Beloved

Hi Rhett :)

So the thing about Lutherans is that we tend to care way more about doctrinal unity and then run the full gambit of worship expressions. You will find Lutheran churches at every point on the spectrum, from mega church style to hippie acoustic praise band types to full high church liturgy (stopping short of the latin). We don’t view the structure of the service or the liturgy to be inherently holy, but to be one of a variety of tools and pathways to encountering God in his house.

The most average Lutheran church will have a service that bills itself as traditional— meaning hymns and a liturgy, usually on a piano or organ, depending on the church. Overall, the liturgy is fairly similar to the regular Roman Catholic Mass in structure. I wouldn’t exactly call it more laid back, but perhaps a little bit more plain. Different congregations go in for different amounts of chanting vs spoken word.

One of the big difference you will see is that Lutherans do not regularly practice private confession. At the top of the service, usually after an opening hymn, we all publicly read the liturgy Confession and Absolution (there are different settings and wordings from time to time but the main beats are always the same). Together we publicly confess our sins, both inward and outward, of action and inaction, and ask for Gods forgiveness and guidance in the future. Absolution is then dispensed by the pastor, without a prescribed penance. I know there is a similar prayer included in the RC mass, but the mechanisms at play are a bit different.

There are three readings, the Lutherans use the same lectionary as the Catholics (and the Episcopalians and several more), though if a pastor or worship team wants to deviate from it, they can. It is rather rare, especially in churches that use the liturgy, to do so, though. At my church we chant the psalm responsively, but not all liturgy arrangements include that. You’ll stand and sit through various parts of the service but it’s pretty rare to find a Lutheran church that practices kneeling, though some do so optionally. You’ll recite either the Apostles or Nicene Creed together. You’ll pray the Lord’s Prayer before communion.

Another big difference is how communion is practiced — there are multiple different Lutheran bodies because we simply like arguing too much to unite fully, I guess. Who can take communion where varies depending on what denomination of Lutheranism you’re present with, and for the more conservative groups, it can also vary depending on the pastor. Nevertheless, the ELCA, my church and the biggest Lutheran body, practices open communion. All Lutherans believe in consubstantiation— that the host is at once bread and wine AND body and blood. Like Jesus as a human, it doesn’t lose one part of its nature in the process of transformation. We do, definitely and truly, believe that it IS Christs real presence with us, so we speak a very similar liturgy of consecration over it. In churches like mine that practice open communion, anyone who believes this, regardless of denomination or belonging (or even baptismal status if your clergy are so inclined) can partake.