The Household Prayers of Doctor Martin Luther and Daily Devotion at Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin
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Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 8-7-2016 The Household Prayers of Doctor Martin Luther and Daily Devotion at Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin Steven Gjerde 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 Gjerde, Steven, "The Household Prayers of Doctor Martin Luther and Daily Devotion at Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin" (2016). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 46. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/46 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]. THE HOUSEHOLD PRAYERS OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER AND DAILY DEVOTION AT ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH IN WAUSAU, WISCONSIN A Major Applied Project Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Practical Theology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry By Steven K. Gjerde August 7, 2016 Approved by Dr. Robert Kolb Advisor Dr. David Peter Reader Dr. Erik Herrmann Reader © 2016 by Steven Kent Gjerde. All rights reserved. ii For My Household iii CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 10 HOME AND PERSONAL DEVOTION IN SCRIPTURE ................................................ 12 DEVOTIONAL PRINCIPLES IN THE LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS .......................... 22 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER THREE: .................................................................................................................... 30 THE PROJECT IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ...................................................... 30 THE SPIRITUAL CONTEXT: MODERNITY, POSTMODERNISM, AND DEVOTIONAL HERITAGE ............................................................................................. 31 THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT: LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF THE HOUSEHOLD PRAYERS ................................................................................................. 34 THE SCHOLARLY CONTEXT: THE GROWING STUDY OF PRACTICE IN RELIGION AND THEOLOGY ......................................................................................... 45 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 53 CHAPTER FOUR:....................................................................................................................... 54 THE PROJECT DEVELOPED .......................................................................................... 54 DESIGNING THE TOOLS OF EVALUATION ............................................................... 57 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT ........................................................................ 59 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 69 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................ 71 iv ANALYSIS OF THE DATA .............................................................................................. 84 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 92 Chapter SIX: ................................................................................................................................ 94 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................... 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 103 APPENDIX A: ........................................................................................................................... 107 TEXT OF THE HOUSEHOLD BLESSINGS AS FOUND IN THE SMALL CATECHISM (CONCORDIA, 1986) ...................................................................................................... 107 APPENDIX B: ........................................................................................................................... 109 EDITIONS OF THE SMALL CATECHISM USED IN AMERICA THAT CONTAIN THE HOUSEHOLD BLESSINGS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER BY SPONSOR (FROM ARTHUR C. REPP, SR.) .................................................................................... 109 APPENDIX C: ........................................................................................................................... 111 SURVEY QUESTIONS RELEVANT TO THE PROJECT ............................................ 111 APPENDIX D: ........................................................................................................................... 115 QUESTIONS PROVIDED TO JOURNAL KEEPERS ................................................... 115 APPENDIX E: ........................................................................................................................... 117 SURVEY ANNOUNCEMENT AND COVER LETTER (TEXT) .................................. 117 APPENDIX F: ........................................................................................................................... 119 PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF JOURNALING EXPERIMENT USED IN PARTICIPATING CONGREGATIONS ......................................................................... 119 APPENDIX G: ........................................................................................................................... 120 EXPLANATION OF JOURNALING, FIXED INSIDE JOURNALS ............................ 120 APPENDIX H: ........................................................................................................................... 121 RELEVANT SURVEY RESULTS COMPILED AND CORRELATED ....................... 121 v vi ABBREVIATIONS BOC Book of Concord ESV English Standard Version KJV King James Versions vii ABSTRACT Gjerde, Steven, K. “The Household Prayers of Doctor Martin Luther and Daily Devotion at Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin.” Doctor of Ministry, Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2016. 145 pp. This major applied project explores the use of Martin Luther’s household prayers in Christian devotional practice. Published in the Small Catechism of 1529, the household prayers (morning, evening, and table prayers) have enjoyed varying usage since that time. This study researches whether or not they may serve as a devotional resource for contemporary believers. After addressing the Biblical and theological foundations of home devotion, the literary background of the prayers, and historical studies in religious practice, the paper presents field research conducted through surveys and a journaling experiment. It concludes with recommendations for using and teaching the prayers today. viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION I did not know it then, but this project began twenty years ago, in the summer of 1997, as I completed a quarter of clinical pastoral education at the Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota. Every day, I visited ten or more patients, each with a different set of illnesses. Their faiths and conditions differed, but most of them shared one thing in common: they would rather be somewhere else, and they wished things would move faster. “Where is that doctor?” “Why was the test delayed again?” Time can pass slowly in a hospital, and even more so when spent alone. How do patients keep their patience? For a chaplain, they had me, and I was no chaplain. I had never ministered at the sickbed before that summer, and I wondered daily if I was actually helping anyone or just making them suffer more. I came with some sense of how to pray and share Scripture for the comfort of souls—I had even prepared myself for hard conversations about suffering and loss—but I had not prepared for many of the simpler questions people asked: “I’m so bored. What should I do?” “I’m trying to keep my mind occupied.” “I want to stay in touch with God, but it’s hard. Do you have any suggestions?” “Do you pray?” I asked one man. “Not really.” He shrugged. “I mean, sometimes, but I never really learned how.” To another patient, I suggested reading. “I could get you a devotional,” I offered. “I can’t read anymore. My eyes!” She settled back in the bed, resigned. When I gave the same suggestion to another woman, she pointed at a small booklet that 1 provided her with a brief Scripture reading and paragraph of reflection for each day. “I already did my devotion,” she said, and her eyes seemed