21 May 2006

KARL GREGORY - AXIOS!

The Ordination of Karl Gregory into the Office of the Holy Ministry at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hamel IL



11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Karl Gregory. Many years!

So, should we start calling the Vicar "Deacon Chad"? (snicker)

Deb

William Weedon said...

I think Vicar Lehmann prefers to be called "Your Emminence." ;) I know for a fact he was admiring the Bishop of Rome's mitre!

Anonymous said...

Yes, but will he wear the mitre with those nifty red shoes?

Deb

Anonymous said...

Yea, but, whoa! Check out that thurible he's swinging! Cool beans.

Seriously, is incense burned liturgically a common practice in Lutheran circles? I was in a Lutheran church a few weeks ago and, well, let's just say there ain't no incense burning there.

William Weedon said...

Duke,

Incense is anything but common in the Lutheran Church anymore. Tis a pity! But there have always been exceptions, and we just happen to be exceptional. ; )

Actually, it was Pastor Gregory who really wanted the incense. He is positively in love with the stuff. Sturgis, be prepared!!! He'll be swinging the censor from his harley!

William Weedon said...

Deb,

Stop putting temptation in the Vicar's way! ;)

William Weedon said...

By the way, Pastor Gregory received not only the laying on of hands from President Mueller and the gathered presbytery. He also received the anointing with oil. It was not a private chrism, but a very public one. Let the Luther scholars understand...

Anonymous said...

So where is the new Padre' heading off to? The seminaries used to publish the call list for the graduation class, but I sure can't find it.

William Weedon said...

Sturgis, SD - home of the annual Harley fest.

Anonymous said...

Fr. Weedon,
Was incense uncomon in Luther's church?

RB

William Weedon said...

It is hard to tell from the documents because they simply assumed much of the standard practice of the day without being explicit about it. For example, we know that the ringing of the bells at the consecration continued in Saxony - not because it was ever explicitly mentioned in the liturgical manuals, but because Christian Gerber describes it in his volume on church practices in Saxony - two centuries after the Reformation. I don't know, however, what (if anything) Gerber says about incense. I'd love to read his work sometime.

Luther does explicitly mention incense in his Formula Missa. "Sixth, the Gospel follows, for which we neither prohibit nor prescribe candles or incense." Additionally, we know that in Lutheran Magdeburg of the 17th century, incense was set and used as the bread and wine were being brought to the altar after the sermon, and as they choir sang "Grant peace we pray..."

Pax!