High church Lutheranism

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Altarpiece in the Uppsala Cathedral of the Church of Sweden
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    High church Lutheranism is a movement that began in 20th-century Europe and emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglo-Catholicism. In the more general usage of the term, it describes the general high church characteristics of Lutheranism in Nordic and Baltic countries such as Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia. The mentioned countries, once a part of the Swedish Empire, have more markedly preserved Catholic traditions.

    Background

    Priest in the interior of the Strängnäs Cathedral

    The terms

    Lutheran Orthodoxy. There has been very little iconoclasm in Lutheran churches and church buildings have often remained richly furnished. Some monasteries also continued as Lutheran after the Reformation. Loccum Abbey and Amelungsborn Abbey
    in Germany have the longest traditions as Lutheran monasteries.

    In old

    Real Presence. Other church orders following closely to pre-Reformation rites and ceremonies were Palatinate-Neuburg
    (1543, retaining a eucharistic prayer[4]) and Austria (1571, prepared by David Chytraeus).[5]

    An interesting fact is that

    Episcopal Church in the United States of America, was originally Lutheran and came from a Lutheran family.[6]

    In Europe, after long influence of Pietism, theological rationalism, and finally, 19th century German Neo-Protestantism, a ground for 20th-century High Church or Evangelical Catholic Movement developed. The terms "High Church" (Evangelical Catholic) and "Low Church" (Confessing Evangelical) began to be used to describe differences within the Lutheran tradition. However, this terminology is not necessarily as characteristic for a Lutheran's identity as it often is for an Anglican.[7]

    Sometimes there is a distinction made between Nordic style Lutheranism and German style Lutheranism, with the latter being more influenced by pietism and the former having both retained and later also revived more of its pre-Reformation liturgy and practices and therefore being more high church. Examples of this are well-preserved church interiors, apostolic succession, and a clear episcopal structure. Although the name Nordic is used, it is actually mostly applicable to Sweden and Finland, and to a lesser extent, to Estonia and Latvia because those countries were part of the Swedish empire and were therefore the jurisdiction of the Church of Sweden. The other Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, and Iceland were under the influence of Danish rule in which the German form is dominant.[citation needed]

    High church movements

    The roots of 20th-century Lutheran High Church Movement are in 19th century

    Erastianism within Anglican Church. In this respect there are resemblances to the Oxford Movement in Anglicanism. The range within High Church Movement varies across a spectrum from moderate to papalist. The Second Vatican Council led to a breakthrough for the High Church Movement, which is slowly gaining support.[8]

    In Northern Europe, the term High Church has been often used pejoratively,

    Pietist Lutherans, Evangelical Catholic Lutheranism is seen as a violation of Reformation ideals[citation needed
    ].

    While the Church authorities have often by various actions tried to prevent the formation of Catholic parishes within the European

    State Churches, the Catholic movement has been preserved by many confraternities, religious orders, and monastic communities. It is growing in countries such as Norway.[11]

    High Church movements have in some cases, especially in Northern Europe, fallen into crisis because of the issue of ordination of women. In Norway the issue has resulted in the establishment of the Nordic Catholic Church. In Germany, on the other hand, the primary issue has been the lack of historical episcopate and apostolic succession.

    Nevertheless, the Catholic movement has influenced whole church bodies, and in some cases has developed liberal expressions. The liturgical emphasis does not always indicate Catholic Lutheranism, because in the Lutheran Church, the

    vestments
    , and ceremonies, without any theological argumentation or sense of historical continuity. Similarly, interest in mediaeval church buildings may have no concerns regarding the theology behind the form of worship taking place within these buildings.

    Sweden

    Historically Sweden, including the former Swedish province of Finland, has had a more elaborate form of liturgy, which preserved more links to the medieval Catholic tradition than other Nordic countries. Hence the most remarkable Lutheran high-church movement by its influence on the whole church body has been in the

    Pietists. The early high church movement caused the emergence of retreat centres, more frequent celebration of the Mass, and lively historical-critical study of the Bible
    .

    The strong social passion of the Catholic Movement within the Church of England never took root in the same way in Sweden.[12]

    The ordination of women as clergy began in 1958, and caused a split within the Swedish high church party. One branch with liberal leanings accepted this step while the other did not. Later, one of the leading figures of the high church movement was Bishop emeritus Bertil Gärtner who was against the ordination of women. He was successor to Bo Giertz as bishop of Gothenburg. He died in 2009. His role in the High Church movement fell on Bishop emeritus Biörn Fjärstedt [sv], the former bishop of Visby.

