The Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) 21 Years Later

The LBW offers three settings of worship. These settings were not the ones tested by congregations in the contemporary worship series booklets. Most Lutherans noticed that the liturgy was dumbed down. The most notable changes was the fact that the music was now all unison, and new texts never before used in the Lutheran Common Service were now part of the liturgy. The composer and text information was left out, and parts of the Common Service were missing completely. There was an addition of the sung psalm, sharing of the peace, and new prayers. The omission of the full confession, the responses of "Who made heaven and earth," "Gloria Patri," and other pieces made it very watered down to many Lutherans who considered it to be sacrosanct. Texts directly from the Vatican II became part of the liturgy and have not sat well in congregations to this day. Lutherans, adamant on not using the word "catholic" in the creeds before, now said the word "catholic" in place of "Christian." The words "hear our prayer," and the salutation of "and also with you" were directly taken from the Roman Catholic Vatican II liturgy. If one were to dissect "and also with you"- one would realize it has nothing to do with having the grace of God's spirit falling on the pastor- as we used to say- "and with your spirit." This is totally inconsistent with what Lutherans were taught by Martin Luther, but we went with it anyway.

SETTING ONE

Richard Hillert, a member of the LCMS, composed the music for this setting. Today, the most loved piece in this setting is his version of "Worthy is Christ" - which is even found in The Presbyterian Hymnal (1990), The Evangelical Covenant Hymnal (1997), and United Methodist Hymnal (1989). This setting was also featured in the LCMS version of the LBW they did in 1982, entitled Lutheran Worship (LW). Hillert's setting was the most difficult for Lutherans to learn in the beginning. Hillert composed simple melodies for the "Kyrie," then went into a chromatic frenzy with his music for the Gloria. Some in the ELCA have said that his "Gloria" sounds like a record being played backwards. However, his "Worthy is Christ" is excellent for congregational singing, alternating between men and women. "Create In Me A Clean Heart" was utilized in all three settings, and was written by Hillert. Many in the ELCA feel

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