How's Your LSB?

It has been around 3 years since Lutheran Service Book (LSB) first hit the pews.

Kantor Phil Magness has a good discussion going on at Fine Tuning that includes a "self-diagnostic tool."

Chime in on how it's going in your congregation in the following areas:

• A Hymn that Is Proving to Be As Good As First Thought
• A Hymn that Hasn't Met Expectations
• A Hymn that Worked Surprisingly Well
• A Hymn We Haven't Sung Yet, But Will

Read more on the post, but as a preview I chose the following for the above categories:

• ...As Good As First Thought: 411, "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light"
• ...Hasn't Met Expectations: 521, "Christ, the Lord of Hosts, Unshaken" (love the text, the tune is not catching on in my parish) 
• ...Works Surprisingly Well: Nunc Dimittis (Page 211 and Hymn 937)
• ...Haven't Sung Yet, but Will: 957, "Our Father Who Art In Heaven."

Kantor/Cantor, what is a Kantor, Cantor? Part III: "Becoming a Better Bach"

Southern Lutheran Kantor suggests a title for a Joel Osteen book that he might actually read:

Becoming a Better Bach: Seven Steps to Change You into the Kantor from Leipzig

Along with the title comes seven+ suggestions on becoming a better kantor.  Head on over to his blog to find out more details.

In the mean time, I have suggested other titles for this proposed book.

• Your Best Kantor Now 
• Be All that You Kant Be
• Set Your Kantor Ablaze! 
• I Kant Therefore I Am (also a good title for his philosophic writing) 
  

Submit your suggestions for the proposed book title in the comment section here at All for Hymn or over at Southern Lutheran Kantor.

On another note, I want to thank Southern Lutheran Kantor for providing a link to this blog in his post.

More About Iggy...

Issues, Etc. did a segment on Ignatius of Antioch this past Friday.

Of special note, the guest for this segment, Dr. Thomas von Hagel, has a book about saints and heroes of faith.  One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism can be purchased through CPH for the outrageous price of $5.  WOO-HOO!!!

Once again, I am having trouble getting the broadcast to embed here on the blog, but I think if you click here, a download will start.

Weedon: So Very Ordinary

It's so ordinary.

I go to church every Sunday and everything is the same.  Can't they do anything different?

Funny you should mention that!  Certain parts of the liturgy are called the Ordinary.

These are the things that remain essentially the same week-in and week-out.

Those parts include:

• Kyrie: Lord Have Mercy
• Gloria: Glory be to God on High/Glory to God in the Highest/This is the Feast
• Credo: Apostles Creed/Nicene Creed/Athanasian Creed
• Sanctus: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth (Power and Might)
• Agnus Dei: Lamb of God

Pastor Wil Weedon of Weedon's Blog tackles the differences in the texts (including Luther's Chorales) in his post On Variation in Text of the Ordinary.

One might ask, if these remain constant, what does change?

The things that change every week are called the Propers.  These include:

• Introit/Entrance Hymn
• Collect of the Day
• Appointed Readings from Scripture
• Psalm or Gradual
  
• Alleluia (or other Verse)
  
• Hymn of the Day
• Prayers of the Church
• Offertory

More on those later.  For now, check out Weedon's Blog for a blub about Ordinary things.

Commemoration of Ignatius of Antioch

October 17 commemorates Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr.

Over at Cyberbrethren, Pastor Paul McCain provides a thorough biography and other information on this church father.

For the condensed version, check out this post by Pastor Wil Weedon on his blog.

For those of you who were wondering, my cybername is a tribute to Ignatius of Antioch.  You might think that I am a big fan of this church father, or that I have read a lot about him, or that I did some sort of paper on his works, but the truth is that his commemoration day and my birthday are the same!

So, while I knew these two days coincided, I really don't know much about this father of the church.  I will be reading these links and learning right along with the rest of you.

And, if anyone asks, I turned 29 ;)

I say that every year...

Rev. Larry Peters: Basic Differences

Rev. Larry Peters of Pastoral Meanderings has an interesting post called Basic Differences.

Pastor Peters serves Grace Lutheran Church in Clarksville, TN.  There aren't a lot of Lutheran churches there, much less liturgical ones.  Yet he writes about using the liturgy in a growing church that gets 3-8 visiting families every week.  He tackles issues surrounding the Divine Service and its use with visitors for whom the liturgy is foreign.

He frames this around a discussion centered on worship for "seekers" vs. worship for the baptized.

Here is a sample...

This remains the biggest chasm between those who advocate a service that appeals to people's wants, needs, and culture, and those who insist that worship must conform the historic pattern of Word and Meal (within the framework of the mass form, with is Service of the Word and Service of the Sacrament). The debate is not about the age or youth of the hymns (read that songs). It is not about whether the confession can be here or somewhere else in the order. It is not about the words being "King James" or twitter speak. It is not about the use or lack of technology. It is not about vestments or lack of vestments. It is first and foremost about the basic question: Who can worship?

Check out the rest here.

Time Out #35: Comment Available

My comments on the hymn If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee are now available over at LutheranTimeOut.org.

The hymn is interesting, there are a few "if you ... then God ..." ideas floating around in the text, so context is everything.