Reformation
Newsletter 10/22/25
Chanting in the Service
On Sunday we will use our ordinary Common Service setting, except for many of the minister parts that are normally spoken, they will be chanted. Someone might wonder what the purpose of chanting in the service is. Scripture continually speaks highly of music in general. Consider various Psalms and other places in Scripture such as Psalm 150. Scripture also describes musical responses in the worship of the Old Testament. Consider these verses from Ezra 3: 10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests, dressed in their robes, stood by with trumpets, and the Levites, the descendants of Asaph, stood by with cymbals to praise the Lord as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 They sang antiphonally to praise and thank the Lord: Truly, he is good, because his mercy toward Israel endures forever. In the history of the development of the liturgy as we know it today, music was always a key part. Chanting is also “elevated speech”, appropriate for the holy Words from Scripture that make up the vast majority of the liturgy. Historically, chanting also had a practical purpose: so that people could more easily hear what was being said!
There were some worship practices that needed to be revised during the Lutheran Reformation, but in Luther’s worship settings he retained the practice of chanting; rather than chanting in Latin, he chanted in German, the language of the people. Over the course of the history of the Lutheran church the minister’s chanting has been more or less common in different places and different times. In the context of the Wisconsin Synod, chanting became less common because of the layout of The Lutheran Hymnal, which lacked musical notation for the minister’s parts. However, this was not an intentional change. Rather, the musical resources came out several years after the release of the Hymnal. Christian Worship 1993 continued that pattern in the pew books, but includes Minister Chant settings in the Altar Book. In the new Christian Worship 2021, you will see that the Minister’s parts are set to music in the hymn book itself.
One reason I was moved to try out chanting the Minister parts was something I learned in studying for the WELS historical presentations. At the time when some of the congregations in the Wisconsin Synod were combined Lutheran and Reformed congregations (due to the situation in Germany at the time), a genuinely Lutheran pastor would offend the Reformed portion of the congregation by introducing a chanted worship service. What this tells me is chanting was considered specifically Lutheran. So, how appropriate it would be to introduce this practice at the Reformation Festival Service!
There’s certainly no rule that says chanting is required. In fact, some congregations may have given up the practice simply because the Pastor was not able to chant well! However, it is definitely a nice custom that we may try more in the future. Let me know your thoughts after the Reformation Service!
Article from Bob DeVinney on the Hayride
At the hayride last month, Bob DeVinney asked if he could write something up about the events of the day, so here it is!
Back on September 27th, the Confers had planned a hayride going to the home of the Schaberg’s for a cookout. At 5pm we were at the Confer’s home, ready for the hayride. Linda and I sat in the front of the wagon along with Larry Place, and my great-grandchildren. A group of our ladies from church stayed to the back. There were quite a few children on board. Herb fired up the old tractor that he and his dad had bought at an auction years ago. Off we went on the good ole gravel roads. Herb made sure that he could hit every hole on the road for us. We had a nice long ride, with Wendy following safely behind us. As planned we arrived at the Schaberg’s home. Doug had the grill going with hot dogs and Sheila was busy making everything ready for us. Everyone brought something to pass. Once everything was set up Pastor said a prayer and we all responded with the common dinner prayer. As always, everything tasted awesome, and plenty of it. The Schabergs had provided plenty of games for the children including pumpkin bowling. I was sitting at table with Cindy Furhman and Larry, but we could see the children running all around and I believe they were having fun. There was a fire in the fire pit for us to sit around, but the return trip had been planned sot that parents could get their children to bed early. When Herb fired up the old tractor it was time to go. It was a beautiful ride back. There was an awesome bright moon out that guided us along the road. We saw plenty of deer. The tire tread came off the front tire of the tractor as we went along, but Herb said he had another tire in the barn. We arrived safely back to the Confers.
I’m so glad I went and we had so much fun. The Confers and the Schabergs had planned the outing so extremely well. It’s been a long time since our congregation has done anything like this. We used to get together at people’s homes for different activities. I see there is a chili cookout coming in November. Herb stated if its food then he is in!
Bob DeVinney