The growing interest in liturgical renewal and the Christian year in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is reflected in the recent publication of a new hymnal and companion volume. These publications follow, with some adaptations, the lectionary, and calendar proposed by the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship in 1973.
Much has changed in the understanding and practice of the Christian year in the Wisconsin Synod (WELS) since the publication of its Book of Hymns in 1917. That pocket-sized book provided the text (but no music) for two forms of the “Order of Morning Service.” Form I was an outline of the service; Form II printed the text in some detail. Both of these forms provided for only one Scripture lesson. The following year one of the hymnal’s editors expressed the belief in the official magazine of the synod that “the average church-goer will thank us for not putting in more than one Scripture lesson.”
A survey taken in 1987 in preparation for the publication of a new hymnal reflects the extent to which attitudes had changed since 1917. Of the total of nearly 70,000 persons who responded to the survey, 83.6 percent judged “adding a reading from the Old Testament in addition to the New Testament Epistle and Gospel” to be desirable. Many WELS congregations regularly include three Scripture readings as part of their worship.
The ILCW and the New WELS Hymnal
The same 1987 survey showed that of the 761 pastors who responded, 78 percent were following the three-year lectionary prepared by the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW). The three-year lectionary included in Christian Worship: a Lutheran Hymnal, the book for worship published by the WELS, is based on the ILCW readings.
The WELS was not a participant in the work of the ILCW but did thoroughly study the proposed lectionary when it was published in 1973. This study was carried out by various pastoral conferences with the findings submitted to a specially appointed Lectionary Committee. The findings of this Committee, reported to the synod in 1977, declared that “no doctrinal, pastoral, or liturgical reasons were found to stand in the way of the use of this series of texts” and that “no consideration would preclude the use of this series for worship.” The synod in turn resolved that “the use of this series of texts be left to the discretion of the individual congregations of the synod.” Not only were the ILCW readings in fact used extensively in the congregations of the synod, but several volumes of sermon studies based on these texts were published in the WELS.
In preparing the three-year lectionary for the new hymnal only certain minor revisions in the suggested readings were made. The desire was to continue to make use of the many worship helps that have become available from various publishers.
WELS Variations on the Christian Year
Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal divides the Christian year into three major seasons: the Time of Christmas, the Time of Easter, the Time of Pentecost. The variations from the ILCW lectionary are primarily the result of a few changes in the calendar. The readings selected for the Sixth Sunday in Lent reflected an emphasis on Palm Sunday rather than on Passion Sunday found in ILCW. The last four Sundays of the year are named the “End Time.” Reformation Sunday is the First Sunday of the End Time, followed by the Sunday of the Last Judgment and the Sunday of the Saints Triumphant. The Last Sunday of End Time retains the name used in the ILCW calendar: Christ the King. As much as possible readings chosen for these Sundays were taken from the ILCW series. The calendar lists thirty-two minor festivals and eighteen occasions with propers provided for each of them.
The new hymnal has a table listing the readings for Years A, B, and C, but does not include the complete set of propers for the Sundays, festivals, and occasions of the year. The propers are published in a companion volume to the hymnal. Included here are the suggested Psalm of the day, the prayer of the day, verse of the day, and hymn of the day. The decision was made to publish the propers in a separate volume to allow for the inclusion of additional orders of worship and more hymns in the people’s book.
Along with the three-year lectionary, a slightly revised version of the one-year historic series is included in the hymnal. Only a few of the standard Epistles and Gospels were changed. A set of Old Testament readings were selected so that three lessons might be read in the service when the one-year series is used.
Use of the Three-Year Lectionary
Even though the three-year lectionary is receiving extensive use in the WELS, there are some who fault the selections for their lack of a central theme on some Sundays. This is especially true when on a number of consecutive Sundays in the Epiphany and Pentecost seasons the second lesson is read from one of the Epistles in a more or less continuous fashion. A careful study of the selected texts for a given Sunday will, however, often yield helpful insights which can be put to good use in preaching.
Strong encouragement is given at the synod’s Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary to use one of the lectionary selections as the text for the sermon. Following this practice will mean that all of the biblical doctrines are adequately presented by the preacher in a given year, and the danger of dwelling on certain pet subjects will be lessened. It is also emphasized that the Gospel is the main lesson for the day and should suggest the basic theme for worship planning.
The present emphasis on the Christian year and the lectionary is the result of several factors: the publication of The Lutheran Hymnal in 1941 in which the WELS was an active participant; the general emphasis on liturgical renewal found among other Lutheran church bodies and in the church at large; and the efforts of several individuals within the WELS who urged a greater appreciation of the Christian year. All of this has had a most salutary effect on the work of the WELS and helped to bring about the publication of a new hymnal.