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High Church Lutheranism

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High Church Lutheranism is a form of Lutheranism which emphasizes worship practices and doctrine that are similar to those of the high church movement within Anglicanism, and therefore also to those of the Roman Catholic Church.

Contents

Background

The terms High Church and Low Church do not originally belong to Lutheran tradition, because unlike in Anglicanism, Lutherans have historically been unified in the doctrine expressed in the Book of Concord. However, within Lutheranism there began quite early to be polarities created by influences from the Reformed tradition, leading to so-called "Crypto-Calvinism". The Pietist movement in the 17th century also moved the Lutheran church further in a direction that would be "low church" by Anglican standards. In the 20th century the Anglican terms "High Church" and "Low Church" began to be used to describe these differences in opinion within the Lutheran tradition as well.

High church movements

The roots of 20th century Lutheran high church movements are in neo-Lutheranism, confessional Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism and the Liturgical Movement. High church Lutheranism has often been, especially in Scandinavian Lutheran churches, a revival movement, in opposition to State church and folk church ideologies. Often it has been marginalized and resisted by advocates of liberal theology and pietism. High Church movements have in some cases fallen into crisis because of the issue of ordination of women. Still they have influenced in the long run whole church bodies and in some cases have developed liberal forms. In particular, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada have strong "high church" tendencies, but tend to be theologically liberal and allow ordination of women. The most remarkable Lutheran high church movement is in the Church of Sweden.

In recent years the Evangelical Community Church - Lutheran and several other small, biblically and theologically conservative high church (Evangelical Catholic) Lutheran Churches in the United States have recovered the historic Apostolic Succession from Old Catholic Churches, worship using the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church, and are working toward reunion with the Roman Catholic Church. Through ecumenism high church ideas have been accepted more widely in academic theology. Especially American high church Lutherans often use the term evangelical-catholic instead of high church, because it is felt to be more theologically precise.

Theology and spirituality

High Church Lutheranism stresses aspects of the confession of the church, sacraments, ordained ministry, liturgy and continuity of the church, all of which are traditional Lutheran theology, but have been neglected due to Pietism and the Age of Enlightenment. Sometimes there is an emphasis on Apostolic Succession and ecumenism. High church spirituality focuses on a deep understanding of salvation history and the cycle of the church year, the importance of incarnation, Easter over Good Friday, eucharist-centred spirituality, and sometimes the praying of the Daily Office. Formal liturgy, including the use of vestments, the sign of the crossare quite common in Lutheran worship, but things like the mixed chalice, altar servers, gospel processions and especially incense and a complete eucharistic prayer of consecration rather than the Words of Institution alone are regarded as "high church". Also elevation and genuflection are often regarded among more Protestant-minded Lutherans as Roman Catholic practices, although Martin Luther himself used elevation [1] and it was part of early Lutheranism. In Scandinavian Lutheran churches the use of bells during elevation was even occasionally practiced until the 18th century, to underline the centrality of the Words of Institution in the consecration. Adoration of the Sacrament during the Mass (a word often used in Scandinavian Lutheranism) is a Lutheran practise [2], but unlike in Anglo-Catholicism, except among the most high church of the North American Lutheran Churches like the Evangelical Community Church - Lutheran, and its related Churches, the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is not often practised even in High Church Lutheranism.

Notable persons in the history of High Church Lutheranism

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See also

External links

USA and Canada

Germany

Sweden

Norway

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