Pastoral Message: “‘New’ Worship Books Soon to Appear in the Pews” Week of the Third Sunday after Pentecost June 21, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“‘New’ Worship Books Soon to Appear in the Pews”
Week of the Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 21, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
Later this week, we anticipate the delivery of 145 pew editions of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW), the most current, principal book of worship used in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. For the past several months, we have been accumulating (at no cost to the church) copies of ELW no longer used by other congregations or donated by individuals. With the arrival of 145 copies of ELW, that puts us at more than 250 books of worship, which means that we can now place ELW’s in the pews of the nave and hopefully still have additional copies available for use in the chapel and parish hall. These 145 copies of ELW come to us from Abounding Grace Lutheran Church in Tucson, which, sadly, just recently closed. But their gift to us continues their legacy as a congregation.
Lutheran churches in North America have produced new hymnals and books of worship for every generation or so. The Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW), the green book currently in our pew racks, had an official lifespan of about twenty-eight years. Published in 1978, LBW replaced the Service Book and Hymnal which was published in 1958 – so the SBH was in use for some 20 years. Evangelical Lutheran Worship was published in 2006, so it’s already 17 years old! But there is no replacement for ELW in the works, so we do well to place in our pews our church’s current book of worship.
The 9:00 am liturgy in English has been using resources from ELW for many years already which are printed in our worship bulletin booklet each Sunday. Most of the hymns we sing in English on Sunday come from ELW. The majority of our musical settings of Holy Communion for the 9:00 am service comes from ELW. The vast majority of the liturgical texts we use in English also come from ELW and related resources available online at Sundays and Seasons, the go-to source for current worship resources in the ELCA.
Moreover, you’ve been using ELW, having it in your hands, if you’ve attended Evening Prayer during Advent and Lent or any of the Saturday quiet days that I lead. So, having ELW in the pews will not noticeably change what we do at the 9:00 am service, except that it will be available for use especially for hymn singing so that we can hopefully reduce the size of the worship bulletin booklet, thus saving paper and printing costs.
So, what is unique about ELW compared with previous worship books? For one thing, there are ten musical settings of Holy Communion (compared with only three in the green book, LBW). These many options reflect the cultural, ethnic, and musical diversity of our church and its missionary commitments. Additionally, all 150 psalms are included in ELW (LBW did not include the entire psalter) – and please note that the 150 psalms in ELW begin the numbering of the hymns (since the psalter is the principal hymn book of the church!), so the hymn section of the book begins with the number 151. The selection of hymns in ELW reflects both the increasing number of new hymns published in the past decades as well as treasured favorites of previous generations. In addition to musical settings of Holy Communion, ELW includes liturgies for Morning, Evening and Night Prayer. Also of note, Martin Luther’s Small Catechism is included in ELW.
Once the ELW’s are placed in the pews, we’ll give thanks for the venerable decades of service of the green book and bless our new books. So, then, what will become of the green Lutheran Books of Worship currently in the pews? We will make those available to you if you want to take one or more home as keepsakes, especially if you or family members donated particular LBW’s to the church and your names appear on a memorial plate in the front of the book. I know that I retrieved a copy of LBW from my home church which I donated in memory of my grandfather when I was in high school. So, the green books will be available to you for a while to go through to find books donated in memory or honor of your family members. LBW’s not claimed by you, alas, will be discarded as there is no market currently for large numbers of old hymnbooks.
Thus, I wanted to give you this heads-up about a change coming in the pews in the nave when the color of the books there changes from green to cranberry/red! And also, this message lets you know to anticipate the time when we will begin to hold the ELW’s in our hands to assist us in singing our praises to God.
With a song in my heart in Jesus’ name,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
Installation of New Council Members on July 9
Please note that newly elected Congregation Council members will be installed at both the 9:00 and 11:00 am services on Sunday, July 9.
Faith-La Fe Supports Heat Respite Ministry at Grace Church Downtown
As a part of the Grand Canyon Synod Hunger Leaders Network, Chris Jacobson and Gail Turner are heading up efforts at Faith/La Fe to gather food and other items to support the Heat Respite Program at Grace Lutheran Church downtown Phoenix this Summer, June 14th through August 20th.
Throughout the summer, there will be bins in the breeze way each week where worshipers may drop off their offerings of items for Grace’s guests experiencing homelessness, such as:
Bottled water, any size
Packaged snacks (“grab & go”)
being aware that many people do not have teeth: individual cans or cups of fruits, puddings, potted meats are good for that reason
small jars (or individual) peanut butter
Other items needed:
· Shoes for men and women
· Socks for men and women
· gently used clothing for men and women
· backpacks
· blankets
· tents, and collapsible umbrellas
· small personal hygiene items (travel size or bring from your hotel stays)
· tooth brushes & small tooth paste
Also, volunteer opportunities abound, call Grace at 602-258-3787 to learn more.
Thank you for your compassion and generosity!
Chris Jacobson and Gail Turner
Invitation to Contribute to These Weekly Pastoral Messages
Please remember that our congregation newsletter is now published quarterly and has more of a wider community, outward-facing, evangelistic focus to herald special, seasonal events at Faith-La Fe. Which is to say, these weekly pastoral messages and their announcements effectively take the place of the more membership-focused concerns of our congregational life. Thus, if there are events and matters related to our life together that you wish to have included in these weekly messages and announcements, please let Pastor Linman know: pastor@faithalive.com. He is always looking for and welcomes new content.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Special Worship Services
Further detail about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
July 22 at 10:00 am + Mary Magdalene, Apostle, Morning Prayer
August 15 at 7:00 pm + Mary, Mother of Our Lord, Holy Communion
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion
Upcoming Saturday Quiet Days at Faith-La Fe in 2023
Saturday, September 30 – on this day, close to the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, we will explore Franciscan Spirituality and what it might mean for Lutherans in ministry and mission in the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 28 – as we approach Reformation Sunday, this will be a day devoted to revealing key features of specifically Lutheran Spirituality, or Christian spirituality with Lutheran accents. We will discover that there’s a lot to draw from in our own tradition to take us ever more deeply into the spiritual life.
Saturday, November 18 – this day will be devoted to spending our time together in our beautiful nave doing “Stations of Our Stained Glass Windows,” a series of visual meditations on our stained-glass windows and the miracles and parables of Jesus they depict. We’ll explore in conversation the bible stories the windows are based on, and then look carefully at the windows to see features of the story which the stained-glass art highlights. Each station will feature a hymn before we move on to the next window.