Reframing the Worship Wars in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: An Analysis of Ordo and Music Through the Lens of Inculturation and Intercultural Hermeneutics

The purpose of this project is to assess aspects of the liturgical developments in worship practices in congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod throughout the United States over the last fifty years. Developing and employing a lens of liturgical inculturation and intercultural hermeneutics, this study will specifically attend to two primary points of divergence between various influential worship movements: 1) the notion of a transcultural liturgical ordo, and 2) the role of music in the ordo. This analysis is supported by an understanding of postmodern cultural formation and engagement, an understanding of tradition, the influence of ritual studies, and the theological implications of inculturation. Through an understanding of these influences, this study provides a deeper analysis of the Liturgical Movement and contemporary worship movements of the twentieth century. Furthermore, this study seeks to attend to the manner in which these two primary points of divergence within these various worship movements have conditioned the worship reforms in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod over the last half-century. Liturgical inculturation provides the primary lens for this analysis because its various assumptions and tenets offer a structure by which to explore the tensions between the movements, and because it lays a foundation for responsibly reviewing current liturgical reforms and planning strategies for future liturgical renewal and reform within LC-MS congregations.