Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
Musical Works

Lutheran Service Book

musicalwork

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

The current official worship hymnal of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, officially approved by the Synod at its own 2004 National Convention in St. Louis and prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship. Published by Concordia Publishing House, which the Synod itself owns, released September 1, 2006, containing 635 hymns, 107 psalms, five settings of the Divine Service and five Daily Offices. It is the fourth official English language hymnal the LCMS has published since the Synod began transitioning from German in the early 1900s, succeeding both The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship as the Synod's common hymnal.

Facts
Subject Matter
Religious Subject MatterSourced to the subject's own account
Lutheran hymnody and liturgy prepared by and for the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod itself, the fourth in an unbroken line of the Synod's own official English language hymnals. 1
Documented Liturgical UseSourced to the subject's own account
The LCMS's own current common hymnal and worship book, used for the Divine Service and Daily Offices across the Synod's congregations since 2006. 1
Scholarly ReceptionSourced to the subject's own account
Became, in April 2015, the first Lutheran hymnal made available in ebook format; remains the LCMS's current common hymnal two decades after its convention approval. 1
Production
Release Year
2006 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountApproved at the LCMS's own 2004 National Convention; officially released September 1, 2006.
Primary Artist / ComposerSourced to the subject's own account
LCMS Commission on Worship, compiler; published by Concordia Publishing House, owned by the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod 2
Place of OriginSourced to the subject's own account
St. Louis, Missouri; Concordia Publishing House, 2006. 2
Learn More
A Synod Voted on Its Own Hymnal Before It Was Printed

Most hymnals arrive on a church's shelf without a vote ever being taken on them by name. Lutheran Service Book did not. In 2004, delegates at the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod's own National Convention in St. Louis formally approved the book two years before a single copy existed, an act of denominational governance applied to a hymnal the way it might be applied to a doctrinal statement.

The book that resulted, prepared by the Synod's own Commission on Worship and released September 1, 2006, was built to replace two predecessors at once, The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship, folding the Synod's divided worship life back into a single common book: 635 hymns, 107 psalms, five settings of the Divine Service and five Daily Offices. It became the fourth official English language hymnal the Synod has published since it began moving away from German worship in the early twentieth century, a lineage of its own that stretches back further than most of its members probably realize.

The publisher was not a neutral third party either. Concordia Publishing House, which printed and continues to sell the book, is owned outright by the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, the same institution that publishes the Synod's official magazine, The Lutheran Witness. In April 2015 the book became the first Lutheran hymnal available as an ebook, a small modern footnote on a volume whose real distinction is having been approved, prepared and printed entirely inside the institution whose pews it now fills.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

This source names Missouri directly: "worship hymnal of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, officially approved by the Synod at its own 2004 National Convention in St."

Source Lutheran Service Book (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Belongs to Tradition

Approved by the Synod's own 2004 National Convention, prepared by the Synod's own Commission on Worship, published by Concordia Publishing House, which the Synod itself owns: the tradition's own current official hymnal, not an outside account of it.

Source Lutheran Service Book (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Lutheran Service Book (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, WikipediaView the Source
2. Concordia Publishing House (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, WikipediaView the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.