.929 defined official service books and hymnals as “given such status only by a convention of the Synod after a process of exposure and testing decided upon by the Synod in convention.”[4]
However, as of 2004 the Missouri Synod has given up on striving for uniformity in church practice. The 2004 Convention passed Resolution 2-04, “To Affirm Responsible Use of Freedom in Worship.”[5] The fifth “whereas” states, “There are diverse viewpoints in our Synod concerning what is appropriate and salutary in corporate worship.” Since one’s view of what is “appropriate and salutary in corporate worship” comes from one’s theology of worship and God’s word, the “whereas” confesses there are diverse theologies of worship through the membership of the Synod. The resolution revolves, “That the Synod, in convention, affirm respect for diversity in worship practices as we build greater understanding of our theology of worship and foster further discussion of worship practices that are consistent with that theology.” This confesses that the Scripture and Lutheran Confessions’ understanding of worship is something which can be expanded through discussion and the acceptance of diversity.
This diversity is precisely what one finds in the life of the Missouri Synod. Some congregations still use the Common Service (TLH page 15, LW page 136, LSB Setting III), which was assembled in 1888 from the commonalities of German Lutheran liturgies. Other congregations use Lutheran adaptations of Roman Catholic liturgies which were introduced in The Book of Lutheran Worship and Lutheran Worship (LW Setting I and II, LSB Setting 1, 2). In a growing number of Missouri Synod congregations contemporary worship is being employed. The vast majority of contemporary worship resources don’t come from “doctrinally pure hymnbooks” that have been approved by the Synod in convention. More importantly, contemporary worship is the worship of American Protestant Revivalism, making it incompatible with what the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions say about worship.
It is often claimed that Contemporary Worship is simply a new style of worship that doesn’t affect the Lutheran doctrine being taught in the service. But this is not true. Contemporary worship is not a style. It is the worship of American Protestant Revivalism and carries with it the theology of revivalism. First, contemporary worship is not centered on the doctrine of justification. Its goal is not to deliver the forgiveness of sins to the penitent through the means of grace. Its goal is the emotional response of the worshipers.
Years ago, while attending a circuit meeting in the Kansas District, I privately asked an LCMS pastor why he practiced contemporary worship. I’ll never forget his answer. He said, “Contemporary worship gets people’s emotions up.” He was crystal clear that the goal of contemporary worship is to manufacture an emotional experience. However, the Holy Spirit never promises to work through emotions. The Scriptures never teach that excitement and exuberance are signs of the Spirit’s presence. The Spirit works through the Word purely preached and the Sacraments administered according to Christ’s institution. Contemporary worship teaches worshipers to evaluate how God feels about them based on how they feel about God.
Second, Contemporary Worship doesn’t believe that God’s Word alone is effective when law and gospel are properly preached in sermon and song. It assumes that the word of God has to be presented to modern culture in a certain style in order to be effective. This is why its forms are so fluid from week to week and year to year. In order to reach the unbelieving world, Contemporary Worship teaches that novelty and variety are more important than doctrinal content. Sturdy hymns that teach the doctrine of Scripture are replaced with repetitive pop songs with little doctrinal content. Those praise songs, most of the time, are more about the Christian than the Christ. Law and Gospel preaching is replaced with motivational speeches about living more fulfilling lives. Worship is not viewed as feeding God’s lambs, but evangelism to the unbelieving world, so worship has to be watered down so that anyone off the street can understand it.
As the worship of American Protestant Revivalism, Contemporary Worship is incompatible with the doctrine of scripture and Lutheran Confessions. Emotions and feelings are good gifts of God. But they are tainted by original sin and so they are not pure, and so should not be the basis of worship. Basing our relationship with the Triune God on our feelings means that our relationship with God waxes and wanes according to our mood or our current mental state. This makes our life with God unstable and uncertain.
In contrast to our emotions, the Gospel deals with certainties of God’s promises in His word. Luther, in the Smalcald Articles, wrote, “In regard to this we ought and must constantly maintain that God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and the sacraments, and that whatever without the Word and sacraments is extolled as spirit is the devil himself” (III.8.3). Luther understood that emotion and the human imagination are under sin’s curse and therefore easily manipulated by Satan. The Lord wants to deal with us only through His promised means of grace, not feelings which change with the wind. The historic liturgy of the church does this. This is why the Lutheran Reformers state in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession that they “do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it” (XXIV.1). The Apology even confesses that “the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other like things.”
In contrast to the man-centered nature of Contemporary Worship, the historic worship of the church is centered on Christ Jesus who uses the law to condemn and kill sinners so that He may then make sinners alive by His Holy Gospel. This is why the liturgy is almost exclusively taken from the pages of Scripture. God gives us His word as His certain word and we, as His baptized children, speak His word back to Him. Through His called and ordained servants, Christ gives out the blessings won on the cross. Believing the gospel, we experience peace of conscience and joy, but those emotions are the result of receiving Christ’s blessings. The pattern of biblical worship and the liturgy is one of receiving God’s gifts and then responding in prayer and praise.
Sadly, many in the Missouri Synod have abandoned the biblical and confessional theology of worship and adopted the theology of worship of American Revivalism. In 2004 when the Synod passed Resolution 2-04, it resolved, “That the Commission on Worship initiate a process leading toward the development of diverse worship resources for use in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.”[6] With this resolution, the LCMS institutionalized contemporary worship. This is further demonstrated by the fact that the President of Synod told the 2015 California-Nevada-Hawaii District Convention, “Brothers, you will never hear me condemn contemporary worship.”[7] The worship of Protestant Revivalism has established firm roots in the Missouri Synod. Lutherans should reject the feelings-based worship of American revivalism because it doesn’t serve God’s people with the gospel. Emotions and feelings are not a means of grace nor are they an instrument of the Holy Ghost. The historic worship of the church—the divine service of word and sacrament—puts God’s words in the ears and on the lips of God’s people, trusting that the Holy Ghost will work through the word as promised in the Holy Scriptures. The focus is on the justification of sinners, not a fleeting emotional high. Lutherans should rather, as their confession states, “religiously maintain and defend” the Mass. The historic liturgy expresses our catholicity, meaning our worship expresses the true doctrine of Scripture and it demonstrates that Lutherans didn’t start a new church or sect, but that the Lutheran doctrine is the true apostolic and catholic faith. That includes the doctrine that the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace, not our emotions, and that the Word of God is effective without the addition of any “style.” In the end, Lutherans should worship like Lutherans, not according to the worship and doctrine of revivalism.
[1] “Constitution, Article III: Objectives,” in Handbook: Constitution, Bylaws, and Articles of Incorporation, 2010. (St. Louis: LCMS, 2010), 14 .
[2] Handbook of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod: 2010 Edition (St. Louis: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2010), 193.
[3] Ibid., 15
[4] Handbook of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod: 2001 Edition (St. Louis: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2001), 76. In the 2007 Edition of the Handbook it is Bylaw 3.9.7.2(c)(1) on page 178.
[5] The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, One Mission Ablaze: Convention Proceedings, 62nd Regular Confession, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, St. Louis, MO, July 10-15, 2004. (St. Louis, Concordia, 2004), 124.
[6] Convention Proceedings, 62nd Regular Confession, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, St. Louis, MO, July 10-15, 2004. (St. Louis, Concordia, 2004), 124.
[7] This was told to me by a pastor who was present at said district convention.
