See, this is why folks wonder about Valpo

January 20, 2007 · Filed Under theology

From the Neighbors section of today’s local paper: Valparaiso University chapel introduces two new Lutheran hymnals.

VU is changing over from the previous melange of hymnals (I must confess that I don’t know exactly which ones they’ve been using, although I could guess…), and will now be using the two newest hymnals from the LCMS & ELCA. (There’s a right nifty photo in the paper of the intermingled stacks of hymnals being formally “blessed” by Chapel Pastor Jim Wetzstein, but it doesn’t seem to be available online. )

Why do I care, given that, as stated by Rev. Joseph Cunningham, VU’s Dean of the Chapel,

“Valparaiso is an independent Lutheran institution, which means students from both church bodies are among the 1,000 to 1,200 weekly worshippers at the nine services in the chapel.”

Well, I guess I find it off-putting that the aforementioned Revs. Wetzstein and Cunningham are rostered LCMS pastors. Somehow it strikes me as, well, wrong that an LCMS pastor is openly advocating the use of worship materials produced by a church body that has been recognized by the LCMS in convention as being heterodox.

I also don’t like the hidden/implicit bias against the LCMS in two of the quotes used in the article, namely:

“The LSB is an attempt to bring in some new things while embracing the more traditional liturgy,” Cunningham said.

and

While both books broaden the range of music used for worship, the ELW recognizes the growing interest in ethnic diversity and emergence of new styles, such as contemporary Christian music, over the last 30 years, according to Chapel Music Director Lorraine Brugh.

Granted, I’ll admit that I’m possibly being a little over-sensitive with the Cunningham quote; however, the Brugh statement clearly touts the ELCA book as being superior to and/or more progressively “enlightened” than the LCMS book.

There are a few other things in the article that don’t cause one to be overly filled with joy over the current state of things at the Chapel of the Resurrection (located just a mile or so from SchloÃŸ TB), but I’ll leave reading and/or commenting on them to another time.

-ghp

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Tags: christianity, church, college, elca, hymnal, lcms, lsb, lutheran, theology