    The Svensk Pastoraltidskrift is the traditionalist journal of the High Church Movement in Sweden. The nucleus of the movement is

    Roman Catholic Church. Additionally the Anglican Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament
    is active within the Church of Sweden, with a national cell dependent upon the English jurisdiction of the confraternity.

    Germany

    The Berlin Cathedral

    In Germany, the high church movement is much smaller than in Sweden. Because of several unions between

    Evangelical Church in Germany has been much less influential than in Sweden and perhaps less integrated to the state Lutheran tradition. Still the movement is strongly involved in ecumenism and the Liturgical Movement
    .

    The case is much different in the

    Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. Because of the confessional Lutheran direction, there is a high church movement in that Church.[13][14]

    The German high church movement began in

    Evangelische Franziskaner-Tertiaren
    . The Catholic movement gained new strength by the Sammlung movement by
    St. Jakobus- Bruderschaft), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kirchliche Erneuerung in der Evang.-Luth. Kirche in Bayern (Working Group for Church Revival in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria), Humiliatenorden, St. Athanasius-Bruderschaft, Hochkirchlicher Apostolat St. Ansgar, Bekenntnisbruderschaft St. Peter und Paul, Kommunität St. Michael in Cottbus, Congregatio Canonicorum Sancti Augustini, and some religious communities like Priory of St. Wigbert
    .

    Other organisations, such as Berneuchen Movement and Kirchliche Arbeit Alpirsbach are regarded as part of the Liturgical Movement, although the former is theologically high church and in co-operation with High Church associations and religious fraternities.

    North America

    The 19th-century

    Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Iowa Synod
    .

    The

    Solemn High Mass with ceremony similar to that found in traditional Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic parishes. The Society of Saint Polycarp, a devotional guild, was also founded within the LCMS.[18] The most important evangelical catholic journals are Lutheran Forum, published by American Lutheran Publicity Bureau (ALPB), and Pro Ecclesia, published by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology
    in cooperation with the ALPB.

    Valparaiso University, an independent Lutheran institution, has also continued in its own evangelical catholic tradition. The development of this tradition is a unique blend between the movements within the various Lutheran church bodies. Students play a key role in crafting these services. Another significant contributor to the evangelical catholic values of Valparaiso University is the presence of the annual Liturgical Institute on its campus.

    Like some previously mentioned German religious clerical fraternities, in the United States the

    congregationalist polity to highly centralized episcopal polity
    ; worship using the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church exclusively; and work actively toward a form of visible, corporate reunion with the Roman Catholic Church.

    In North America, Lutheran liturgical renewal has also been seen in such organizations as the defunct St. James Society, the journal The Bride of Christ, the journal Gottesdienst, the defunct journal Motley Magpie, the Society of the Holy Trinity, the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood (influenced by German Evangelisch-Lutherische Gebetsbruderschaft), the Lutheran Missal Project, the Society of Saint Polycarp, the Society for the Preservation of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy, and the Good Shepherd Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

    On February 21, 2011, it became public that Catholic authorities in Rome have invited the

    Anglicanorum Coetibus and that the ALCC has officially and unconditionally accepted that invitation.[19]

    Other countries

    The

    Haugean movement fostered by Hans Nielsen Hauge) has served to reduce the distance between lay and clergy in Norway. The high church movement is more isolated and much smaller than in Sweden. It has been promoted by Ordo Crucis, Bønne- og arbeidsfellesskapet Kirkelig Fornyelse
    , Pro Ecclesia, and Samråd på Kirkens Grunn.

    In the

    Teologisk Oratorium (the best-known member having been Regin Prenter) and by Selskabet dansk Tidegærd
    .

    The Church of Iceland and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland have also had high church groups and interest has been expressed among both clergy and laity, though to a very small extent. After the Soviet era, in Baltic Lutheran Churches, including archbishop Jānis Vanags, there has been interest to High Church Movement. In Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church the movement is promoted by a confessional Society of the Augsburg Confession.[20]

    Academic theology

    Through

    Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) suggested that the Augsburg Confession might possibly be recognized as a Catholic statement of faith. This however did not happen.[21] Within evangelical catholic Lutheranism, there has been less movement towards Roman Catholicism than within Anglo-Catholicism. Owing to liberalism in Lutheran churches, some well known Lutheran theologians, such as Richard John Neuhaus and Reinhard Hütter, have become Roman Catholic while others, such as Jaroslav Pelikan, have joined the Eastern Orthodox Church
    .

    Theology and spirituality

    The aim of the Evangelical Catholics is to recover the liturgical and confessional heritage of Lutheranism in continuity with the broad tradition that includes Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and the Eastern Orthodox.

