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Celebrating God's Grace: an Adult Information Course Which Teaches the Doctrine of the Church As It Is Expressed in the Worship of the Church

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Celebrating God's Grace: an Adult Information Course Which Teaches the Doctrine of the Church As It Is Expressed in the Worship of the Church Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 3-1-1993 Celebrating God's Grace: An Adult Information Course which Teaches the Doctrine of the Church as it is Expressed in the Worship of the Church James Heining Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Heining, James, "Celebrating God's Grace: An Adult Information Course which Teaches the Doctrine of the Church as it is Expressed in the Worship of the Church" (1993). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 99. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/99 This Major Applied Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CELEBRATING GOD'S GRACE: AN ADULT INFORMATION COURSE WHICH TEACHES THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AS IT IS EXPRESSED IN THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH BY JAMES W. HE1NING ALBERT LEA, MINNESOTA MARCH 1993 ABSTRACT The writer did a thorough study of the ongoing relationship of worship and doctrine as an influence in the formation of Lutheran worship practices. He developed a class entitled "Celebrating God's Grace," which summarized the basic teachings of the church as they are expressed in the worship of the church. This was part of a revamped adult education program in his congregation. In addition to the obvious benefits for those attending the class, the writer came to better understand the centrality of grace in the Christian faith and is now better able to plan and lead worship. To my wife, Jolene, and my children, Nathan, Sarah, and Emily, who had to share their husband and father with this project; to the faithful members of Zion Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, Minnesota, who allowed their pastor the time to work on this project, and also served as willing "guinea pigs" for his efforts; to good friends, Pam and Vern Doss, who served as dedicated proofreaders. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE INTEGRAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORSHIP AND DOCTRINE 1 What is Worship? 2 Lex Orandi--Lex Credendi 4 Worship As the Norm for Doctrine 8 Historical Examples 9 Outside Influences Upon the Worship of the Church 17 Doctrine As the Norm for Worship 22 Martin Luther 24 Later Lutherans 27 Other Traditions 28 Worship as Reinforcement of Doctrine 30 Luther and Pedagogy—Pro and Con 31 Music 32 Ceremony 33 Additional Examples 34 Implications For Today 35 IL FORMATIVE INFLUENCES UPON LUTHERAN WORSHIP PRACTICES 37 Biblical and Doctrinal Influences 38 Doctrine as the Norm for Liturgy 38 One Extreme—Orthodoxy 40 Another Extreme—Free-Church 41 Doctrine as the Answer to "American Lutheranism" 42 History and Tradition 42 The Late-Medieval Period 43 Reformation Worship as a New Standard 44 The Ancient Church as a Still Newer Historical Standard 47 Limitations of History and Tradition as a Norm for Worship Practices . 48 Cultural Setting and Pastoral Concern 50 Luther's Pastoral Concern 50 The Enlightenment and Rationalism 52 Liturgical Renewal vs. Church Growth 53 Theological Trends and Other Denominations 57 Pietism 57 Adapting to the American Culture 58 Vatican II and the Ecumenical Movement 60 Influences of other Protestant Denominations 61 Conclusions 63 III. ADULT EDUCATION IN THE PARISH 65 Barriers to Partication in Adult Christian Education 65 Some "cannot" participate 65 Some "will not" participate 67 Some "might" participate 70 Strategies for Involving More Adults 71 Addressing the needs of those who "cannot" participate 72 The challenge of those who "will not" come 72 Involving those who "might" participate 77 A Plan for Adult Education at Zion Lutheran Church 89 The setting 89 Past experiences 89 New ideas 90 A committee is formed 91 "Two Hours In God's House" 93 Evaluation 95 IV. "CELEBRATING GOD'S GRACE" 97 Developing "Celebrating God's Grace" 97 The need 97 The goal 98 Prototype one 99 Prototype two 100 Content of "Celebrating God's Grace" 100 The organizing principle 100 Survey of materials 102 Use of Luther's Small Catechism 105 Use of the Scriptures 107 The place of the Ten Commandments 108 Relationship to worship 109 Other subjects sometimes considered 110 Progression 110 The title 112 Educational Strategy in "Celebrating God's Grace" 113 The target audience 113 Number of sessions 115 Timing of the class 116 Teaching style 117 Assignments 118 Teaching techniques 120 Leader's guide 122 Goals and objectives 122 V. REFLECTION 124 Teaching the Class—Fall 1992 124 The setting 124 Adjustments en route 