When it comes to the settings of the Divine Service within Lutheran Service Book (2006), it is a safe assumption to state that among the congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod the default service is Divine Service: Setting One. A generation or two ago, the default service was the Common Service (1887), which is retained within Lutheran Service Book in Divine Service: Setting Three. Its default status was due to the fact that it was the only musical setting within The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), as well as its predecessor Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1912).  It is also safe to assume that the switch from default setting to another was due to a pining for musical variety. The complaint was and still is that a lifetime of one musical setting leads to monotony.
This complaint was voiced very soon after the publication of The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) within the Missouri Synod. This is attested to by the publication of The Order of Holy Communion: Musical Setting by Healey Willan in 1959, just eighteen years after The Lutheran Hymnal’s publication. (This was co-released with another setting composed by Jan O. Bender.) Within the introduction to the Willan publication Walter E. Buszin, Chairman of the Commission on Worship, Liturgics, and Hymnody, states, “There has been some agitation on the part of laymen, church musicians, and pastors for something different.” Furthermore, after describing the differences of mood and contemplation between the liturgical seasons, he says, “Thoughtful Christians realize that it is not the text, but rather the musical setting of the liturgy that needs variety.”
Is there such a dearth of variety? Granted there is no glut either, but familiarity paired with lack of creativity and nuance on the part of pastors has created the appearance of varietal paucity and lackluster rigidity. If one considers, however, the hymnals that lead up to Lutheran Service Book (2006), not only looking at their liturgies but their rubrics, then more musical variety can be found. Further variety can also be gained by using what is contained within Lutheran Service Book (2006) itself. This mining of the resources will bolster and enrich the continued use of Divine Service: Setting Three, possibly even to the point of greater frequency within an LCMS congregation.
Finally, I’ve got to say that most of this is just a thought experiment done in an evangelical spirit. Divine Service: Setting Three is a gift as is, and it can be a weekly gift that way! Any variations I do or do not do are gift. Some of the options for variation came to mind as I was investigating and compiling those I already knew. And so, of course, I don’t use of them and may never. It’s all gift. All thought out in order to compliment the gift of DS 3 as well as bolster our “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” so that we may rejoice in our “exhorting and encouraging one another” with them, “so that the Word of Christ may dwell within us richly.” (Col 3)
Basic Assumptions
Words matter—not only in their use, but also their continued use. This is also Luther’s basic assumption in the Small Catechism.
First, the pastor should most carefully avoid teaching the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the sacraments, etc., according to various texts and differing forms. Let him adopt one version, stay with it, and from one year to the next keep using it unchanged. Young and inexperienced persons must be taught a single fixed form or they will easily become confused, and the result will be that all previous effort and labor will be lost. There should be no change, even though one may wish to improve the text.
Small Catechism, Preface
The same basic principle can apply to liturgical texts, and herein lies the application to the Common Service (1888) as retained in Divine Service: Setting Three of Lutheran Service Book (2006). We seek to bolster musical variety so that the text can remain because the words matter. In fact, the retaining of the words in the hearts and minds of God’s people is what matters most. Updating or using alternate words is not necessarily out of place, as even Luther employed expanded not truncated words for his German Mass (1526). Thus, the implementation of the ICET translation for Settings One and Two are not in error as a matter of principle, nor would modernizing the the text of Setting Three away from the Jacobean.
As an aside, the truncated (e.g., the Gloria in Excelsis) and incorrectly translated words (e.g., “power and might” for “Saboath”) of Settings One and Two are what call for the use of the text of Setting Three. Setting One and Setting Two of the Divine Service in Lutheran Service Book (2006) employ the same text, which, of course, theoretically offers variety. Although most LCMS congregations only ever use Setting One. Be that as it may, no second option was provided for the text of Setting Three, and if there were, it may have suffered the fate of Divine Service: Setting Two.
As shall be outlined below, the thoughtful pastor, church musician, or laymen who desires to keep the text of Setting Three but at the same time offer musical variety is not without options, and while a complete alternate setting may be for most difficult to attain, we are not completely devoid of variety for Setting Three.
Table of Contents
- The Sources and Method
- The 1959 Settings
- The Introit and Gloria Patri
- The Kyrie and Agnus Dei
- The Gradual
- The Alleluia
- The Offertory
- The Sanctus
- The Lord’s Prayer
1. The Sources and Method
The sources for this endeavor are simple enough. They will be within the hymnal tradition of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. They will be recognizable to most, and even the older or even rarer variety will hopefully be so to many laymen, most church organists, and hopefully the lion’s share of pastors. There is one non-Missouri Synod resource whose inclusion is necessitated by something within Lutheran Service Book, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. The resources are, in order of publication:
- Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1912) [ELHB]
- The Common Service Book (1918) [CSB]
- The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) [TLH]
- Service Book and Hymnal (1958) [SBH]
- Lutheran Service Book (2006) [LSB]
The corresponding Agenda, Altar Books, Liturgies, and Organist Editions to these hymnals may also be referenced.
