Concordia Theological Monthly

CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY The Eclipse of Lutheranism in 17th-Century Czechoslovakia MARIANKA SASHA FOUSEK [he Martyrs of Christ - A Sketch of the Thought of Martin Luther on Martyrdom DOUGLAS C. STANGE Lutheran and Protest Vestment Practices in the United States and Canada: A Survey ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN Homiletics Theological Observer Book Review Vol. xxxvn November 1966 No. 10 Lutheran and Protestant Vestment Practices In the United States and Canada: A Survey! ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN A. THE LUTHERAN TRADITION2 itself to what we know as the surplice, he alb, sleeved and often sleeveless, never passed wholly out of use in the Tboth with cincture and in the modified Lutheran Church. Neither did the chasuble. uncinctured form that gradually assimilated The cope has survived primarily, but not exclusively, as an episcopal vestment in 1 This study summarizes the detailed docu Scandinavia. The amice persisted in a sense mentation assembled in connection with the as the collar of the Swedish alb. The black production of an article on "Vestments, Ecclesi astical: Lutheran and Protestant" for the Encyclo gown, either with bands or with the "mill paedia Britannica. It covers the major traditions stone" type of collar (which still survives and church bodies of the Western tradition in parts of European Lutheranism), became (except the Roman Catholic and Protestant general as liturgical vesture only in the Episcopal Churches) in the United States and Canada. For the most part, it reflects the state 19th century. In parts of Scandinavia the ments made by persons whom the head of the black scarf worn with the gown became church body in question had designated to pro a stylized appendage ( "black stole"). The vide the desired information. The originals of the communications herein referred to have mitre (except at Loccum Abbey) and the been deposited in the Concordia Historical In pallium seem to have gone out of use in stitute, 801 De Mun Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. the 16th century; the maniple not later 63105. than the 17th, and the dalmatic (and 2 On the Lutheran Church in general see Herman A. Preus, article "Vestments," in Julius tunicle) in the late 18th or the early 19th Bodensieck, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Lu century. The stole passed out of general theran Church (Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub use by the 17th century, although here and lishing House, 1965), III, 2436-2439; Luther Dotterer Reed, W ors/Dip: A Study of Corporate there it may have survived into the 18th. Devotion (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, Where mitre, maniple, dalmatic, tunicle, 1959), Ch.18; and Arthur Carl Piepkorn, The and stole are currently in use among Lu Survival of the Historic Vestments in the Lu theran Church after 1555, 2d ed. (St. Louis: therans, they are restorations, not survivals. School for Graduate Studies of Concordia Semi Successive waves of Lutheran immigrants nary, 1958). The latter work has been revised to North America brought with them the and expanded in the German translation by vestment practices with which they were Jobst Schone and Ernst Seybold, Die litur gischen Gewander in der lutherischen Kirche familiar in their homelands at the time of seit 1555 (Marburg-an-der-Lahn: bkumenischer their departure. They retained these prac Verlag R. F. Edel, 1965). The most recent dis tices with varying degrees of loyalty in cussion is that of Christian Vasterling, "Kirch licher 0 rnat oder biirgerliches Gewand? Er their New World environment. wagungen zur Amtstracht der lutherischen Geist The carefully cultivated and propagated lichen," Lutherische Monatshefte, 5 ( 1966) , 346-350. Vasterling is a pastor in Hannover conviction of Pietism, of the Enlighten Mitdefeld, Germany. ment, and of contemporary Protestantizing 645 646 VESTMENT PRACTICES Lutherans that vestments are chiefly the at the minor services. A few wear tippets inheritance of the Interims of 1548 and or scarves, and some wear a surplice over that genuine Lutherans have always re a black preaching gown. Not more than jected them, is without foundation in his one clergyman out of 50 wears either full toric fact. If anything, the reverse is often Eucharistic vestments (sometimes without true; the traditional service vestments a maniple) or a combination of alb and tended to survive precisely in areas of the chasuble, but the number is growing.5 Lutheral! Church where the Interims had Street clothes are seldom worn for services; never been in force and they numbered formal morning wear is no longer in use. among their doughtiest defenders some of Clergymen formerly associated with the the most impeccably orthodox doctors of United Lutheran Church in America are the church of the Augsburg Confession. most likely to wear the surplice-and-stole