2014 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music resources
Presented by LCMS Worship, the Institute was held under the theme “Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People.”
Nurturing a culture and love of Lutheran heritage in Christian worship
Exsultet and the Preface for the Great Vigil of Easter
Learn how to chant the Exsultet and the Preface for the Great Vigil of Easter! Listen here to Pr. Sean Daenzer as he chants it for you.
Resource and Ideas for Renewing the Lutheran Catechumenate
This is a document published by the former Commission on Worship which explores the Lutheran version of the catechumenate. Several churches that have catechumenal ministry for adults (as well as youth) are interviewed.
Feast of the Purification of Mary
Pastors, this is one of the feasts that (sadly!) tends to be mostly observed only when it falls on Sunday, as it does this year. That means that many are tempted to speak the unfamiliar Proper Preface. If you’d like a little practice learning to sing it, listen here to Pr. Sean Daenzer as he sings it for you.
A meditation for Epiphany
The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship and LCMS International Center chaplain, offers a meditation for Epiphany from Is. 60:1-6, Eph. 2:1-12 and Matt. 2:1-12.
A meditation for Christmas Eve
The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship and LCMS International Center chaplain, offers a meditation for Christmas Eve.
A meditation on John 1:1–14, the Gospel for Christmas Day
The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship and LCMS International Center chaplain, offers a meditation for Christmas Day.
The Kalends for Christmas
The following were anciently read on Christmas Day in the Daily Office, but they may also serve as an introduction to the Divine Service on Christmas Day, read by the pastor from the entrance to the nave and leading directly into “O Come All Ye Faithful” as the processional hymn.
Pastors: Learn to chant the prefaces for Advent and Christmas
Listen as Pastor Sean Daenzer of Trinity Lutheran, Great Bend, N.D., and Peace Lutheran, Barney, N.D., chants the Advent and Christmas prefaces. Listen a few times through and you will have them down in no time!
Keeping Advent
The Rev. Larry Peters of Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, Tenn., encourages the Church to avoid being like a theme park and to slow down and keep the focus on Christ this Advent season.
It’s beginning to look a lot like … Advent
The Rev. Henry Gerike offers a few ideas for congregations to mark the season of Advent, a time for focusing on the gravity of the human predicament.
Does the Reformation still matter?
The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship, asks several church leaders and pastors whether the Reformation still matters today.
Abiding in the Word: A Daily Lectionary from the 17th Century
Matthew Carver shares a daily lectionary from the 17th century.
Celebrating Reformation with Divine Service, Setting Five
The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship, offers some advice to help a congregation sing the Divine Service, Setting Five, for Reformation Day or any other Sunday.
The Liturgy of Baptism & Daily Prayer Offices
Four interviews with the Rev. William Weedon, director of Worship and International Center chaplain, on "The Liturgy of Holy Baptism" as well as eight interviews on "The Daily Prayer Offices." These two series delve deeply into the history, practice and theology of the Church's liturgies of Baptism and Prayer.