The following explanation will progress through each ordinary or proper selection in order as it occurs in the Divine Service. Depending on the options for variety, more or less printing of handouts or bulletins may be required. The reasons for various outlined below are not just variety for variety’s sake, but they are entertained or even enjoined based upon the liturgical calendar of seasons and feasts. Some of what I describe below is my current practice, some are ideas I’ve had but not implemented, and finally some are new ideas based upon information provided in Daniel Baker, “The False Dichotomy of Formula Missae and Deutsche Messe” published in Logia: A Journal of Lutheran Theology 32, no. 2 (Eastertide 2023): 7–12.
2. The 1959 Settings
Before we can dive into Divine Service: Three, we must first discuss the attempts by the Missouri Synod to offer options for different a different setting of then Page 15, which is now Divine Service: Setting Three. That attempt, as noted above, was the The Order of Holy Communion: Musical Setting by Healey Willan (1959). As of publication, I know of only one LCMS congregation that uses this setting. The text and full music of this setting has been digitized and can be found in various places online, and thus this option exists for the words of Divine Service: Setting Three. Even with my limited exposure and trained ability to play, this setting seems to be quite playable and singable by the average congregation.
There is also The Order of Holy Communion: Musical Setting by Jan O. Bender (1959). This edition is more difficult to procure, but may be an option. I am only aware of it due to its mention in the introduction of the Healey Willan setting. The difficulty of playing or singing this setting is unknown. While it was published, the scarcity of the organist edition, might make its use impossible. The melody edition is more prevalent but still very scarce.
3. The Introit and Gloria Patri
LSB Options
The option for musical variety is already baked into Lutheran Service Book when it comes to the Introit and Gloria Patri. There are eight single chant tones that can be used for the Psalms, Introits, Graduals, or Tracts. There are also three double chants, which may work for Psalms, Introits, and Tracts but not for Graduals due to their length. In the Organist Edition there is also an option for using Tone C with the Gloria Patri printed on LSB 186.
LCMS congregational practice varies on whether to put the antiphon before or after the Gloria Patri. The traditional liturgical application would have it after the Gloria Patri, since that is how it is with psalms and introits using the LSB chant tones. The historic practical application would place it before the Gloria Patri, since congregations are often accustomed to flowing from the Gloria Patri straight into the Kyrie in their implementation of DS 3. (It’s best to avoid the duplication of the Gloria Patri, singing it according to the chant tone then again according to p. 186.)
My Practice
I use the various chant tones throughout the Liturgical Year for the Introit. When using DS 3, I switch to using Tone C with the Gloria Patri (LSB 186), as indicated in the Organist Edition, for high days (feasts/festivals) or high seasons, that is, whenever the liturgical color is white or red. For ease of congregational singing and organist playing, I put the antiphon before the Gloria Patri.
Further Thoughts on Variety
What variety can be had beyond this? There are only two other stand alone musical Gloria Patri in Lutheran Service Book: in Morning Prayer (LSB 235) and Matins (LSB 219)/Vespers (LSB 229). (The former is also used in the Nunc Dimittis of DS 1, LSB 165.) Variety for variety’s sake would implement one of these, but if were looking for the same words, these are not the best options. They are, however, the same when using the Introit apart from the DS 3 Gloria Patri. To find an alternate setting to the words employed in DS 3, one only need to turn to Matins/Vespers from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941).
The tune there employed is the tune used for the Benedictus in LSB (p. 226). The tune in TLH is most likely set too high, which accounts for it no longer being used in the Versicles. The setting for the Benedictus (LSB 226) is lower and could be paired easily with Tone B. The Jacobean words paired with that tune could offer more festival variety. The regular chant tones employed during the lengthy green portion of the Church Year (Epiphany Season, Gesimatide, and Trinity), Tone C with Gloria Patri (LSB 186) for higher seasons (Advent, Lent), and tone B with Gloria Patri (LSB 226) for highest seasons/festivals (Christmas, Easter). Alternatively, the last option could be employed only on high days or festivals (e.g., Christmas Day, Easter Day, Ascension, Trinity, Saint’s Days, or other Festivals) with the Tone C with Gloria Patri used for non-green seasons (Advent–Christmas, Lent–Easter).
