If there's one thing my paucity of the German language has taught me, it's to be thankful for the liturgy. I can't express even in English the gratitude that I have that the liturgy is based entirely on the Word of God and does not change every week according to the pastor's whims.
For one, I know the Bible verses in German better than almost anything else I read. Partly, this is because I included reading the German Bible within my learning of German, and partly this is because some verses are just so well known that I know what words should go where when I hear them spoken in English or German. And so I receive comfort during the service just by hearing the Word of God. I don't understand everything in the sermons; if I'm lucky, I can pick out the outline. At least at St. Johannes' Gemeinde, Pastor Wenz prints out his sermons for me, for which I am very thankful. Furthermore, some of the hymns have unknown words or confusing syntactical constructions, but at the end of the day, God's Word is preached to me.
I can't imagine if a German who knew little English would visit our churches and want to be subjected to our changing liturgies. For one, whenever a liturgy is changed, I've found that the Word of God is the first to go, and the word of man is the first to enter. We make the excuse that we're "trying to make it easier for newcomers to understand," but it really just strips the service of that which really creates faith: the Word of God. I would wonder what this German thinks of our service that's been made up and patched together, especially if he comes every week and experiences something different. As much as it may please those who have been in the congregation a while and are pleased with something "different" from the "same old, same old," I have a feeling that it would actually turn off someone who already has a hard time understanding what's being said. With the liturgy, at least the foreigner can learn by heart those parts of the liturgy that don't change (called the "Ordinaries"), while soaking in what he can from the different readings, psalms, sermon, and prayers as he is able (called the "Propers").
Second, regarding Contemporary Music (or, as the Germans call it rightly, "Pop music"), I wonder how much a German visiting America could follow our lyrics and rhythms. It's hard! With the backbeats and the syncopated rhythms, we do no service to those who are learning our language. It's hard enough, I'm sure, even pronouncing the words correctly, much less trying to sing them on the correct beat. We do no service to any visitors (and not just foreigners) when we take them to a Contemporary Worship service and expect them to sing along. And in a way, this includes half-contemporary songs. You know them...they're in our hymnals but are best played to a guitar. This doesn't mean that every hymn will automatically be easy and immediately singable, but hymns were certainly meant to be sung by a congregation, and not by a soloist on a stage, whether that stage is in front, at the side, or in back.
Furthermore, Contemporary Music focuses much more on the "I" and not as much on "Jesus for me." Oh- and guess which one uses more Bible verses in their context? Yep that's right, the "Jesus for me" hymns. The "I" songs may have simpler lyrics, but quite often they're devoid of what is recognizable biblically. It's odd to me at least that the guitar songs boast about being easier to sing, when 1) they're not, and 2) if their lyrics happen to be easier, it's probably not a good thing.
And finally, you probably won't have many people who can't speak English coming to your service, or so you might think. What about the children who don't understand everything yet? What about the mentally disabled? What disservice are we doing to these believers, just to make ourselves feel good?
So please...I beg you: Use the hymnal. Use the hymns. Use the liturgy. In full. Because Christ died in full for you, and he delivers himself to you through the Gottesdienst: its words, its proclamations, and its hymns. Don't take those away from the ones who barely understand them, and don't take them away from we who think that we understand them completely, because we don't. Teach us, forgive us, save us, Lord. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Amen.
So I wrote that on the train a little while ago, and I have some things to add, more about the particularities of the SELK and Germany in general. Do note that I've really only experienced the SELK congregations, so I can't give much of a review of the EKD (German State Church). The churches here use the 1-year lectionary, so I feel right at home. I love it when I can hear a Bach chorale or some hymns that have been translated to English that really fit the appointed Gospel reading. The Christmas hymns weren't very familiar to me, which was a bit surprising, but I think that we took more Anglican hymn for that time of the church year. Epiphany returned me to more familiar hymns. I'm really looking forward to Lent and Passiontide.
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