''Evangelical Lutheran Worship'' (''ELW'') is the current primary

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

and worship guidebook and

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

for use in the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

and the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC; french: Église évangélique luthérienne au Canada) is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 95,000 baptized members in 519 congregations, with the second largest, the Lutheran Church– ...

, replacing its predecessor, the '' Lutheran Book of Worship'' (''LBW'') of 1978, and its supplements, ''Hymnal Supplement 1991'' (published by

GIA Publications GIA Publications, Inc. is a major publisher of hymnals, other sacred music, and music education materials. Headquartered first in Pittsburgh and now Chicago, GIA is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. GIA originally stood for Gregorian Insti ...

, a Roman Catholic publishing house) and ''With One Voice'' (''WOV'') (published in 1995 by

Augsburg Fortress 1517 Media, formerly Augsburg Fortress Press, is the official publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), also publishing for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) as ''Augsburg Fortress Canada''. Headquarte ...

, the ELCA's publishing house). ''Evangelical Lutheran Worship'' was first published in October 2006. Though not all ELCA and ELCIC congregations immediately adopted the book, demand for it was so great that it sold out its first and second printings and some congregations had to delay its adoption until more were available. The book includes ten musical settings of the liturgy for the Holy Communion service, three of which were previously published in the ''Lutheran Book of Worship'' (1978), as well as a Service of the Word. Morning Prayer (Matins), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline) are all included, as are occasional and pastoral offices such as baptism, marriage, burial, individual confession, and proper services for

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the ...

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

, and the

Triduum A triduum (plural: ''tridua'') is a religious observance lasting three days. Major tridua The best-known and most significant example today is the liturgical Paschal Triduum (the three days from the evening of Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

's ''

Small Catechism ''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pra ...

'' is also printed in the book. A Prayer of the Day or

Collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...

is included for each Sunday of each year of the

lectionary A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, an ...

cycle. Unlike the abbreviated

Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters w ...

included in the ''LBW'', ''ELW'' includes the entire

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

in a version for congregational prayer and singing. Compared to the ''LBW'', the selection of hymns is expanded, including many options from previously published Evangelical Lutheran worship/liturgical books, hymnals and hymnal supplements in America in the last two centuries. In 2020, a supplement called ''All Creation Sings'' was published. It has two settings of Holy Communion, a Service of the Word (similar to LBW and WOV), and new hymns and songs.

External links

Evangelical Lutheran Worship
{{Lutheran hymnody Lutheran hymnals 2006 non-fiction books

See also

External links