In this episode of The Concordia Publishing House Podcast, Rev. Dr. Paul Grime talks about the Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Services and the history of the Divine Ser vice.

Check out more church resources for pastors and laypeople at cph.org. 

 Show Notes:

There is a lot to learn about the services included in the Lutheran Service Book. Expert Rev. Dr. Paul Grime discusses the Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Services and why it is such a helpful resource to pastors and church members. He clears up some misconceptions around the words “services” and liturgy,” and jumps into the biblical basis for the order of service that we have today. 

The Lord’s Day is sacred and should be honored as such, connecting back to when Jesus sat with His disciples and broke bread with them. Teaching and dining are practices that date back to the Old Testament, yet they are still important practices in our church today.

Questions Covered:

·         Book is called Companion to the Services and not Companion to the Liturgy. Why? What’s the difference between “liturgy” and “service(s)”?

·         Where do we get the Divine Service?

·         What is the oldest part of the Divine Service? What is the newest part?

·         When was it more or less fixed as we know it?

·         Is the Divine Service still changing?

·         What kind of considerations are there before we add or remove things?

·         What is distinctly Lutheran about the Divine Service?

·         How is the Lutheran service similar to the mass or services in other denominations?

·         What was Martin Luther’s view of the Roman Mass as he knew it? What did he change? And more importantly, why did he change things?

·         Beyond the obvious, what do we do in the Divine Service? Is our role passive or active? Do we offer or give anything? Do we simply receive?
 
 

About the Guest:

Paul Grime is the dean of the chapel and a professor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, teaching primarily in the area of worship and homiletics. From 1996 to 2007, he served as executive director for the LCMS Commission on Worship at the church body’s headquarters in St. Louis. In that position, he was project director for both Hymnal Supplement ‘98 and Lutheran Service Book. Prior to that, he served eight years as senior pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Grime has music degrees in church music and organ performance from Valparaiso University (BMus) and the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati (MMus). His theology degrees are from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (MDiv, STM) and Marquette University (PhD).