The reason for this loss is not what many people think it is-there is no great malevolence here, no crazed society for the death of the liturgy. However, many do not realize that Lutheran worship is its own culture, distinct from the pop culture and the evangelical culture of Christianity in our country today. The church must develop and maintain its own cultural language that reflects the values and structures of the Scriptures and not of the current culture. This church language can only be shaped by a biblical theology which affirms the real presence of Jesus Christ in worship and our belief that this presence binds the culture together as a community. The context that shapes our distinct Lutheran ethos is Scripture, theology, and history.
Local circumstance is secondary.
Traditionally, this Lutheran culture is liturgical, theological, and counter- cultural. Liturgical ministers need to know the historical context of their tradition, particularly the context of biblical history. The eschatological context of worship accents the continuity of our liturgy from generation to generation. The ancient eucharistic prayers, with their long recital of God's great act of salvation in biblical and ecclesiastical history, proclaimed the presence of the whole Church at the liturgy-past, present, and future. The great witnesses of the faith are present in the assembly because Christ is present in the liturgy.