The following order is provided for congregations and other worshiping communities who wish to mark the occasion of the first use of Evangelical Lutheran Worship
. Feel free to cut and paste the options you wish to use into your worship folder.
Brothers and sisters in Christ:
Today in our gathering we bless God for Evangelical Lutheran Worship,
and we pray for God’s blessing upon its use in our midst.
Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous;
praise is fitting for the upright.
Sing for the LORD a new song;
play your instrument skillfully with joyful sounds.
For your word, O LORD, is right,
and faithful are all your works.
Surely, our heart rejoices in you,
for in your holy name we put our trust.
Let us pray.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God;
you rule the universe with mercy and might.
You have enriched our lives with every good and perfect gift,
and you call us to praise you with lives of love, justice, and joy.
Accept these worship books which we offer in thanksgiving.
May all who use them be united in joy, sustained in sorrow,
and enlivened for service,
and bring us at last to the perfect worship of your heavenly banquet,
where you live and reign with the Son and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.
or
Gracious and glorious God, the strength of our ancestors
and the hope for our youth:
Blessed are you for gathering us
into a community of praise and prayer, comfort and joy.
Blessed are you for the gift of this book.
Blessed are you for its writers and translators,
composers and artists, editors and designers.
Send your Spirit on all who will worship with this book.
May its words deepen our knowledge of your Son,
its music bind us to believers around the world,
and its art illume our faith in you,
O God, blessed Trinity,
to whom be all honor and praise, now and forever.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The service may continue with a Gathering Song using Evangelical Lutheran Worship
for the first time. Possible hymns and songs include:
883 All People That on Earth Do Dwell
828 Alleluia! Voices Raise
846 Amen siakudumisa/Amen, We Praise Your Name
822 Cantad al Señor/Oh, Sing to the Lord
847 Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs
848 Give to Our God Immortal Praise!
857 Lord, I Lift Your Name on High
880 O God beyond All Praising
886 Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
843 Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness
821 Shout to the Lord
878 Soli Deo Gloria
845 Voices Raised to You
850, 851 When in Our Music God Is Glorified
861 When Long before Time