wfn.org | Lutherans Come 'This Far by Faith'

[NEWS <NEWS@elca.org>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 17, 1999

LUTHERANS COME 'THIS FAR BY FAITH'
99-10-059-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) has a new worship resource, "This Far by Faith," developed by
theologians, musicians, liturgists and congregation leaders from the
African American community of the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod (LCMS).  The hardbound, 520-page worship resource is now available
to the ELCA's 5.2 million members in the United States and Caribbean.
     On these pages Lutherans will "witness a living chronicle of a
faith journey begun on African soil," said the Rev. Karen Ward, ELCA
associate director for worship.  "This is the pilgrimage of a people
leaning on the Lord and trusting in God's holy word."
     "North American Lutherans in the first centuries of immigration
were people of northern European ancestry, focused on nurturing and
transmitting the faith primarily among their immigrant groups," Ward
wrote in the preface of the worship book.
     "It is true that Africans became Lutheran in the Americas
beginning in the 1600s; records document that an African man named
Emmanuel was baptized in a New York Lutheran congregation in 1669," said
Ward.
     "Yet the challenge of transmitting the gospel to people of African
descent in the Americas has been exacerbated by the 'peculiar
institution' of slavery and the seemingly intractable legacy of racism,"
she said.
     "In succeeding decades, as they continued to be baptized and
catechized under Lutheran auspices, African Americans frequently found
that their vernacular expressions of worship and song were not
recognized by the wider Lutheran community," Ward said.
     In the midst of struggle "Africans in the Americas developed rich
and highly textured images to speak of God and of the relationship
between God and humankind," she said.
     A verse from the book:
     "We've Come This Far By Faith"
          We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord;
          trusting in his holy word, he's never failed us yet.
          Oh, we can't turn back, we've come this far by faith.
          We've come this far by faith.
     "This Far by Faith" is a "proposal for addressing issues of
worship from a perspective of A particular culture and at the same time
being faithful to the worship patterns of the church through the ages,"
said Ward.
     "To that end, this volume provides an important contribution to
the global discussion on worship and culture by making available to
African American Lutherans and to the wider church some of the riches of
African American liturgy and song," she said.
     The worship resource includes 120 pages of liturgical materials, a
section of traditional and contemporary hymns and songs, a service of
"prayer and preaching" set in a revival format, and culture-specific
items including worship services that acknowledge Martin Luther King
Jr., Black History Month and Kwanzaa.
     The resource also contains three music settings for "Holy
Communion."  "Liturgy of Joy" was developed by the Rev. James M. Capers,
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Decatur, Ga.; "River of Life" was developed by
Tillis Butler, St. Olaf Evangelical Lutheran Church, Detroit; and the
third is a chorale setting.
     "This Far by Faith" was produced by the ELCA's Division for
Congregational Ministries (DCM), the ELCA's Commission for Multicultural
Ministries and the LCMS Board for Black Ministries.  It was funded in
part by the Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits society based in
Minneapolis.
     At their meeting here Feb. 26-28, members of the DCM board
commended the worship resource for use by the ELCA's 11,000
congregations. 
     "The worship resource was developed by Black leadership in the
Black community of our church," said the Rev. Wyvetta Bullock, an
executive director for DCM.  The resource will be accessible to all ELCA
congregations and synods as a gift from the church for the whole church,
she said.
     Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the ELCA based in
Minneapolis, will host a series of one-day workshops this year designed
to introduce the worship resource to congregations of the ELCA's 65
synods.  The workshops will take place May 15 in Christiansted, St.
Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; May 16 in Frederiksted, St. Thomas, U.S.
Virgin Islands; June 5 in Washington, D.C.; June 26 in Chicago; Sept. 11
in Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia; Sept. 12 in Detroit, New York and
Houston; and Sept. 18 in Los Angeles and Milwaukee.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html