LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 31

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 31

day of the year. It will be a stand-alone book but will also be co-
ordinated with the hymnal.

* Anelectronic version of the hymnal is also being planned. It will
contain all texts and music, along with other helpful resources
for use in church bulletins and other media. MIDI files will allow
the user to hear the music.

¢ Commentaries on the liturgy, church year, and Agenda will be
prepared, as well as the standard companion for the hymns.
Bible studies on various aspects of the hymnal will be ready
when the hymnal is published.

Another important consideration concerns the layout of the
hymnal. Conscious effort is being made to design the book in a
way that makes it less cumbersome to use. We are seriously con-
sidering a substantially different arrangement of the hymnal that
would allow for a single page-numbering system rather than the
current “page numbers” for the front of the book and “hymn num-
bers” for the back.

The success of any hymnal requires extensive testing and ex-
posure prior to final approval and production. In accordance with
Bylaw 3.929 a, the 2001 convention will be asked to approve a plan
for field testing during the 2001-04 triennium. The commission’s
goal is to provide opportunities for interested congregations to test
any and all materials. These will be made available both through
mailings and on the Internet. Already, a revision of the TLH page
15 service has been tested by many congregations, and the revi-
sions to the one- and three-year (Series C) lectionaries are currently
being tested. This testing will increase substantially in the coming
months. A summary report on the field testing will be provided to
delegates at the 2004 convention in preparation for their vote on
approval of the proposed hymnal. Should delegates to that conven-
tion vote to approve the project, the following two years would be
devoted to editing and publication, with a release date anticipated
for the fall of 2006.

A significant amount of work has already been done by the
hymnal committees. The next triennium will see a significant in-
crease in exposure and testing of materials. The commission is fully
committed to a thorough review of all materials at all levels in the
Synod in order to provide a new hymnal that will serve well in the
new century. To that end, frequent reports will continue to be pro-
vided in a variety of media. The latest information can always be
found at the following Web site: http://worship.lcms.org/
LHPindex.htm.

Worship Education and Resources

In addition to the two significant tasks reported above, the com-
mission continues to provide other means through which it is able
to “develop and deepen an understanding and love for the Lutheran
heritage in Christian worship.” The Real Life Worship conferences
which began nearly seven years ago have now ended. In their place
a national Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church Music will
be held on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin on July
16-19, 2002. Workshops during the past triennium were held in
the fall of 1998 to introduce Hymnal Supplement 98. In the fall of
1999, workshops on the topic of service playing were held at 73
locations around the Synod. The attendance of over 1,800 people
well exceeded the commission’s expectations and demonstrated a
continuing need to provide basic instruction to church musicians,
especially those with limited training.

Beginning in the fall of 2000, Lutheran Musician Enrichment,
an ongoing training program for church musicians with limited
training, was launched. The full course of study includes 16 Satur-
day mornings of instruction spread over a two-year period. Courses
include theology of worship, liturgy, hymnody, church year and
worship planning, service-playing, choral conducting, children’s
choirs, and handbells. During the first year of instruction, nearly
150 participants and 35 instructors began the program at 14 sites.

Additional sites will be added this fall. After just one semester,
many positive comments have been received from both students
and instructors.

Sensing a need to improve the corporate prayer life of our con-
gregations, the commission began a new program in December
1999. LetUsPray is an ongoing, free service that provides a newly
written Prayer of the Church for each Sunday and festival. The
prayers, delivered via e-mail, are written in a variety of styles, and
encouragement is given for pastors to edit according to local needs.
The subscription list, now at more than 2,100, continues to grow
steadily, and unsolicited expressions of thanks are regularly re-
ceived.

The commission’s Web site continues to be an important vehi-
cle for disseminating information. During this triennium the site
was expanded and redesigned. A number of worship resources
have been made available through the site, including devotional re-
sources for Advent 1999 and 2000 and Lent 2000 and 2001 and a
special prayer for the National Day of Prayer (May 2000).

The commission staff worked with the editors of The Lutheran
Witness on “Oh, Come, Let Us Worship Him,” a 14-part series on
worship. These articles are currently being developed into a set of
Bible studies and newsletter articles. There are a number of proj-
ects that remain on the drawing board, such as videos and/or com-
puter programs that explain the liturgy, books on worship for chil-
dren, a church music video intended for young children, Bible
studies on worship, etc.

Accomplishments

1. A process was developed to begin the task of building
consensus in worship. Two national meetings and several
dozen regional meetings were conducted.

. The Lutheran Hymnal Project was fully established, and a
considerable amount of work has already been completed.

. An assistant director was added in November 1998.

. 36 workshops were held around the Synod to introduce

Hymnal Supplement 98; over 2,000 people attended.

Service-playing workshops were held at 73 sites in the fall of

1999; over 1,800 attended.

6. Lutheran Musician Enrichment, a new, ongoing training

program was launched in the fall of 2000.

7. LetUsPray, a weekly mailing via e-mail, provides up-to-date

corporate prayers for Sundays and festivals.

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Goals

1. To continue to foster a process promoting open and candid
dialogue on issues related to worship.

2. To complete the development and testing of the new hymnal
in order to bring a final product to the 2004 convention for
approval.

3. To broaden our educational efforts by providing a variety of
resources that teach the riches of our worship heritage.

4. To host a national Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church
Music in July 2002.

5. To expand the Lutheran Musician Enrichment sites.

Resources

. Hymnal Supplement 98 Handbook (1998)

. Hymnal Supplement 98 Prayer Cards (1998)

. The Word behind the Text: three sets of Bible studies on

hymns from HS98 (1999)

. Through the Church the Song Goes On (1999)

. LetUsPray: a weekly prayer of the church delivered via e-mail

. Kids in the Divine Service (2000)

. Supplemental Inserts to the Reporter

“Oh, Come, Let Us Worship Him” Bible studies and

newsletter articles (available July 2001)

. Commission on Worship Web site: http://worship.lcms.org
Richard Resch, Chairman

Paul Grime, Executive Director

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2001 Convention Workbook