A Eucharistic Prayer for Advent C

Praise to you, O Lord, our God and Father,

the Lord of hosts and the Holy One of Israel.

Your origin is from of old and your compassion and love are from everlasting.
You are our strength and our might;

you are the God of our salvation.

Through Abraham and Sarah your promised to raise up children upon the face of the whole earth

who will see the salvation you have prepared
and proclaim the great deeds which you have done.

You remembered the promise you made

and brought your servant Israel out of slavery in Egypt.

When you were angry you fed them with the bread of tears

and gave them bowls of tears to drink.

But you remembered your mercy and took away the judgment against them.
You restored their fortunes, rejoicing over them with gladness,

and renewing them in your love.

You sent your messenger purify the children of Levi and to prepare the way for your Son,

the righteous Branch you caused to spring forth.

In him you fulfilled the promise you made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
He came to execute justice and righteousness and to do your will.

In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;

he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying:

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.

[We proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.]

We remember, therefore, his passion

and proclaim his offering of his body upon the cross once for all.

We give thanks for his resurrection from the dead

and shout for joy at his ascension to the seat of power.

We watch and wait for the day when he will come in a cloud with power and great glory

to gather the wheat into his granary
and to share with us the promised feast.

Send now, we pray, the gift of his Holy Spirit upon these gifts of bread and wine.
Sanctify us by that same Spirit that we may bear fruits worthy of repentance,

and have hearts unblamable in holiness before you
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.
Amen.

Resources for Advent C

Sundays and Seasons has suggested alternative texts for use in Advent liturgies. Fortress Press has recently published Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (#080063845, $25.00). It offers a "thematic" collect for each Sunday in Advent and an introduction and conclusion to the intercessions (which can be used in all three years), and a Prayer of the Day for each specific Sunday of Advent Year C. If you decide to use the Prayers of the Day, be sure to add a conclusion. The book offers some suggestions on pages 24-25.

You may also wish to use the Proper Verses for each Sunday. Use a common melody for the "alleluia" each Sunday that the assembly can sing. For example, you could fit a double alleluia into the first line of LBW 28.
The Proper Verse for each Sunday could then be sung by choir or cantor, set to a Psalm Tone in the same key (Tone 3 works with LBW 28), or a melody line composed locally.

Here are some more alternative texts, including Proper Verses:

ADVENT I
Proper Verse: Be alert at all times, praying for strength to stand before the Son of Man.
Dismissal

Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down.
The Lord Jesus has strengthened our hearts in holiness.
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

ADVENT II
Proper Verse: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Offertory Prayer

O Lord our God,
may our offerings and thanksgiving be pleasing to you,
and may we produce the harvest of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Dismissal

The dawn from high has broken upon us,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.
Go in peace. Prepare the way of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

ADVENT III
Proper Verse: Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say: Rejoice.
Dismissal

The Lord has taken away the judgments against us.
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed.
Go in peace. Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say: Rejoice!
Thanks be to God!

ADVENT IV
Proper Verse: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Dismissal

We have been sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ, once for all.
The Mighty One has done great things for us, and filled us with good things.
Go in peace to do the will of God.
Thanks be to God!

One Man's View of Holy Baptism Proposals

By Pr LeRoy Martinson, Retired
Valparaiso, Indiana

[Renewing Worship is a "five-year/five-phase process established to determine the 'next generation' of worship resources for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)." It has its own web site at renewingworship.org. At that site you can download most of what has been published so far. You can also order print editions from AugsburgFortress. Each volume is $15. This article is the second in a series of articles coming out in Sanctus and reviewing the various volumes of the Renewing Worship process.]

I'm back again as reviewer, and this time our focus is on the set of proposals for Holy Baptism and Related Rites. You cannot deal with this volume simply by dipping in and sampling the book. Please begin by studying the introduction thoughtfully.

The proposals include all parish actions conceivably related to baptism, and they need to be considered as a complete program for the renewal of the trust and commitment of the people of God. However, I'll concentrate here on the baptismal rite itself. No matter what variations we decide to use in our own parish settings, the goal is involving the entire congregation in incorporating the newly baptized into congregational life. Many aspects of the proposals - both words and actions - are designed to encourage that.

You may want to start thinking about relocating your baptismal font in a way that makes it easier for the body of worshippers to surround it and become involved. As you try out the various alternatives in the liturgy, be sure to try the various rituals that belong to the rite, gathering the congregation as close to the baptismal party as possible and using oil, garment, and candle. The fullness of the rite's meanings becomes clearer through actions.

The meanings of the rite are enhanced also by full use of assisting ministers, and the number you use will vary depending on space and context. I have participated as worshipper at three group baptisms so far in my home congregation. It seems to make a real difference in the way the gathered people sense their connection with each other through their shared baptismal calling.

