Lutheran Book of Worship: Pew Edition (1978)

Participating churches: Lutheran Church in America ; The American Lutheran Church ; The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada ; The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.Ex-lib. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Farmington Hills, MI ( )

This hymnal has special significance as it was given to WPLC in memory of Ragnvald & Johanna Jacobson ( my grandparents) by my uncle Robert. When the church updated to the new red book--old ones were avaialble to congregation members --and I was able to get it.!

This particular hymnal in my collection is "special" as it was donated to our home church Washingon Prairie Lutheran of Decorah, Iowa by my uncle in memory of my father. When we transitioned to the new "red" books--the green were pulled and made available for the congregation. A thoughtful person noted the bookplate in front and made a point of saving it for me. I had returned to this congregation where I was babptized after being away for 50 years. Noting the other reviewers--particularly the comments over the "controversy" of this hymnal--I am anxious to find out a bit more about that. Having been away from the Lutheran church for about 30 of those 50 years--I find it comforting to page through this volume and recall some of the more familiar portions.

I love the green hymnal. The liturgy in the new red one just isn't as awesome. ( )

After all the controversy over this poor book, I feel obligated to say something, even though to people outside the controversy, it's just another hymnal. This is the "green" hymnal adopted by the more liberal Lutheran churches (now all combined in one, some folks say thanks to the hymnal). The new liturgy is lively, if a tad difficult to sing, and the hymn choices range from the traditional to the folky to some interesting 20th century material. The reason it remains in our collection, despite my being long away from the fold, is the pointed psalm texts and psalm tones. ( )