Music
4. The Kyrie and Agnus Dei
Explanation
The discussion here will mostly involve the Kyrie, but it will also bring in a discussion of the Agnus Dei. Daniel Baker says, “Compositional nuance to express evangelical truth permeated the Deutsche Messe [German Mass] and its various chorale-canticles. The musical symmetry in the structure of the entire liturgy emphasized Luther’s evangelical paradigm. The melody of the Kyrie was revisited in the Agnus Dei.” (“False Dichotomy,” 10) He further explains, “The Common Service [retained] many elements unique to the Deutsche Messe [German Mass], ranging from Luther’s musical compositions in the Kyrie and Agnus Dei to the placement of an Exhortation and Lord’s Prayer and even the Postcommunion [sic] Collect and Benediction.” (Ibid., 12)
What this means is that Luther in the “German Mass,” which is retained in LSB DS 5, had the melodies for the Kyrie and Agnus Dei echo one another. Thus the beginnings of “Kyrie, God Father” (LSB 942) and “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy” (LSB 434) sound the same. Moreover, this choice was retained in the Common Service, as preserved in Divine Service: Setting Three. The Kyrie (LSB 186) and Agnus Dei (LSB 198) begin with the same few notes. This move was also made by Healey Willan in his setting of the Common Service.
Further Thoughts on Variety
A similar issue arrises with the Kyrie as it did with the Gloria Patri. The modernized language of the Kyrie drops “upon us,” which makes implementation of any other musical Kyrie from LSB impossible. Here again The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) bequeaths another gift to our time. The Kyrie employed therein by Matins/Vespers could offer some musical variety to LSB DS 3. (It is similar to that used in LSB Matins/Vespers.)
This brings up whether we want to retain Luther’s evangelical point, namely, that the Agnus Dei, or more truly, the Supper to which the Agnus Dei is united, is the fulfillment of our threefold cry to Christ for mercy. The Agnus Dei thus matches the Kyrie not only by echoing the melody but also by being threefold. Here music and structure are proclaiming the Gospel and highlighting it in our ears and mouths. There is no mandate to maintain this echoing, but if there is a desire to do so, the Agnus Dei listed below could be used, or certainly another better one.
Music
5. The Gradual
Explanation
LSB includes Graduals for the propers for each week. That LSB drops the Gradual throughout Easter is a bit odd. The greatest issue comes with its explanation in the rubrics, “During the celebration of Easter and Pentecost, the Gradual is omitted and the Verse is expanded.” (LSB Altar Book, ) To me this is an arbitrary rubric, which in a sense they all are, for the following reason. Compared to the proper Alleluia verses of other seasons, and even those with Easter itself, the verses are only slightly longer than others. Only the proper Alleluias for Easter 2, Easter 5–7 are significantly expanded.
My Practice
I use graduals as included in LSB Altar Book. On Septuagesima Sunday, the Venite from Matins could be used for Gradual since its the appointed Psalm. This could also be done for Trinity 24, since Psalm 95 is the Introit. Another option
Further Thoughts on Variety
If using Setting One, with either its Alleluia or the Alleluia from DS 4, the Alleluia verses (especially the expanded ones) could be used as a Gradual.
6. The Alleluia
LSB Options
Like the Gradual, there is variety already baked into the Alleluia for Divine Service: Setting Three. There are two triple Alleluias included in LSB. There is also the option to include a verse paired with either Alleluia, which in theory could be spoken or sung. The verses are included in the LSB Altar Book. The options for chant tones are included in the LSB Liturgy Accompaniment Edition. With this option the congregation sings the triple Alleluia, the pastor, cantor, or choir chants the appointed verse, and the congregation sings again the triple Alleluia. (The option for chanting the seasonal verses was also given for The Lutheran Hymnal in the later publication (1944) of The Music for the Liturgy of The Lutheran Hymnal.)
Which alleluia to choose? The rubrics for DS 3 in LSB give no advice, neither does the LSB Altar Book, nor the LSB Liturgy Accompaniment Edition. Nothing is mentioned either in TLH (1941) or in The Music for the Liturgy of The Lutheran Hymnal (1944). Yet again a lost rubric from Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1912) provides some direction, and thus congregations are not stuck only singing the first alleluia, or only the second, or left up to the whims of the pastor or organist. ELHB says that the second Triple Alleluia is “For Festivals” (ELHB, 5), thus indicating that the first Triple Alleluia is for non-festivals.
My Practice
I enjoy using the Triple Alleluia as indicated in the LSB Liturgy Accompaniment Edition, with “Option A” (the first alleluia in LSB) on non-festivals and “Option B” (the second Alleluia in LSB) for festivals, as indicated by the rubric in Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book.
Further Thoughts on Variety
One option for further variety, which may be more applicable to Setting One or Setting Two but could also serve Setting 3, is to use the Alleluia from Divine Service: Setting Four. The Alleluia would be used for the Easter Season, beings used as printed (LSB 205), that is, not with the seasonal verse. This would especially be appropriate for Easter 2—Quasimodo Geniti.
