The Mid-Week Divine Service: Its Theology, History, Usage and Implementation in a Lutheran Parish Church

Goodman, Jeffrey H.

Etd

The Mid-Week Divine Service: Its Theology, History, Usage and Implementation in a Lutheran Parish Church

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Goodman, Jeffrey H. The Mid-week Divine Service: Its Theology, History, Usage and Implementation In a Lutheran Parish Church. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/970bcd05-7627-441a-b34a-6f22bae61239.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

G. J. H. The Mid-Week Divine Service: Its Theology, History, Usage and Implementation in a Lutheran Parish Church. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/970bcd05-7627-441a-b34a-6f22bae61239

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Goodman, Jeffrey H. The Mid-Week Divine Service: Its Theology, History, Usage and Implementation In a Lutheran Parish Church. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/970bcd05-7627-441a-b34a-6f22bae61239.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Goodman, Jeffrey H.

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In Copyright

Abstract

The mid-week Divine Service has a long history in the church. While Sunday, the day of resurrection, has always been the primary focus and the most ideal day for the church to gather around the Word and Sacraments, this central activity of the church is not limited to that singular day. As the Large Catechism makes clear “Truly, we Christians ought to make every day such a holy day and devote ourselves only to holy things, that is, to occupy ourselves daily with God’s Word and carry it in our hearts and upon our lips.” (LC I 89) Unlike our Reformed neighbors Lutherans have not relegated the worship of the church to Sunday only, but traditionally and in keeping with the church catholic have frequently offered the Divine Service and other services of the church during the week. For some this has been done for practical reasons, such as work schedules, or availability. For others, it is a matter of faith. The ongoing and troubling reality of sin in our lives necessitates the need for another opportunity to receive and hear the Gospel. It is through Word and Sacrament that we Christians are made, sustained and comforted over time. Thus, it holds that the church should not be stingy with the gifts of our Lord Christ. Instead it is the contention of this project that the mid-week Divine Service aids in the carrying out of the mission of the church in a fuller and more effective way by helping to form a resilient and faithful Lutheran parish church. This Doctor of Ministry project will examine the history and purpose of the mid-week Divine Service, especially within those churches that are descendants of the “Muhlenberg tradition” and subsequently the General Council. This is the tradition from which the author hails as well as the tradition of the ministry setting for this project. The primary objective of this project is to examine how and why mid-week Divine Services were implemented at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ephrata PA. Moreover, this project will seek to encourage other Lutheran parish churches, within and outside of the “Muhlenberg tradition” to consider implementing their own mid-week Divine Services in order to form more resilient and faithful parishes and how that may be accomplished.

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