Lutheran Book of Worship: successes and failures—a review for pastors and musicians

Currents in Theology and Mission, Oct, 2003 by Carlos R. Messerli

Pastors can take credit for introducing Setting I and the Setting II, which have been well received. Setting Three is sung less often, even though it is based on a chant found in the earlier SBH.

6. Options within the rite. Optional settings of all or parts of the rite are a hallmark of LBW. The options presented are of two kinds. The first includes the different musical settings printed within the rite as well as the choice to include or exclude certain items according to the church year. The second is the great range of options or substitutions provided for nearly all of the major parts of the rite (both the Proper and the Ordinary of the Mass) that are articulated in the rubrics in LBW and the rubrics and comments in the Ministers Desk Edition as well as the explanatory material in the Manual on the Liturgy.

The first type is exemplified by the three complete settings of the Eucharist. It is suggested that these are to be sung in various seasons of the church year. A fourth setting occurs in the form of the Chorale Service of Holy Communion, in which classic hymns are suggested to replace texts of the Ordinary of the Mass and a few other texts. Additional examples of flexibility are present within each setting of the liturgy. It is suggested that seasonal use be made of the Hymn of Praise, for which there are now two texts: "Glory to God in the highest" and "Worthy is Christ." The former is intended for use in the Christmas season, Epiphany, and the Sundays after Pentecost. It is not sung in Advent or Lent. The latter is intended for the Easter season and saints' days.

The second major type of option includes other congregational or choral settings of individual texts of the Ordinary replacing those provided in the book. This includes the possibility of substituting a concerted or polyphonic choral setting (historic or contemporary) for a designated congregational item in the rite, such as the Gloria in excelsis. Another choice would be the singing of carefully chosen hymns that fill the requirement of the text of the Ordinary. For example, the Reformation chorale "All glory be to God on high" (LBW #166) could be sung in place of the specified Hymn of Praise (a substitution common in Luther's day).

Judicious and thoughtful use of the options in the LBW or those in the Ministers Desk Edition and the Manual would lend enormous variety to the rite, would give opportunity for adaptation to local preference, and would give the congregation and the musician-leaders of worship opportunity to experience historic artistic treasures of the church's heritage or important contemporary settings. And all of this could be accomplished without disturbing the integrity of the rite. In fact, such occasional substitution would give well-founded strength to its integrity.

Several of the printed options within each rite, such as the two Offertory canticles, are sung in many parishes. Other available options, for example, for the entrance hymn, Offertory, Verse, or post-Communion canticle, are seldom used except for the substitution of a hymn for the latter two. The option of hymnic, classic, or contemporary choral settings of the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria in excelsis, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) has largely been ignored. Thus, it appears that the concept of varying the rite while preserving its integrity has been only partially successful with pastors and musicians. The most apparent and convenient possibilities printed in the book have been chosen occasionally, while those requiring more thought and preparation have been little utilized.