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LBW Hymnals: A Fresh Update
QUESTION: What’s green, filled with pages of black and white print, has been touched by and has touched thousands of people, sits in Grace Lutheran Church, and is almost 30 years old? ANSWER: The Lutheran Book of Worship Hymn books!
It might be surprising to some of our “well-seasoned” Lutherans to realize that our LBW hymnals are thirty years old. Many of us still remember the former red Service Book and Hymnal and the challenge of learning the “new” green hymnal. And now…it’s time for growth and change as we consider a new hymnal that has been produced by our ELCA denomination.
Why? Worship remains central to mission and ministry to our church and certainly beyond our walls. Among the many congregations in our denomination the Spirit has been moving…we have seen the changing ministry contexts, the increasing variety in worship practices, a deepening desire to reach out more beyond the church into the rest of the world, and the many conversations and exploration in church-wide and ministry events made the need for
new worship resources clear.
In the fall of 2000, the ELCA Church Council authorized a church-wide effort to define and develop a new and common approach to primary worship resources supportive of the entire church for the next generation. The Renewing Worship project, which included valuable representation also from the Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada, was designed to engage the whole church in the evaluation of provisional materials, and congregations across the country submitted thousands of responses—responses that have been central to the crafting of the new primary worship book, Evangelical Lutheran Worship.
Thanks to the widespread participation of thousands of churches and individuals in the Renewing Worship process in these past five year, Evangelical Lutheran Worship is here! This new hymnal reflects the best in Lutheran worship today, with both familiar and new liturgies, hymns, and more...
This new hymnal is more comprehensive than any previous resource — yet it is the same size as our present green Lutheran Book of Worship. It represents the full breadth of the church, including much that churches know and cherish from existing resources, while incorporating new liturgies, new hymns, and new texts. A prayer resource for worship, at home, and throughout your journey of faith.
Here’s some of what’s inside:
10 Communion Settings
All 150 Psalms for singing
Newly-commissioned art
15 new additional services
Over 700 hymns & songs Accompaniments
Small Catechism
More Flexibilit
Although Grace is rich with different styles of worship, it is our hope that the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal can be a wonderful resource that will be used in all of our services as well as an important unifying tool that will bridge all of our variety of worship styles together.
It is our plan to purchase our new hymnals by Easter so we can begin to explore and grow our worship. We hope that many will purchase a hymnal in memory of a loved one or as a special gift to our church. For those who might be concerned that we might leave behind our liturgies, hymns, and familiar services, the new hymnal contains the familiar settings one and two from the LBW.
2008 will be a year of exciting growth in our worship life as we look forward to a new hymnal. May we all pray that the Lord will use this as a great tool to deepen our faith and discipleship.