Specifically, there is no positive contem combination. Clergymen of that body and porary evidence that in the Lutheran com of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran munity the stole was ever used prior to the Church are most likely to wear Eucharistic recent past apart from Eucharistic vest vestments; in isolated instances congrega ments with either an alb or a surplice or tions of Danish background were accus with a black gown for regular parochial tomed to the chasuble. In some congrega services in church.s tions of German background a sleeveless rochet ("Saxon alb") is worn oVer the 1. The Lutheran Church m America 4 black gown at celebrations of the Holy Not more than a sixth of the clergy wear Eucharist. In some congregations of Slovak a black preaching gown for services. In background a lace surplice tied at the neck some cases they wear a stole with it; in with a bow is worn. Most clergy have little some churches of German or Slovak origin personal interest in vestments and merely the pastors wear bands with the gown. In conform to the accepted practice. The a few instances a white preaching gown trend toward surplice-and-stole of the past replaces the black gown in hot weather half century and the present trend toward only. Clergymen rarely wear a doctor's Eucharistic vestments has resulted from gown, a master's gown not at all. Occa the work of a relatively small number of sionally academic hoods are worn either liturgically knowledgeable persons. with a doctor's gown or with a surplice and stole. Seventy to eighty percent of 5 The "Report on the Manifested Life of the Congregation for the Calendar Year Ending the clergy wear cassock, surplice, and December 31, 1958" of the United Lutheran stole for all offices. A very small per Church in America contained the following centage of clergymen rightly omit the stole statistics: Berween 1941 and 1958 the number of parish pastors habitually officiating without any vestments declined from 491 to 123 3 Piepkorn, The Survival of the Historic (1.9%); the number wearing a black gown pp.119-120. Vestments, declined from 1,073 to 559 (14.5%) in the 4, Source of information: Letter of the Rev. same period; the number using black gown and Edgar S. Brown, Jr., Director, Commission on stole rose from 355 to 691 (18.0%); the num Worship, Lutheran Church in America, New ber using cassock, surplice, and stole rose from York, which he describes as "my estimate of the 216 to 2,710 (70.3%); 69 used Eucharistic situation." vestments; 105 did not provide information. VESTMENT PRACTICES 647 A Statement on Vestments published by and Prince Alberts have completely disap The Commission on Worship of the Lu peared. Black gowns are most likely to be theran Church in America in 1963 stresses worn in churches formerly associated with the principle of freedom combined with the United Evangelical Lutheran Church a voluntary concern for good order~ It and the Lutheran Free Church. The trend notes that cassock, surplice, and stole are of the past toward cassock, surplice, and "usual" but that there are congregations stole is turning into a trend toward the accustomed to alb and chasuble, to alb and use of alb and chasuble. stole, and to black gowns. Unordained as 3. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod sistants are to conform to the vestments of those whom they assist, or they are to At the turn of the century, the normal minister in ordinary street clothing; they vestment use was black gown with bands, do not wear stoles. Choirs and organists and Friedrich Lochner despaired of the need wear no vestments if they sit in a rear possibility of restoring the alb or Eucharis gallery; otherwise they may wear black tic vestments.8 A few of the clergymen cassocks with white cottas (short sur who used the English language had begun, plices), but not colored cassocks, stoles, or as a part of their acculturation to the American scene, to conduct services in ad_.t' __ .:~ •. u of stoles. ~ ~ _____ . _~lOuld wear skull caps or Canterbury caps, but not street clothes or formal morning wear, mortarboards. A sexton may wear a cas Today possibly a fifth of the parish c: __ gy sock and cincture or a black gown.6 still wear black gowns, but almost invari ably without bands. Most common is the 2. The American Lutheran Church 7 combination derived largely by indirect The church has no authoritative state imitation from the Anglican custom of the ment on vestments. The accepted use is Victorian era - cassock, surplice, and stole. cassock, surplice, and stole, and the district No historic Lutheran justification exists for presidents generally recommend these. this combination as normal service vest The black gown has fallen almost com ments and a limited number of clergymen pletely into disuse. Where it survives, wear the alb or surplice without stole. Full neither bands nor stoles are worn with it.

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