The Liturgical Society of Saint James

"But who is this clothed in a white linen garment, — the alb, if we mistake not, — preceded by a crucifer vested in amice and lab and followed by a thurifer, with a cloud of incense hovering over the group as they chant a tune in Gregorian plain-song?

"And who are those vested clerics at the altar who hold the book for another person in ecclesiastical gown while he chants the Gospel for the day? Who are these young men in tight-sleeved vestments who move a book from one sided of the altar to the other, who swing a censer against the clergyman, against his assistants, and finally against the congregation, while incense curls to the rafters above?

A beautiful Easter, 2013, at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN

"What you are viewing is an illustration of the law of action and reaction. Again, what you are viewing is an illustration of the Lutheran principle that church ceremonies are to be classified as adiaphora. We are not accustomed to have more than one minister officiate at the consecration of the elements in the Eucharist. We are not accustomed to have the book of forms, or liturgy, moved from one part of the altar to another during the liturgical service. Making the sign of the cross has long been limited to the ritual of Baptism and Communion and is then only performed on another and not upon oneself. Similarly, kneeling and bowing has been limited to Holy Communion, while in the celebrating of full eucharistic services these genuflections are quite numerous.

"We see in this exuberance of ritual, now advocated in some quarters, a perfectly natural reaction to the bare, jejune, and unliturgical service found in so many of our churches. Instead of practically no liturgy at all we are asked to recover every element that has passed out of use, whether for good reasons or not, in the Lutheran Church.

"The Liturgical Society of St. James, while assuming no responsibility for the liturgical views or practises [sic] of individual members, does announce the purpose of fostering a revival of liturgy in our Church. Among its objects are the following: 'to preserve and to restore the traditional liturgy, rites, and ceremonials; to devote ourselves to the study and use of the Gregorian plain-chant; to restore to our Lutheran Church the consciousness of her unbroken tradition and her ecumenical and catholic tradition and ministry; to get one parish in every large Lutheran city in which the liturgical life may be fostered; to foster Christian day-schools in which the liturgy may be learned as well as the Gregorian chant and the children accustom themselves to certain devotional hours.'

"Now, if we weigh the merits of either tendency, that towards making the service bare of traditional liturgical elements and that of embellishing it with a colorful ritual, the latter is certainly more in harmony with original Lutheran tradition. The Church of the Reformation, however, did not attach much importance to the 'laudable practises' [sic] which were carried on into the Lutheran Church as a historical endowment. The Reformers treated them lightly. The elevation of ritual to a level equal to that which the sermon has in worship runs counter to Lutheran traditions. The liturgical part of the service, even the Eucharist, must remain subordinate to the sermon. And there are things liturgy cannot do. Liturgy will not rouse a dormant conscience; will not create a consciousness of sin which makes the heart eager for the consolation of the Gospel; will not instruct and in the best sense of the word edify, that is, build up the inner man with ever new additions of spiritual knowledge. Liturgics does not make plain the Word, does not lead into a better knowledge of Christian doctrine. Those who join in the liturgy — and I say, let it be ample, ornate, beautiful — have tasted the heavenly food, have been transformed by it, and praise God for His mercies. But the ministry of the Word alone will keep them sound in spirit and loyal to the truth, so that also their worshiping will be done 'in spirit and in truth.' In the Reformed churches, as already noted, the trend towards liturgy has not been altogether wholesome. In it not an aid to spiritual edification, but a substitute for it, the appeal of esthetics [sic] replacing the lost appeal of the Gospel, has been found. There is more and more of the form of worship and less and less of the contrite spirit eager for light and strength. The Lutheran Church should heed the lesson of this development. Ours in indeed a liturgical Church. Let our services be restored to uniformity, with none of the traditional elements of the Common Service omitted. Let those who desire that sort of thing indulge their liking for vestments, candles, and incense. But let nothing be done or implied that will mean a departure of the congregation from the Lutheran conception of the Sacrament and of the ministerial office."

The above quote is the conclusion to Theodore Graebner's essay, "Our Liturgical Chaos", which can be found in his book, The Problem of Lutheran Union and Other Essays (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1935), p. 164-166.