[Magdalen] End of an Era.

[Scott Knitter]

On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 10:28 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen
<magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
> I have little familiarity with LCMS (Missouri Synod) so I don't know  what
> constitutes ordinary Sunday worship there.

I've experienced megachurch-style preacher-focused nonliturgical LCMS
worship (Faith Lutheran, Troy, Michigan), and I've read online about a
very Catholic LCMS parish in Detroit:

http://www.ziondetroit.org/index.php?page=home

The LCMS' English District is a nongeographical diocese-like entity
that tends toward the high-church style.

Standard LCMS is a fairly staid liturgical service with lots of
congregational singing. One characteristic of the music I've
experienced in such churches is that the organist doesn't seem to
realize the organ can make different sounds if the stops are changed.
A radio-broadcast service I used to hear was this way (maybe they were
told it needs to be that way for radio, so nobody has to work the
sound board and adjust the levels?): same organ registration
throughout the service. Lots of bone-headed preaching.

The student LCMS church at Michigan State U, called Martin Luther
Chapel, seemed very open and varied, and they kept the green Lutheran
Book of Worship even when the LCMS had left that project and developed
their own book called Lutheran Worship. Valparaiso University
(Indiana) is Lutheran although unaffiliated with a particular Lutheran
denomination; the LCMS clergy who lead the university chapel at Valpo
regularly get in trouble with the LCMS authorities for being too
friendly with the ELCA clergy, and for <gasp> taking part in worship
co-led by female ELCA pastors. I think the regular scoldings from the
LCMS fathers mean they're doing something right at Valpo.


-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA