We're going to begin our study of contemporary worship this week by cracking open some of our new hymnals. They're cranberry colored, and they're called Evangelical Lutheran Worship or, for short, ELW. Tonight will be our first real foray into the hymnal, the first time many of us will open it and really use it.
The move to the ELW is a painful one for me. I was born only two years after our green book, the LBW, was born, and the LBW was like an older sister to me: it taught me how to sing, it taught me how to pray, it taught me how to worship. I love the LBW. I have used Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Catholic hymnals, and even the new ELW, but the LBW remains queen of liturgical books. It gave us an elegant liturgy that wedded simple, good English with the heart of liturgical tradition and the Lutheran evangelical theological tradition. The liturgical music, especially those pieces written by Richard Hillert (Setting One) and Ronald Nelson (Setting Two), enhances the emotional and theological movement of the liturgy. Setting Three, an adaptation of the liturgy of the first red book, is possibly the most beautiful liturgy I've ever heard. In all of these settings, the music is powerful during praise, thoughtful during contemplative times, and does not engage in silly triplets or musical folderol.
Luckily, the ELW keeps these settings, and adds six others. That's good, because some of these new settings are silly and are filled to the brim with musical folderol. ELW also makes some strange choices, eschewing the simple, straightforward, Scriptural language of the LBW in favor of a more ornamented, theologically programmatic langauge that sounds more like committee speak than the voice of a living tradition. However, there are two new settings I think we'll like, and I look forward to trying them out together.
There are several other good things about the ELW. It has many more hymns, and we'll be able to get rid of the blue books. This means less switching and swapping of books. The hymns it does include often go back to more original language and translations, and the arrangements of hymns are usually better. ELW includes Luther's Small Catechism in the back, which makes this book ideal for use in Confirmation. ELW includes a healing service (no more salmon worship sheets!), all the Psalms, and plenty of worship options.
All this means that we will have to be patient as we acclimate ourselves to these new books. My favorite rock group, U2, says freedom looks like too many choices--one can say that ELW has too many choices. For instance, LBW settings that have been transported into ELW will require us to move around inside the hymnal more than we usually do. It will take time to accustom ourselves to that. But we will continue to worship, because as we discussed last week, worship is about receiving what God gives to us, and God will continue to give us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, no matter what color our hymnals may be.
