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LCA Worship Planning Page

LCA Commission on Worship

Worship Planning

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Biblical & Theological Resources

The Commission on Worship (CoW) and other LCA pastors and scholars have written extensively on the biblical and theological underpinnings of our worship. These continue to inform and guide the church in its practice.

Commission on Worship Statements

History and Rationale for Statements

01. The altar and its design
02. The colours and seasons of the church year
03. The difference between rites of blessing and rites of consecration
04. The distribution of holy communion (reference to possible infection)
05. Guidelines for the use of drama within the liturgy of the church
06. Guidelines for modern English in hymns
07. Guidelines for the use of the Passover Haggadah
08. The location of the baptismal font
09. Marriage in a garden setting
10. Permissible lectionaries
11. Principles for the tunes of hymns
12. Principles for the words of hymns
13. Principles governing the use of language in the liturgy of the church
14. Public worship and its environment
15. The purpose of the visual arts in worship
16. Rationale – synodical decision on use of approved orders with holy communion
17. The use of multi-purpose worship centres
18. The use of the Service with Communion for the ministry to the sick
19. The paschal candle
20. Liturgical vestments and the alb
21. Lenten celebration
22. Frequency of communion
23. The role of assistants in the liturgy
24. A Lutheran approach to the theology of worship
25. Children in corporate worship
26. Guidelines – involvement of vicars in leading public worship
27. The role of the lay reader in regular corporate worship
28. Parts of the service for musical settings
29. Guidelines for services on special occasions
30. Preparing the service with holy communion
31. The Prayer of the Church
32. The celebration of the Lord's Supper with Thanksgiving
33. The distribution of the Sacrament of the Altar
34. The chasuble
35. Solidarity in worship: the Lutheran understanding of adiaphora
36. The Collect (Prayer of the Day)
37. The liturgical duties of the presiding minister
38. The blessing of people in the divine service
39. The use of scriptural sentences in the divine service
16.07 Holy Communion dealing pastorally with those who have allergies
Towards Freedom – The Practice of Forgiveness in the LCA – Report from GCC Taskforce 2009

Biblical foundations for worship

Proclaiming the Name – Victor C Pfitzner
Naming God – John W Kleinig
Worship and Full Assurance – John W Kleinig
Entrance into the Heavenly – John W Kleinig

History of Lutheran Worship

Liturgical Uniformity and Church Polity in the Augsburg Confessions and the Formula of Concord: The Church Orders as Hermeneutical Key – Matthew C Harrison
Sasse on Worship – John W Kleinig
The Origin And Nature Of The Service With Communion Of The LCA, As Published In The Lutheran Hymnal, 1973 – Michael Lockwood and Jonathon Kummerow
Traditional and contemporary worship in the LCA – A discussion paper – David Schubert
The Liturgical Heritage of Theodor Kliefoth – John W Kleinig
Some Aspects of the History of Worship in the LCA – David Schubert, 2004
Paul Gerhardt as a Teacher of Lutheran Spirituality – John W Kleinig

Theology of Worship

The Biblical View of Worship – John W Kleinig
Where Is Your God? Luther on God’s Self-localisation – John W Kleinig
The Mystery of Christ and the Divine Service – John W Kleinig
Sharing in God’s Holiness – John W Kleinig
The Lord’s Supper as a Sacrificial Banquet – John W Kleinig
Witting or Unwitting Ritualists – John W Kleinig
Worshipping with the Angels – Victor C Pfitzner
Worship at Luther Campus – Faculty of Luther Campus, 1995
What's the use of Praising God – John W Kleinig
Luther on Participation in God's Holiness – John W Kleinig, 1985/2003

Liturgy and Worship

The Privatisation of the Cultus Publicus – Lutheran Theological Journal 27/1 (1993): 13–22 – John G Strelan
Ways of Opening a Service – John W Kleinig, 2001
Singing with Grace in Our Hearts – The Function of Hymnody in Its Cultural Context – John W Kleinig
The 1973 Lutheran Hymnal of the Lutheran Church of Australia: Alan Collyer: 2004
Bach, Chronicles and Church Music – John W Kleinig
Incarnation and Music – John W Kleinig, 2000

The Practice of Worship

Some Pastoral Guidelines for Worship with Small Numbers
The Use of Testimonies in the Divine Service – John W Kleinig
The Use of Visual Media Technology in Liturgical Worship – Andrew Ruddell
LCA Worship Guidelines - Summary of recent decisions and suggestions about the divine service – Compiled by David Schubert for the Department of Liturgics
Language in Worship: David Schubert, 2006
Some guidelines for the use of data projectors in worship – Adam Cooper, 2003
Worship and Outreach – BCL COW Taskforce
Worship and Mission – John W Kleinig
Speech Acts in the Liturgy – David Schubert
Advice on Bible translations for worship (updated 2020)
Worship for the sake of the world – Linards Jansons
Studies on Weekly Communion – Greg Pietsch, 2004
A series of studies on the Liturgy (formatted for church bulletins) – Linards Jansons

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