Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

The life of Wisconsin Synod congregations centers around worship in Word and sacrament. Evangelistic and educational ministries are oriented around the liturgy, and the role of other ministries within the denomination is shaped by the degree to which they are integrated into congregational worship life.

Members of the twelve hundred congregations affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod are generally agreed that public worship is the most important activity of a Christian congregation. A higher percentage of the Synod's members, by far, attend Sunday services than participate in organized or informal Bible study. Most pastors spend more time planning and preparing for worship, along with the Sunday sermon, than they do for other congregational activities. With few exceptions, new congregations build churches before they erect schools, educational buildings, or fellowship buildings. Probably, few lay people could articulate a rationale for this attitude toward public worship. This attitude flows naturally, however, from the truths that the church body and its members firmly confess. Members of the Wisconsin Synod believe that Christian faith, which includes both trust in God's promises and a determination to live according to God's will, is lived out only through the power of the Holy Spirit. They also believe that the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith only through the gospel contained in the Word of God and the sacraments. With Martin Luther, they confess:

I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Ghost has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith (Small Catechism).

Wisconsin Synod Lutherans believe that the primary objective of public worship is to give glory to the Triune God by proclaiming the gospel in Word and sacrament and by presenting to God the church's confession, prayer, and praise. They believe that the church's public praise not only summarizes, but also sets the pattern for each individual believer's life of daily thanksgiving. Since Wisconsin Synod Lutherans hold to these truths and since more of them gather around the gospel and respond with their praise at public worship than at any other time and place, it becomes understandable why members of this Synod believe that public worship is the most important activity of a Christian congregation. Worship and Education Most Wisconsin Synod congregations worship according to a relatively complete version of the historic Lutheran liturgy. The corpus of familiar hymns has tended to include many of the Lutheran chorales, although the church's 1993 hymnal, Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal, includes hymns from a wide range of Christian traditions. Long-term use has made the liturgy familiar, and a strong commitment to religious education has helped to make the liturgy understandable. The Synod's extensive kindergarten through high school parochial educational system includes training in liturgical forms and hymnology. Although there is not an explicit connection between the church year emphases of the liturgy and the religious curriculum of the parish and Sunday schools, even young children are easily able to participate in public worship. Some pastors preach a short children's sermon before the regular Sunday sermon. However, congregations are discovering that smaller children and their parents receive greater benefit from a staffed nursery than from artificial attempts to include the participation of children in the service. Evangelistic Aspects of Worship Generally, the Synod's traditional liturgies and hymns serve its members better than they do visitors and the unchurched. However, many congregations have found that the interest visitors and the unchurched have in gospel preaching offsets any intimidating effect of a sophisticated liturgy with unfamiliar hymns. This is especially true in congregations where the liturgy is used wisely and enthusiastically by worship leaders and worshipers. The denomination's Commission on Evangelism has encouraged pastors and congregations to remove unnecessary barriers to the unchurched wherever they may exist. Some congregations print the entire liturgy, including hymns, in a bulletin for each main service. Many congregations post greeters at the narthex door and place directions to rest rooms and nursery facilities on the narthex walls. Some churches have occasionally attempted to simplify the liturgy for the sake of visitors, but even in congregations with a strong evangelistic emphasis there seems to be little interest in a wholesale repudiation of the Lutheran liturgical heritage. A number of Wisconsin Synod congregations use radio and television to broadcast services as an evangelistic outreach; some have achieved notable success through these media. The Synod's Commission on Evangelism has produced several radio and television broadcasts for national syndication. The broadcast media have also been used for ministry to homebound and physically impaired members. A growing number of congregations offer signed worship for the hearing impaired; many have installed hearing aid systems in the pews. Large print and Braille versions of the hymnal are available from the denominational publishing house and are used widely. Lay people have tended to be more sensitive in recent years about including in church designs easy access for the physically challenged. Social Concerns in Worship The synod's commitment to the gospel and its liturgical worship style leave few opportunities to accentuate social concerns. The Christian's personal obligation to his or her fellow human beings often finds its way into sermon applications and is included in many hymns. Occasionally, congregations depart from the liturgical church calendar to focus especially on social concerns. The Synod's Commission on Relief, which oversees the gathering and distribution of individual gifts for disaster aid, often invites gifts near Thanksgiving Day. In recent years, some congregations have designated a Sunday in January for an emphasis on life issues. Role of Women Although lay men are occasionally called upon to assist with the distribution of the sacrament, the church body has no tradition of using lay readers or deacons at public worship. Women are not ordained and do not serve in the pastoral ministry. Many women serve as organists, choir directors, ushers, greeters, and altar guild members.