Lutheran worship really has changed

I am preaching off the lectionary this week so I thought I would share some reflections on worship:

To celebrate our 275^th anniversary as a congregation, we have been worshipping with elements from previous hymnals this Easter season.  As we’ve done this, I have been struck by how much worship has changed, especially over the past two generations.  This surprised me because I consider our church relatively traditional.  I have a great deal more sympathy for those of an older generation, who grew up using the Black and Red book, and who may struggle with elements in our worship service today.  Consider how the following elements of worship have undergone changes.

	B & R book	Today
Music
Instrument	Exclusively organ	Organ, but also piano, drums and even guitar
Hymns	Often German chorales with 4-part harmony	Many Methodist/"American" hymns, but global hymns often written for unison singing
Sacraments
Baptism	Mainly infants	People of all ages; appears more frequently in lectionary and liturgy
Confession and Forgiveness	Intense rite with conditional absolution	Unconditional absolution; perhaps no C&F, perhaps Thanksgiving for Baptism instead
Holy Communion	Handful of times per year; for confirmands	Every week; for children, some congregations Baptism optional
Participation by lay people
Role of pastor	Pastor reads, prayers and preaches	Number of people involved in almost every aspect of worship
Role of choir	Choir leads congregation; primary way to be involved	One of many ways to be involved in worship
Mood
Volume	Silence permeates worship, including before service	Social aspect of church emphasized, e.g., Passing of the Peace
Script	Stick to what is written in worship book	Pastors, even lay people, more likely to deviate from Rubric/Script, or not even use one
Piety	Inward and repentant	Therapeutic and Praise

Perhaps when commenting on piety, I come too close to offering my own diagnosis here instead of simply laying out the facts.  We cannot turn back time and I am not suggesting this.  Yet as we move forward in our congregation (and likely others as well), it is really helpful to remember that long time members of this (and other congregations) have experienced significant shifts in their lifetime of how God is worshiped in our sanctuary.  We may still have a traditional worship, but it is markedly different than the traditional worship of 1960.