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Ecumenical ConnectionsRenewing Worship is attentive to the church beyond Lutheranism. Not only is it important to take seriously the ritual material historically held in common with other communions, but also the ELCA effort benefits from exploring resources and worship practices, whether newly developed or widely used, in Christian assemblies outside the Lutheran church. We value a particularly close relationship with church bodies that have entered into full communion agreements with the ELCA.3 Representatives from each of our partner churches participated directly in the consultative phase of the project (phase 1). These same church bodies continue to provide input and review through their representatives on Renewing Worship development panels (phase 2), and through the collegial staff relationships between our respective churches. It is important to note that from within North American Lutheranism, but from beyond the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is a strong co-operative partner in Renewing Worship. Who Decides?If it is true that there are certain central things around which we gather in worship and that somehow it is those central things that hold us together—more precisely, that these central things are the means by which God holds us—then it is likely that there will be greater clarity about those central things, and about a shared identity regardless of location, when certain things happen in most places most of the time. In other words, the notion of principles for worship or norms for liturgical practice makes some sense. Whether born of genuine interest or suspicion, debates about the worship itself, as well as the resources that will help to shape it, often boil down to the question of "who decides?" Who decides what should be happening in most places most of the time? Who decides what will lend continuity and cohesion to a diversity of practices? Who decides what makes Lutheran worship Lutheran? I think the church decides. And by "church" I mean what Lutherans have historically meant when they say "church." The church is people—believing people—gathered or assembled around the means of grace. The Augsburg Confession says it like this:
The church is the Gospel coming to expression in word and sacrament, in and among the gathered people of God. It is the assembly at work. The people. It is, after all, people who agree on a time and place to gather. People make the music. People are praying and praising and giving thanks. People are sharing food and pouring water. When the Holy Communion takes place, it is all the people gathered who celebrate. So, when it comes to the deciding what Lutheran worship ought to look like, ought to be like, the deciding—like the worship itself—involves all the people. And the deciding is underway without regard to the project, Renewing Worship. In ways that are sometimes intentional, sometimes spontaneous, in the midst of a sometimes-intense debate, the church is about the business of deciding what makes worship "Lutheran" by worshiping. It isn't always pretty. It is not always immediately recognizable or familiar. But local assemblies are leaving their imprint on how to understand Lutheran worship in the present day. Sometimes that imprint is left in helpful ways. And it has to be said, sometimes in ways that contribute to the confusions. |
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