Please share your experience constructively through the web-site - www.renewingworship.org. Be sure to make clear which alternatives you find most valuable and those that you find less valuable. The material in the book is "provisional", and will undergo editing and revision before being published in final form. The Renewing Worship Team invites and encourages guidance and input from all interested parties. You may even have new alternatives to suggest. I hope pastors will invite congregational leaders to share as much as possible in using and evaluating the proposed material. Pastors and Worship Committee members need not be the only ones who use the website.

One final note - think ahead about how to make the rearrangement of space and new grouping of participants acceptable, especially if your congregation includes "old timers" who tend to say, "The old ways were good enough for us."

Renewing Worship Days

Introduction

When it comes to the work of worship renewal - including the work of developing resources - it is fair to say that the whole church has a stake in the outcome.

As a churchwide initiative of the ELCA, Renewing Worship has already benefited from the efforts and different perspectives of many people. From Fall 2003 through Winter 2004, Renewing Worship Days will be held at more than thirty locations across the country. These one-day events are intended to:

" Introduce and interpret Renewing Worship resources
" Explore resources and ideas for worship renewal
" Provide opportunity for response and discussion

Renewing Worship Days will provide the opportunity to widen the circle, to extend the conversation - even to share the work.

You are invited to attend one of the upcoming Renewing Worship Days. We hope that you will invite others to join us as we explore together what is already unfolding and the ways that you can help shape both resources and renewal.

We will:
" look at the Renewing Worship process with updates on available and upcoming resources
" sing and try new things, with an eye toward renewing worship in your congregation
" listen to each other, as hopes and concerns are shared

Who should attend:
" Pastors
" Musicians
" Worship committee members
" Anyone interested in the worship life of this church

Renewing Worship will lead to what replaces the Lutheran Book of Worship. More importantly, Renewing Worship promises to contribute to genuine worship renewal.

Be part of the process.
Be part of the renewal.
Be part of a day for Renewing Worship.

There will be a RENEWING WORSHIP DAY at Christ Lutheran Church, Jeffersontown, Kentucky, on Saturday, October 11, 2003. Registration forms have been sent to every congregation, or you may register on line at renewingworship.org. For more information you may visit renewingworship.org, or contact Rudy Mueller in the Synod office.

Session 1: The Promise of Renewing Worship. Introducing the Renewing Worship process and available and upcoming resources. Imagining practical applications for using these resources in worshiping communities.

Session 2: Foundations for Renewal. Exploring language, music, preaching, and worship space, and their implications for renewal of worship in congregations.

Session 3: Partners in Conversation. Hearing from participants about their hopes, dreams, concerns, and input about the next generation of worship resources for the ELCA.

The Elements of the Western Rite

By Rudy Mueller

The Apology of Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV, reports that the Mass is celebrated every Sunday in the churches of the reformation. The Confessors were assuring the Emperor and their opponents that each Sunday the local congregation gathered around a liturgy of Word and Sacrament. In the midst of the ambiguity (some would say chaos) of modern corporate worship life, this statement seems foundational for us as Lutherans.
Indeed, this section of the Apology is referred to in Principle 35 of The Use of the Means of Grace, the primary foundation of the Principles of Worship.

Today, when Lutherans gather for corporate worship, it is normative for us that our principle service of worship is Holy Communion, and that it happens on Sunday. When the reformers referred to the Mass, they were thinking of what is called the "Western Rite". I would like to invite you all into a conversation about the "Western Rite". Let us use this space as an opportunity for us to share our understandings and views, as well as the ways in which the Rite gets put into practice in local settings. And since I'm inviting this conversation, allow me to begin with some of my own observations and thoughts.

Liturgical scholars have been studying the "shape" of the rite for quite some. The introductory comments to With One Voice reflect some of the current thought when it states, "…Christian worship has been marked by a pattern of gathering, word, meal, and sending." (p. 6) It concludes by quoting from the introduction to the LBW:

Freedom and flexibility in worship is a Lutheran inheritance, and there is room for ample variety in ceremony, music, and liturgical form. Having considered their resources and their customs, congregations will find their own balance between fully using the ritual and musical possibilities of the liturgy, and a more modest practice. A full service should not allow secondary ceremonies to eclipse central elements of the liturgy, nor should a simple service omit essential or important parts. Every service, whether elaborate or spare, sung or said, should be within the framework of the common rite of the Church, so that the integrity of the rite is always respected and maintained. [LBW, p 8, as quoted in WOV, p 7.]

The introductory comments in the LBW and in With One Voice suggest clearly that there is a pattern and order to the liturgy, but great freedom and flexibility in choosing how to fill out those basic elements of

Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending.

In the months ahead, let us use this space to discuss just exactly how we do this - how do we give shape to these basic elements? How do we use the lectionary, the season, the context? How do we use the worship space and how does it all relate to the world into which we are sent?

There are other topics that relate to "the Western Rite" about which it would be fun and challenging to have conversations:

" What is this thing called an ordo?
" How do we move toward weekly eucharist?
" Why Sunday?
" Lectionary preaching
" the Church Year

I look forward to your input and insights.

Questions? Contact:

Rev. Rudy Mueller, Indiana-Kentucky Synod Assistant to the Bishop