tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post4046234519860154837..comments2024-03-29T04:31:15.219-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: A few thoughts. . . Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-75453538937870886622021-10-23T12:45:03.003-05:002021-10-23T12:45:03.003-05:00So why not instruct our pastors in conducting the ...So why not instruct our pastors in conducting the liturgy this way instead of teaching them the bare bones approach at the seminary. I know at Fort Wayne, at least, there was always a run on being the fieldworkers at Zion and Redeemer, but only a couple men a year would be assigned to either. I attended both during my fourth year off and on but other than observing the conduct of the service and celebrant I never had time to ask those pastors about the Divine Service. <br /><br />But why not have them read Piepkorn, Lang, and others in class? Don't just hope that they will pick up a copy or two after seminary. I had Prof. Pless for Worship class and other than snippets of Piepkorn and Lang in our class notes we never read them. Or better yet call Petersen or one of the Gottesdienst writers to serve on the seminaries faculties?tdstorckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04707315050708532037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-73607292133823906362021-10-21T09:52:30.711-05:002021-10-21T09:52:30.711-05:00Of course there were many Lutheran territories, es...Of course there were many Lutheran territories, especially in the north, who maintained most if not all traditional ceremonial forms of worship, and you are correct to note that the Augsburg Confession is at pains to stress areas of agreement between the churches, including traditional ceremonies. It is, after all, an irenic document intended to defend the Evangelicals from the charge of heresy. However, the common perception of Lutherans was not that of loyalist slightly reforming Catholics, as we can see from Luther’s preface to the Smalcald Articles, where he states, “I must tell a story. There was a doctor sent here to Wittenberg from France, who said publicly before us that his king was sure and more than sure, that among us there is no church, no magistrate, no married life, but all live promiscuously as cattle, and each one does as he pleases…”<br /><br />Part of the reason for this popular perception was that Lutherans did reform both doctrine and, to varying degrees, practice in the churches. Lutheran Hesse whitewashed all churches, against Luther’s wishes. Baltic Lutherans vested only in the black “Luther robe.” Yes, the Reformation was not about incense, hats, or chanting, but please remember that no less a theologian than Martin Chemnitz would have nothing to do with the elevation. Luther wanted reform to concentrate on the pure gospel, right use of the sacraments, good works, and rectifying “disagreement between the princes and the states; usury and avarice [which] have burst in like a flood, and have become lawful, wantonness, lewdness, extravagance in dress, gluttony, gambling, idle display, with all kinds of bad habits and wickedness, insubordination of subjects, of domestics and laborers, of every trade, also the exactions [and most exorbitant selling prices] of the peasants (and who can enumerate all?) have so increased that they cannot be rectified by ten Councils and twenty Diets.”<br /><br />Luther laments however that the people ignore these topics of genuine reform and focus instead on trivial adiaphora: “If such chief matters of the spiritual and worldly estates as are contrary to God would be considered in the Council, they would have all hands so full that the child’s play and absurdity of long gowns, large tonsures, broad cinctures, bishops’ or cardinals’ hats or maces, and like jugglery would in the mean time be forgotten. If we first had performed God’s command and order in the spiritual and secular estate, we would find time enough to reform food, clothing, tonsures, and surplices.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com