Another option would be to use the Triple Alleluia from The Common Service Book (1917). The Triple Alleluia printed there is actually the Triple Alleluia from “The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done” (LSB 464), albeit in a lower register (C Major rather than D Major). This could be paired with Tone C from the LSB Psalm Tones. This option may also be best suited for the Easter Season. If that would be paired with the Tone C and Gloria Patri option from LSB Liturgy Accompaniment Edition, which is explained above, then it might drive using Tone C with the gradual, even though another Psalm Tone (Tone A for example) may be a better seasonal choice. That said, if the Gloria Patri and Tone C is already usually used in services with LSB Alleluia B, the congregation would be accustomed to hearing several different chant tones throughout.
Music
- Common Service Alleluia 🔊 📄
- LSB DS 4 Alleluia
7. The Offertory
LSB Options
There is an option for variety within LSB for the Offertory of Setting Three. There is an alternate setting for the Offertory in LSB 956. The Offertory printed in Setting Three (LSB 192) is the one taken from the “Page 15” service (“The Order of Holy Communion”) from The Lutheran Hymnal. LSB 965 is the setting taken from the “Page 5” service (“The Order of Morning Service with Communion”) from The Lutheran Hymnal.
My Practice
Since it offers a more major setting, I use LSB 956 similarly to how I use the Gloria Patri and the Alleluia. I use it on major festivals (red or white days) or “white” seasons (Christmas, Easter). I use the Offertory setting from DS 3 at other times.
8. The Sanctus
LSB Options
There are no options within LSB for a Sanctus that matches the words of DS 3. There is LSB 961 🔊, which was composed by Mark L. Bender. It was composed for a possible new setting for the Divine Service for LSB, but it was never adopted. This translation of the Sanctus drops the Jacobean English (“Thy” and “cometh”), but it does retain the biblical word “Sabaoth,” unlike DS 1 and DS 2.
My Practice
I currently enjoy using the Sanctus as included in DS 3 (LSB 195).
Further Thoughts on Variety
As noted above with the Alleluia, so also here with the Sanctus, Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1912) offers an option for some variety. The music used in ELHB and LSB is very similar, but ELHB notes that a choir sings the first two occurrences of “Blessed is He” in the Benedictus qui venit. An attempt to accentuate their differences is available through recordings listed below. The setting of ELHB could of course be used as originally printed. The standard LSB setting could also be used in the way indicated in ELHB, that is, with a choir sining the first two occurrences of “Blessed is He.” Doing either would serve well for high festival days like Christmas, Easter, etc.
The doorway to yet another option is opened actually by LSB Divine Service: Setting Two, which was composed by Ronald Nelson (1927–2014). Nelson actually adopted a setting by J.S. Bach (BWV 325: German; BWV 325: Latin) for the Sanctus of DS 2. It seems that this is no random choice by Nelson. It restores using Bach for the Sanctus, as was done in The Common Service Book (1918) and Service Book and Hymnal (1958). Between the two, the lower setting from SBH is more singable.
The SBH Sanctus can be paired with the Proper Preface the LSB Altar Book. If this Sanctus from SBH is used, the starting note of the LSB Proper Preface should be moved down to “F” from “G.” (The final preface response sung by the congregation is an “F”.) After doing this, the steps between the notes would remain the same. This, I believe, transposes it from F Major to E♭ Major, the same key as the SBH Sanctus. After the Sanctus, if the Lord’s Prayer is sung, the starting pitch would need to be given, or the modulations given below, or another, could be used.
Music
- ELHB Sanctus 🔊 📄
- LSB DS 3 Sanctus 🔊
- SBH Bach Sanctus 🔊 📄
- Lord’s Prayer Modulation 🔊 📄
- Simple Modulation 🔊 📄
9. The Lord’s Prayer
LSB Options
There is an option included in LSB rubrics for variety. The Lord’s Prayer rubric states, “The LORD’S PRAYER may be spoken by all or sung as follows.” (LSB, 195) LSB 957 🔊 is another setting of the Lord’s Prayer. If the congregation knows it, it could be used in place of the setting in DS 3. LSB 957, however, is also in the same key as the one in DS 3, thus the pastor could chant his portion according to LSB 957 and the congregation joins in singing the Doxology as indicated on LSB 195.
My Practice
During “green seasons” (Epiphany, Gesimatide, Trinity) I use the spoken option. During non-green seasons I’ve typically used LSB 195 as printed. In the past I occasionally chanted my portion according to LSB 957, doing so on festival days to beautify the words to God our Father. I did this on white seasons or days.
Further Thoughts on Variety
As noted more above, the Sanctus from SBH is in a different key than the Proper Preface and Sanctus, as well as the Lord’s Prayer chant. After that setting of the Sanctus, if the Lord’s Prayer is sung, the starting pitch would need to be given, or the modulations listed above, or another, could be used.
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