A WORD ABOUT THE LITURGICAL CHURCH YEAR
Grace Lutheran Church and School follows the historic Christian Church Year centered around three major “Feasts”
or “Festivals” which proclaim God’s amazing grace.
The Liturgical Church Year begins with Advent and ends with the Last Sunday After Pentecost (Trinity). Each major
feast is preceded by a season of preparation and followed by a season of transition. Along with the major feasts are
the minor feasts or festivals which commemorate Biblical events or persons.
We celebrate the various days of the Apostles, events in Jesus’ life such as the Ascension, days of other Biblical
characters such as Mary Magalene, John the Baptist and so forth. Our purpose in observing such Saint’s Days is to
hold them up as examples of what God’s grace can accomplish, never to worship them. Their example is to
encourage us to more faithful service.
In conjunction with the Liturgical Church Year, we use the five liturgical colors as symbolic reminders of themes:
White: The color of cleanliness and purity; used to remind us of God’s holiness and majesty
Green: the color of life in nature; used to remind us of our spiritual lives in God’s Kingdom
Red: the color of blood and fire: used to remind us of the Holy Spirit Who showed His presence on Pentecost
with tongues of fire, or of the blood shed by martyrs and saints
Purple: the color of royalty; used to remind us that Jesus is our true King even though He appears in humility.
Also the color is an old symbol of sorrow and carries that meaning also in Lent.
Black: the color of death and sin; used only once a year on Good Friday, to commemorate the death of our
Savior.
Liturgical Church Year
Advent – 4 Sundays
Christmas - 12 days
Epiphany - January 6
Transfiguration
Ash Wednesday
Lent - 40 days (not including Sundays:
Early Lent
Passiontide (beginning with Judica,
the last 2 weeks)
Holy week ( beginning with Palm
Sunday)
Easter - 7 weeks, including Ascension,
40 days after Easter
Pentecost - 50 days after Easter
Trinity - Sunday after Pentecost
Non festival half of the Church Year with
Sundays numbered either after Trinity or
Pentecost
The emphasis of the first half of the Litrugical Church Year is on what God did for us to win our salvation, the second
half emphasizes what we do in grateful response to serve Him.
Tied in with the observance of the Litrugical Church Year is also a series of Scripture readings including the Old
Testament Lesson, the Epistle and the Gospel for each Sunday. These are called “Pericopes”. They have been
chosen according to the theme of each Sunday and are mostly quite ancient.
THE DIVINE WORSHIP SERVICE
The Lutheran Liturgical worship follows the ancient usage of the Church. Celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord’s
Supper in the Divine Worship Service is major. All other services are “minor services” or “occasional services.”
There are two portions of the service, “Propers” and “Ordinaries”. Propers are those parts of the service which change
each week or day and reflect a particular theme. They’re “proper” only on the specific day for which they were
designed. They include things as the Introit, Collect, Lessons, Sermon, Hymns, etc. they are what make our
Christmas worship different from Easter or other days.
Ordinaries are those parts of the service which remain the same week after week and give structure or outline to our
worship. They are such parts as the Invocation, Creed, Offering, Benediction, etc.
Our worship service is divided into 3 major portions:
PART 1: THE PREPARATION
This portion is correctly led by the pastor outside the chancel rail, or at the bottom of the altar step, consistent
with the idea of preparing to approach God in our worship.
The Invocation: is the public declaration of why we are gathered and technically is the beginning of the actual
worship service.
Confession: The worshipers are invited to confess their sins. The threefold emphasis:
1. We confess our dependence on God
2. We confess our confidence in God’s promise to forgive
3. We confess our sins
Absolution: The wording is clear that forgiveness is spoken by the pastor serving as God’s spokesman.
Nowhere is authority claimed that the pastor by his own power forgives. This authority to voice forgiveness or
absolution is vested in the pastoral office (see Matthew 16:19, Luke 10:16).
PART 2: THE OFFICE OF THE WORD
This is properly the beginning of worship since the Preparation has been getting ready to worship. The main emphasis
of this portion of worship is on the Word of God.
Introit: Means “entrance”. Traditionally it was a Psalm chanted by the choir while clergy entered the chancel
eventually it was shortened to just psalm verses.
The Gloria Patri is always used with Psalms in Christian worship to affirm the Christian belief in the Trinity and
our unity with Old Testament believers.