126 Evaluation 126 Future Plans 128 Other Possible Applications 128 Benefits of the Project to the Writer 129 APPENDIX ONE: LEADER'S GUIDE APPENDIX TWO: MANUAL ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY CHAPTER ONE THE INTEGRAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORSHIP AND DOCTRINE What is the proper relationship between worship and theology? In the ancient church, it was assumed that they complemented and supported each other. The Latin saying was lex orandi--lex credendi (literally: law of praying—law of believing). Realistically, at various times and places within the history of the Christian church, one or the other has tended to be given the place of prominence. This chapter will look at the relationship between worship and theology through the years. It will be seen that worship has often served as a source for doctrine. Since worship patterns were influenced by a wide variety of non-theological forces, this sometimes led to strange worship customs, and therefore strange theology. Martin Luther is the prime example of one who firmly believed that theology must have priority. Any worship that conflicted with the Word of God had to go. But there have been other movements and denominations which have similarly modified their worship practices according to their theological beliefs. Finally, it will be seen that worship practices, which have been based upon good theology, can and have helped to reinforce that same doctrine in the hearts and minds of the people. 2 What Is Worship? In Romans 9:4 Paul uses the word, "latreia," which is often translated with the word "worship" in English, to refer to the rites instituted by God and regulated by the laws of the Old Covenant. It was one of the marks which identified Israel as the true people of God. In Hebrews 9:1,6 the same term is used to refer to the official acts of the priest in the tabernacle or temple. Such service had been commanded by God and was pleasing to him. Those sacrifices were designed to point ahead to the one who would himself be sacrificed, for all people in all times. With the coming of Christ, that old order has now been superseded by a new kind of sacrifice. We read in Romans 12:1-2: Therefore, I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (as a) living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, (this is) your authentic worship. And do not be conformed outwardly to this age, but be transformed inwardly by the renewing of your mind, so that you might discern the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.' We no longer kill animals to show our devotion, but we do offer our very bodies as living sacrifices to our God. In this, our bodies represent our entire beings, which we dedicate to the service of our God. The idea of sacrifice marks the continuity of the new worship with the old, but the adjective "living" reminds of the discontinuity, the newness of the worship that has come about because of the sacrifice of Christ. We give ourselves to God: all of our time, all of our activity, all of our thoughts. The life which is received from God is offered back to God. This is a living sacrifice, for we are not called upon to die for our Lord but to live for him--which is far better. Needless to say, this will extend beyond the day for community worship and the sanctuary. It is no longer valid to ask, "Is it better to be in church on Sunday morning thinking 'Writer's translation. 3 about fishing or out on the lake thinking about church?" As Christians we will want to praise God and serve him in both places—and every other place as well. All of this leaves a very big question: what is to be the role of cultic worship today? It would seem that two extremes must be avoided. The first error would be to simply replace old cultic forms with new, which become just as narrow and legalistic. With Irenaeus came a relapse into pre-New Testament ideas of material sacrifices and true cultic offering, and therein developed the sacrifice of the mass.' Protestants will want to be careful when they consider such questions as "What is basic in worship?" While such a discussion can be considered in the proper sense (such as what is helpful or true to tradition), whenever worship is thought of in terms of things that we must do (as opposed to what God has done for us), we risk losing sight of the Gospel itself. Ernst Kasemann seems to be reacting against such a tendency as he writes: This shows conclusively that the total Christian community with all of its members is the bearer of this worship and that not only sacred functions but also cultically privileged persons lose their right to exist.' But has he gone to the other extreme, implying that all cultic worship forms need to be discarded? Peter Brunner has a helpful discussion in this regard.
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