We have added the third installment of our popular free download: Solid Declaration readings formatted as bulletin inserts for Holy Trinity through Trinity 5. Find them here in our Downloads tab. Bulletin inserts for the remaining Sundays in Trinity will be posted in the coming weeks.

Many thanks to Pr. Craig Meissner for choosing the readings and to Pr. Erich Fickel for formatting the inserts.

Wilhelm Loehe, Seed-Grains of Prayer, #295

Audio: Listen to Hymn for Ascension chanted.

A hymn of glory let us sing;
New songs throughout the world shall ring:
Christ, by a road before untrod,
Ascendeth to the throne of God.

The holy apostolic band
Upon the Mount of Olives stand,
And with His followers they see
Jesus’ resplendent majesty.

To whom the angels, drawing nigh,
“Why stand and gaze upon the sky?
This is the Savior,” thus they say,
“This is His noble triumph day.”

“Again shall ye behold Him so
As ye today have seen him go,
In glorious pomp ascending high,
Up to the portals of the sky.”

Oh, grant us thitherward to tend
And with unwearied hearts ascend
Unto Thy kingdom’s throne, where Thou,
As is our faith, art seated now.

Be Thou our Joy and strong Defense,
Who art our future Recompense:
So shall the light that springs from Thee
Be ours through all eternity.

O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
All praise to Thee let earth accord,
Who art, while endless ages run,
With Father and with Spirit One. Amen.

__________

Hymnum canamus gloriae.  The Venerable Bede, d. 735, trans. by B. Webb, alt.
An excerpt from The Brotherhood Prayer Book

“The danger of the traditional rites and ceremonies degenerating into formalism and even superstition has shown itself here and there in all ages. But the same danger is manifested in the use of nontraditional rites and ceremonies of the so-called informal churches. Because of that danger, some people have denounced all rites and ceremonies. But such denunciations solve nothing. First of all, it is impossible to live without some kind of rites and ceremonies, and secondly, the history of the church shows that the solution is not in trying to discard the traditional ceremonies, but in revitalizing them by constantly teaching their meaning and value.”

Paul H.D. Lang, Ceremony and Celebration, p. 13, originally published in 1963
*on sale through April 30

With call services just over a week away for our seminarians in Fort Wayne and St. Louis, it is the perfect time to debut our new Office of the Holy Ministry greeting card. You may recognize this artwork from the cover of Ceremony and Celebration, where it is embossed in gold on a deep red cloth binding. We worked with Ed Riojas to colorize it so that this image, rich in theological symbolism, can be used as a card for seminary call night and graduation, ordinations, installations, Office of the Holy Ministry anniversaries, or congregational anniversaries. Since the inside is blank, it can be utilized to send congratulations or to invite family and friends to any of these events. It would also be ideal for any kind of pastoral correspondence.

Furthermore, now through April 30, all of our books (and the BPB CD) are discounted up to 30% off. This is the first time that our latest books – The Conduct of the Service, Ceremony and Celebration, and Thy Kingdom Come – have been on sale, so this is a wonderful chance to buy them for yourself or as a gift. If you live near Fort Wayne and would like to pick up your order from Redeemer Lutheran Church, contact us at emmanuelpress@gmail.com.

It may still be Easter, but it’s time for us to begin the search for Christmas card art. In the past few years, we have created cards with frescos from a German cathedral and oil paintings by Ed Riojas.

This year we’re looking for new artwork featuring our Lord’s nativity, whether it’s from your personal collection, a church’s stained glass windows, pictures from travels abroad, or something you’ve seen on the internet. Leave a comment here or send an us an email: emmanuelpress@gmail.com.

Click here to peruse our greeting card collection.

“Ritual and ceremonial are component parts of the liturgy. They are materials of the liturgy, the things involved in doing the liturgy….Ritual refers to that part of a divine service which consists of its words, that is, the rite or the order of service….Ceremonial is everything connected with the performance of a rite. It refers not only to bodily expressions, such as speaking, singing, kneeling, bowing, making the sign of the cross, and the outward observance of the church year, but also to the ornaments, symbols, and material objects employed in the church’s worship, for example, the church building, the altar, crucifixes, candles, and vestments. Ceremonies are solemn religious things and actions….Rites and ceremonies are an outward expression of what a church believes and teaches. An ancient Latin formula puts it this way: Lex orandi lex credendi. ‘As we worship so we believe’ or ‘as we believe so we worship.’”

Paul H. D. Lang, Ceremony and Celebration, p. 6, 11.

Antiphon for Psalm 51

“Christ for our sakes became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name.”

As a continuation to the bulletin inserts that we offered for Lent and Easter Sunday, we have now added a free download of Solid Declaration readings formatted as bulletin inserts for the Sundays after Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. Find them here in our Downloads tab.

Many thanks to Pr. Craig Meissner for choosing the readings and to Pr. Erich Fickel for formatting the inserts.

*Pictured at left is our Eastertide card