The Kyrie: This is a Greek word meaning “Lord” . Note we are not begging for forgiveness as we have already
been assured that our sins are pardoned. This is rather a plea for God to be good to us in our daily lives.
The Gloria in Excelsis: This ancient hymn of praise is a joyful response to the plea of the preceding Kyrie. We
know God is good and so we praise Him. It borrows the words of the Christmas angles. It is omitted during the solemn
Lenten season.
Salutation and Collection: The Salutation and its response is used to introduce new and different parts of the
liturgy, here a shift from the sacrificial Introit, Kyrie and Song of Praise to the sacramental reading of God’s Word.
Note the Salutation is addressed by the people to the pastor and the response from him to them.
Collects are ancient prayers which briefly ask God’s blessing in harmony with the theme of the particular day.
Lessons: Representative portions of 3 major divisions of Scripture are read: the Old Testament, the Epistles,
and the Gospels. The reading of the Gospel is the high point of this entire portion of worship and sets the theme for
everything else that takes place. Even the sermon is considered to be only the exposition of the Gospel or its
emphasis. People stand for the Gospel out of respect for Him Whose Word it is.
The Creed: Our faith is based on the entire word of God, but we don’t have time to read the whole Bible each
week. We summarize its teaching in the creed which is the confession of our faith.
The Sermon: The sermon develops the theme set by the Gospel. In churches which neglect the liturgy it may
be on almost any subject. The use of the pulpit reflects the high opinion we have for the Word of God, and it should
not be used for any other purpose. The Sermon ends with the Votum, a blessing spoken by the pastor for the hearers.
The Offering: This is our response to God’s Word! Note there is a three-fold offering. In the singing of the
Offertory, we offer God our own selves in His service. Then we offer Him our material goods in His service. Finally we
offer Him our trust and gratitude in the prayers which follow.
The Prayer: This is called the “Prayer of the Church” and is to reflect general as well as local concerns. We
also express love for each other as we bring our mutual concerns before God.
PART THREE: THE OFFICE OF THE SACRAMENT
The main emphasis of this portion is obviously the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. These are the major parts:
The Preface: These versicles and responses form an introduction to the coming sacrament. The Salutation
again introduces a new portion. The invitation to “ lift up your hearts” is a poetic way of saying “offer yourselves to
God”. The invitation to give thanks reminds us of our Lord Jesus Who began the institution of the sacrament by giving
thanks.
The Proper Preface: This ties the celebration of the sacrament into the Liturgical Church Year by recalling the
saving acts of God for which we are moved to give thanks to God. The “Therefore with angels and archangels...”
correctly joins our worship with the heavenly host and reminds us that saints on earth are not alone when they praise
our great God!
The Sanctus: This ancient chant ties Isaiah’s great vision of God’s glory (Isaiah 6) to our Savior and is a
confession on our part. “Hosanna” is a Hebrew term meaning “Save now, I ask You”. In this connection, we are saying
something like: “ You Who have ascended into heaven, save us Your people”.
The Lord’s Prayer: This is used here as an appropriate summary of what we should ask our Savior at this
point.
The Words of Institution: The power of the sacrament lies in the Word of God and so at this point we use the
Scriptural account of Jesus’ institution. The sign of the cross is made over the elements as they are consecrated to
indicate they have now been set aside for a sacred purpose.
The Pax Domini: Luther says this is a Benediction in itself, a proclamation that all is well with us because of
the Father’s love for us in Christ.
The Agnus Dei: This ancient chant points to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Passover celebration, the Lamb of
God Who gave His life that we might be spared death. The plea for mercy again is not asking forgiveness but for God
to be with us for good.
The Distribution: Ancient practice has the communicants come to the chancel to receive the elements.
The Canticle (Nunc Dimittis): This is a distinctive Lutheran placement for the ancient Song of Simeon. Its
meaning is obvious, now that we have been reassured of God’s love and forgiveness we can go out and face life
without fear.
The Conclusion: Luther himself wrote the collect: “We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have
refreshed us....”
The Benediction: This is the Aaronic benediction commanded by God to be pronounced upon His ancient
people. The use of the benediction here is a distinctive Lutheran practice. Some Lutherans have added the words of
the Trinitarian Invocation immediately after - certainly appropriate!
The service is now concluded. Whatever else may happen is only incidental. A closing hymn, extinguishing
candles, ushering people out, etc... have no liturgical significance. Liturgically, the Benediction is THE END!