    Confessional Lutheranism
    . The approach to worship may also significantly vary within Confessional Lutheranism.

    By theological emphasis the High Church Movement may vary from one country to another. The classical manifesto of the Scandinavian high church revival program is "Kyrklig förnyelse" by Gunnar Rosendal (1935). In its beginning the German high church movement was inspired by the 95 theses "Stimuli et Clavi" by pastor Heinrich Hansen (1917).

    In the same way as Anglo-Catholics have esteemed

    Roman Catholicism and Protestantism because of its emphasis upon doctrine and because it has preserved the Catholic doctrine of the Sacrament and its liturgical traditions in purer form than the Anglican Church in the Book of Common Prayer.[23]

    Evangelical Catholic spirituality is characteristically more

    church year important, from point of view of the incarnation
    .

    These stresses have created the need to give an evangelical interpretation to the sacrifice of the

    Christ on Calvary
    .

    One divide within high church Lutheranism is in the matter of the direction of the liturgy. Some follow the understanding of liturgy as "work of the people" whereas others follow the understanding of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV which states that the liturgy is not a sacrifice but squares with the public ministry. A common hallmark of this divergence is the preference of the term "

    eucharistic prayers
    , the epiclesis, and the role of the laity in the liturgy.

    The praying of the

    Holy Orders
    to be Sacraments.

    Liturgical practices

    Formal liturgy based on the western Catholic

    Liturgical movement. Today they are more rare and are not necessarily favoured by clergy in Nordic countries
    because of the associations with the former era of liturgical decline.

    Notable persons

    Sweden

    Germany

    North America

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Rudolf Rocholl: Gesch. d. ev. Kirche in Deutschland, s. 300
    2. ^ The Proper Communion Vestments by P. Severinsen
    3. ISBN 0-8006-2726-1
    4. ^ a b Lutheran Liturgies from Martin Luther to Wilhelm Löhe Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine by Vernon P. Kleinig, Concordia Theological Quarterly, April 1998
    5. ISBN 0-8006-2726-1
    6. ^ Mühlenberg, William Augustus - Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
    7. ^ Evangelical Catholics and Confessional Evangelicals: The Ecumenical Polarities of Lutheranism Archived 2007-10-22 at the Wayback Machine by Gene Edward Veith
    8. ISBN 0-8028-2879-5
      , p. 145
    9. ISBN 91-7830-052-5
      , p. 9
    10. ^ Lutheran Ceremonia Archived 2007-09-18 at the Wayback Machine by John W. Berg. Motley Magpie Volume 1, Number 2, March 2003
    11. ^ Katolsk infiltrasjon i Statskirken... - Mens Vi Venter, nr. 8, Juli/Aug. 1994
    12. ^ Bexell, Oloph. The Oxford Movement as Received in Sweden. The Church Coalition for Bible and Confession - The London Conference 2006.
    13. ^ Video Celebrating the lord's supper in a congregation of the SELK
    14. ^ Information in English of Congregation in Berlin Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
    15. ^ Wilhelm Lohe's Hauptgottesdienst (1844) as Critique of Luther's Deutsche Messe Archived 2007-04-06 at the Wayback Machine by John W. Fenton, Concordia Theological Quarterly, April 2000.
    16. ^ Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Detroit
    17. ^ Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne Archived 2007-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
    18. ^ Society of St. Polycarp - St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hamel, Illinois.
    19. ^ "Judi Online".
    20. ^ http://www.meiekirik.ee/
    21. ^ The Catholicity of the Augsburg Confession by Avery Dulles, S.J. (JSTOR, The Journal of Religion, Vol. 63, No. 4, Martin Luther, 1483-1983. (Oct., 1983), pp. 337-354.)
    22. ^ Turn Out the Lights? by James Nuechterlein. First Things (August/September 2001).
    23. ^ Friedrich Heiler and the High Church Movement in Germany by Bernard E. Meland, (JSTOR)
    24. ^ Liturgy and Worship Archived 2006-09-26 at the Wayback Machine website of the Church of Sweden
    25. ^ The Catholic Movement in the Swedish Church by Gunnar Rosendal
    26. ^ Wittenberg and Canterbury Archived 2006-09-09 at the Wayback Machine by John Stephenson, Concordia Theological Quarterly, April–July 1984
    27. ^ Elevation (Christian Cyclopedia)
    28. ^ Yngve Brilioth: Nattvarden i evangeliskt gudstjänstliv, 2nd edition, 1951, p. 188
    29. ^ The Sacrament of the Altar: The Sacrament Is Adorable And Extended In Time (by Tom G.A. Hardt)
    30. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2008-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

    Further reading

    External links
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