The Singing Church - Lutheran Church in Lawrence

Dear Saints of Redeemer,

Most people know that Luther did not want the church to be named after him (if you didn’t know this you do now). However, to the chagrin of Luther and the reformers, the moniker stuck. And so we are today, known as the “Lutheran” church. What many people do not know, however, is what the Reformers wanted to be known as.

There were two primary options: “The Church of the Augsburg Confession”, a reference to our primary confession as Lutherans; or: “The Evangelical Catholics”, a reference to the church being a part of the universal (catholic) church but under the authority of the Gospel (Evangel) instead of being under the authority of Rome.

There is, however, another name that the Lutherans were known by, not by way of official titling, but by way of reputation, and a reputation they fully embraced: “The Singing Church”. In fact, one of the very interesting things about the Reformation is that if you wanted to figure out whether the church you were walking by was Reformed, Roman catholic, or Lutheran, you could do so simply by listening outside the walls. If you heard the congregation singing, it was a Lutheran church. If you didn’t it was one of the others.

This was such a major part of the Lutheran identity that it wasn’t just the re-capturing of congregational singing that was re-introduced to the churches, there was actually more singing that was introduced. And a major part of the reason for this was that the Lutherans understood that one of the best mediums for delivering the faith to the people, and especially for delivering it to children, is through singing.

This is something society caught up to in more recent history, hence so much of our elementary education being combined with songs in order to teach kids everything from the alphabet, to math facts, to history, to colors, etc. But the church has known this (and especially Lutherans have known this) for a significantly longer period of time.

A couple particular things are noteworthy as it regards the “Singing Church”. First, if you went to Luther’s congregation in Wittenberg, you’d probably be surprised at something. There was no speaking, at all, until you got to the sermon. Yes, you read that correctly. NO speaking, by either pastor or congregation, until you got to the sermon. The prayers, the canticles, the responses, the Psalms, EVEN THE EPISTLE AND GOSPEL, were sung.

Related to this, one of the reforms that Luther made was to take the tone by which the Gospel itself was sung to the congregation, and to put the Words of Institution to that same musical pattern. That’s what we have today in services like Divine Service III. That same patterning of the music and the Words of Our Lord were put together by Luther to 1) connect these words to the words of the Gospel heard earlier, 2) to teach these words to the people by song, and 3) to elevate these words beyond normal speaking.

While not the only other notable thing, one last note for this article, the Nunc Dimittis. This was tradition- ally sung at Compline in the evening (it still is) and at funerals (it still is), but the Lutherans understood how appropriate it was to take these departing words of faith by Simeon and place them into the mouths of the faithful after receiving upon their lips the Body and Blood of our Lord Christ. And so the Nunc Dimittis was added as a canticle after the distribution.

These things marked the Church as Lutheran. It was the Lutherans who sang the words of institution. It was the Lutherans who sang the holy scriptures. It was the Lutherans who sang hymns. It was the Luther- ans who sang, well, basically everything. Because music, being a gift of God, was being employed in the service of the gift of the Scriptures and theology.

And so, because it was the Lutherans, and really no one else, who had this great gift of singing throughout the entirety of the Divine Service, they rightly gained the nickname “The Singing Church”. But far from being received as an insult, the Lutherans understood how wonderful and appropriate this title was. And the same is true for us. We rejoice to have the Gospel, the Scriptures, the promises of God in Christ, proclaimed to us, not only in word, but in song.

In Christ, Pastor Sean Kilgo