Shouldn't we stand? LSB 602, The Gifts Christ Freely Gives

This evening I was asked to play LSB 602, "The Gifts Christ Freely Gives" in a worship setting.  In previous hymnals, the pastor or organist (or both) would decide on the trinitarian nature of the final stanza, then the organist would play an interlude, and the congregation would stand.

With the introduction of Lutheran Service Book, though, the trinitarian final verses have triangles next to them, which takes out some of the guesswork.

The structure of the hymn is this:

• Stanza 1: Gifts are for the Church
• Stanza 2: Gifts in Baptism
• Stanza 3: Gifts in Absolution
• Stanza 4: Gifts in God's Word
• Stanza 5: Gifts in the Eucharist
• Stanza 6: Glory, praise and thanks to the triune God

The author of the text is Kantor Richard Resch of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN.  It would seem that he intended for the final verse to be trinitarian/doxological in nature.  Yet there is no triangle next to the last stanza.

Had we been using HS98, LW or TLH, I would have gone ahead and played the interlude and if the congregation observed this tradition, they would stand.  However, there was no triangle.  I am wondering if the hymnal committee specified the three-in-one names be detailed as "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" instead of simply "triune God."

Back when Hymnal Supplement 98 was in use, I once cued the trinitarian stanza for "Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year."  I was told that this was not a stanza in which we would stand because it was prayer-like in nature and not praise-like in nature.  But alas, in LSB this stanza got the the triangle and "The Gifts" did not.

Lets discuss this here first, then I will attempt to contact a member of the hymnal committee or perhaps even Kantor Resch.

"Finger" "Quotes"

Are you one of those people who lift their fingers in the air to show they are "quoting" "something"?

Habitual quotation marks are apparently not just for casual conversation, but there are also plenty of "written" "examples" of this humorous hand gesture.

Over at Jottings and Such, the blog of author Julie Stiegemeyer, you will find this post on The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.

Those of you with young children might know of Julie's board book series, Things I [See/Hear/Do] in Church.  Check out all of CPH.org's offerings by putting "stiegemeyer" in the search box, and choosing "books" in the dropdown menu.

She also has writings for a more general children's audience.  My favorite is Gobble, Gobble, CRASH.

From the Wittenberg Trail

Not everything on the Wittenberg Trail is centered on Lutheranism.

One blog post over there dealt with common misspellings and misuse of the English Language.  Since the Trail is a private site and registration is required, I cannot bring the entire post here.  I can bring my own comments, though!

Make no mistake, I type full sentences in my emails and on my blog.  I make every effort to spell things properly.  The Firefox browser leaves an orange line under words that are misspelled when you are typing in it.  Back when I taught music, I used to say, "Spelling counts in music class because spelling counts in life!"

That being said, I couldn't resist leaving a comment similar to this:

Your definately onto something hear. I no alot of people who has know clue about there usage of the English language. Irregardless, these issues are not two hard too get ahold of. I think Im loosing my mind.

If you are a member of the Trail, you can find the original post with my original comment here.  I tweaked the one above to include more errors. :)

Welcome Wittenburg Trail Readers

I posted a link to this blog over on the Wittenberg Trail, a social networking site for Lutherans.

I want to welcome any readers who found the blog because of my post on the Trail.

I am new to the Trail, and even newer to blogging, so this is all quite an adventure!

Who knows, maybe I will warm up to Facebook eventually.  This Facebook thing is just a trend, right?  You know, like radio, television, internet, etc.?  It probably won't last.  ;)

Time Out #34: Comments now available!

Join the angelic discussion over at LutheranTimeOut.org.  I posted comments over there on the featured hymn, I Walk in Danger all the Way.  My focus was on verse 4:

I walk with angels all the way,
They shield me and befriend me;
All Satan’s power is held at bay
When heavenly hosts attend me;
They are my sure defense,
All fear and sorrow, hence!
Unharmed by foes, do what they may,
I walk with angels all the way.

Also, if you haven't listened to the podcast, get out your personal copy of LSB and follow along with Hymn 716.  Don't have a personal copy?  You need one!  Buy it here, or contact your local Christian bookstore.

Why will you need one?  Assuming I get my act together, I plan to do a series on "Singing through LSB in One Year."  It's hard to sing along without a hymnal.  Look for this to start on the First Sunday of Advent.  That will be November 29 this year.