This course will prepare seminarians for pastoral liturgical leadership in Lutheran congregational settings.

Description: The worship of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is at the center of our life together as his people. Through Word and Sacrament, God comes to us that we might render glory unto him. This course will prepare seminarians for pastoral liturgical leadership in Lutheran congregational settings. The Lutheran Book of Worship will serve as a template for practicums in basic liturgical skills.

Objectives: This course is designed to teach students the grammar and structure of a Lutheran interpretation of the Western Rite as they simultaneously gain the requisite liturgical skills for presiding at the Divine Service. In the post-Christendom landscape of North America, pastors need to know “why they do what they do,” and they need to preside with humility, with joy, and with the quiet confidence that comes from trusting that those who have been gathered into the assembly by the Holy Spirit will be drawn into the life of Risen Christ and brought to the Father’s heart. Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, liturgical history and theology, and ritual studies and performance practices will shape our lectures, discussion, and practicums so that the next generation of pastors will be prepared to faithfully lead congregations in giving glory to God.

Learning Outcomes: 

  1. Be well versed in the Scriptural roots and historical developments of the Western Rite and able to articulate the interrelationship between Holy Scripture and liturgy;
  2. Understand the place of the Reformation within liturgical history, especially in the arena of sacramental theology;
  3. Speak and/or chant the liturgy with a growing confidence;
  4. Be able to lead the assembly in corporate liturgical prayer, including knowing where to place their bodies and how to move within the nave and chancel;
  5. Knowledge of the available resources for planning congregational liturgies and ability to evaluate such resources;
  6. Capably produce doctrinally sound and liturgically fitting ordos for congregational use for the church year.
  7. Be prepared to readily and graciously teach parishioners (children and adults), ‘why we do what we do.’