Church Explained

Christ the King Lutheran Church will be celebrating 60 years of ministry and mission on June 27, 2024. A celebration worship service to recognize this milestone will be held on Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 9:30am. Brunch will be provided afterward.

This worship service will be rather unique because it will contain bits and pieces of all of the hymnals that have guided the worship and liturgy of this congregation since its inception. But how well do you know them?

The Service Book & Hymnal (called SBH or the “red book”) was published in 1958, and it was a milestone project that paved the way for the eventual merger of several Lutheran church bodies, all of whom used this hymnal. The Lutheran denominations that used this book included the American Evangelical Lutheran Church, the American Lutheran Church, the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Lutheran Free Church, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the United Lutheran Church in America.

The Lutheran Book of Worship (called LBW or the “green book”) was published in 1978, and was authorized for use by several predecessor church bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Importantly, this hymnal began as a joint project together with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, too, but they officially withdrew their participation just prior to publication. (They eventually published their own hymnal called Lutheran Worship, which shares a lot in common with the LBW.)

With One Voice (WOV or the “blue book”) was published in 1995 as a joint project between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Although it does contain a few full liturgy patterns, it was intended to be used as a supplementary resource alongside the LBW.

 Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW or the “cranberry book”) was published in 2006 and was another joint publication between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. This hymnal includes a whopping ten communion liturgies, many more liturgies for occasional use, and several new hymns.

Join us on Sunday, June 23, 2024, to get a taste of all of these worship resources that have guided this congregation through the years! And if you haven’t seen our video series, “Church Explained”, be sure to check out the episode where I discuss the Lutheran Hymnal and all the great content inside! 

Peace,

Pastor Tim