Lutheran Essentials meets in the sanctuary of the church on Wednesday evenings after the Advent Evening Prayer service which starts at 7pm. You can reach the sanctuary via the undercroft by going around to the back parking lot of the church and descending the staircase to the kitchen. Knock on the door if it is closed and some one will let you in. You can also join us remotely via our livestream. Our current study is on “Ceremony and Celebration” by Paul H. D. Lang. We are handing out copies of the book for free as well as copies of the Book of Concord and the Lutheran Service Book.
Our catechism lesson will be on the Second Commandment. We will then continue reading Chapter III: The Lutheran Position on Ceremonial (pg. 15-23) picking up with Uniformity on (pg. 19). We will discuss how uniformity in practice is valuable for the sake of confession and catechesis. After discussing these things we talk about how are to take a Gospel centered attitude with respect to rites and ceremonies. We will close with the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation” (LSB 644).
If we have time we will start reading Chapter IV: The Altar and Its Ornaments (Part 1) (pg. 24-30). We will discuss what the altar represents. We will also discuss what the altar is to be made of and where it is to be positioned in the Church.
As always new people are always welcome to this study at any point during the class. Please talk to the Pastor, Elders or Paul Edmon if you have any questions.
