Talk:Divine Service (Lutheran)

This is a well written article. Still, it was written from the standpoint of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. I chose to use the Common Service Book of 1917 as the source because it was the first widely used, English Language service book. As far as I can determine, all modern Lutheran hymnals are in some way related to or derived from the Common Service Book of 1917. (See Frank Senn's book, Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical, pp 588-591.)

The author states the following regarding confession and absolution: "Within the last 200 years it has been the practice in every Divine Service to observe it [the absolution] at this point [immediately after the invocation]. By comparing hymnals produced since 1917, it is easy to see that this statement is in error. As an example, I have before me the Service Book and Hymnal of 1958. Each setting of the Communion Service contains the Declaration of Grace rather then the Absolution. The absolution, with its performative word, is found in the separate rites of public confession and absolution, but not in the common service. (A long form of the performative word in the absolution is "I therefore declare unto you who do truly repent and believe in him, the entire forgiveness of all your sins'; a shorter form of the performative word is "I forgive you all your sins.")

An examination of the Communion Service in the hymnals of the last hundred years clearly shows that the Confession and the Declaration of Grace to be the liturgical standard, with the Confession and Absolution as the recent innovation. Historically, the Confession, the Declaration of Grace, and the Absolution were not part of the Divine Service. Luther's German Mass contained none of them, and needed none of them, for everyone who desired to partake of the sacrament had announced their intention to commune, and had been prepared through private confession with the pastor. Our abandonment of private confession has led to an incorporation of the rite into the common service, yet this practice is outside the historic practice of the one, holy, and apostolic church. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Carlsonloggie (talk • contribs) 00:52, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Other definitions
The introductory definition of Divine Service at the beginning of the article appears to be incomplete insofar as it refers only to a Lutheran context. The term also has significance among other Protestant churches and in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Acknowledgment of other ways in which the term is used would be helpful here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gruener (talk • contribs) 00:11, 12 May 2008 (UTC)