Living all my life in a community where Lutherans had been been predominant but facing strong competition and occasional opposition from evangelical sects the uniquely Lutheran aspect of Wednesday services appears that they are conducted by Lutherans ONLY during Advent and Lent and not year 'round.

The evangelical sects (Evangelical Association which merged to Evangelical United Brethren, which merged to United Methodist; Assemblies of God; and various Baptists) mostly maintain a schedule of worship on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings, as well as Wednesday evenings 52 weeks a year. Oftentimes the evening services tended to be more evangelistic and heavy on the Law than the Sunday morning worship.

Against that backdrop, my suspicion is that Lutherans began to imitate their neighbors (competitors) but with a degree of liturgical consciousness, deeming midweek services only suitable for the penitential seasons.

In some communities the Lenter services were/are held ecumenically. When I arrived in my present parish two decades ago, the midweek community Lenten services were such a major force in that community that if one failed to arrive by 7:00 for a 7:30 service the only parking was several blocks away and the only seating left was a folding chair in an overflow room. Times have changed and crowds have waned.

The midweek Advent (maybe Lenten) Devotions observed in many Lutheran parishes are the product of a confluence of sources, among them:

Pastor’s always end up with extra material that they can’t fit into their Sunday services and thus the bloating of the season can be bled off in another series of sermons which also help get the preacher out of the house so that he or she does not have to do the decorating, early like some in the family want.

They answered a need for those who felt that the Advent antiphons and responsories were not all being used on the weekends and Psalms were accumulating at an alarming rate of disuse.

In the days before multiple weekend worship services it was a way of playing “Big Church” in the small parish. And big churches did not want to be outdone by their country cousins.

Luther writes about it one of his unpublished table talks, remembered by several Saxon women who came over on the first boat of Lutherans and who whispered the sense of the conversation to their husbands to present to the Bishop Stephan. Luther said something about simul Sunday et Versperi Wednesdae.

Some members of the St. James Society used the Wednesday offices as a means of wearing their copes which had fallen into disuse because of their introduction of every Sunday Communions. It was also Luther who said that if you do not Vesper at least three or four times a year, you may not be monastic enough, get God incensed or something like that.

Every Sunday is a little Easter and every Wednesday is a little Holy Week silent day and no one can stand silence for more than 30 seconds, so filler up.

Each Wednesday night has been observed as a Little Garden of Gethsemane for parents with kids who are moaning that they have had to sit still in school all day, did not get enough TV or homework time and must be kept holy by the pinching finger of their pious mother. Pious Dad is working too late and cannot miss the CSI show or in the 1950’s, Leave it to Beaver.

Keep your books and subscriptions, give the profits of these meager as they might be… to the poor and you will have observed a Wednesday in the middle.

Harvey Mozolak

The Thumb of Michigan, 1872
Times were tight. The pastor was already compensated through eggs, beef and a cord of wood as needed. He was asked not to burn the parsonage stove at night to stretch that cord. The teacher did not fare as well, he only had 6 children, the pastor 9, as such, the preacher got more of what the poor congregation had. The teacherage didn't hold as many mouths needing feeding. It was November, the harvest had not been good and so as the Holy Season of Advent was to begin, the pastor announced that Vespers would be prayed on Wednesday nights, so that the Word would be heard in preparation for a Christmas Season without much merriment and not too many gifts around the tree.

At the November voter's meeting, during discussion of the motion, the pastor was asked whether or not an offering would be taken during this Mid-Week service. "Yes, we would take a collection, although this is not the primary purpose, we will come to hear the word and pray that our Lord would come, and come right soon."

That a collection would be taken was good enough reason for the farmers. The widow Frickenschmidt was sitting on more than a few gold pieces, and that extra few dollars for her offering would go a long way towards balancing the ledger for the year.

At the general pastoral conference the following spring, the pastor announced the bountiful harvest of souls hearing the word during the Wednesdays in Advent and since it had been such a blessed thing for the congregation, he continued the practice in Lent. Not only did the saints hear the Word, but an increase in offerings was noted. The pastoral conference passed a resolution encouraging all the congregations of the district to begin such "Mid-Week" services, and the rest is history.

What are Lent and Advent?

As our Lutheran catechisms and pastors and godparents and sunday school teachers taught us, we know ourselves to be simul justus et peccator. And how could we, sinners that we are, come to the communion feasts of Christmas and Easter without confessing, hearing the Word, and preparing? We couldn't! And so we came on Wednesday evenings in those seasons, to hear of sin and grace and sing (of course, to sing!) For Lutherans, more Word, more song, more prayer opened our hearts to Jesus. Confessing our sin brought us the quiet Lutheran joy of absolution. Advent and Lent were penitential purple, after all, and in those seasons we learned again why Jesus came.... and died and rose.

Nowadays, of course, Advent is blue and Lent is more "lite" than lit by our sorrow over sin. Wednesday evening services have diminished and, in many places, disappeared, not because we are "too busy", but because we have lost our bedrock sense of sin and grace in too many congregations. But there are, thanks be to God, the faithful ones who know, and repent, and love, and come. And in coming, find again the quiet joy that prepares the heart for the joyful feasting.

Oh, why Wednesdays, you ask? Because choir practice is on Thursdays, and no one messes with that!

Thank you to all who took the time to answer. Since there were no groundbreaking historical discoveries presented, I have interpreted rule #2 broadly to determine that all of our creative entries should be rewarded. Therefore: Tom, Harvey, Rev. Ball and Judith (sorry Clint) please e-mail me at prs@lutheranforum.org and provide:

1. Your mailing address
2. If you are not a current subscriber to the Lutheran Forum package - your preference for either a gift subscription to Lutheran Forum or one of the books listed. If you are already a subscriber to Lutheran Forum please let me know which book you would like sent to you.

I hope that my revision of the rules is acceptable to you. I enjoyed your responses and didn’t want to leave anyone out.

Clint, if you are that desperate for a book, let me know and I will send you one. You probably weren’t eligible anyways as one of our highly paid regular online columnists!

Paul,
I'm so sorry that I never checked back about this "contest" you offered and which I entered. I could just say that I was busy .... and that's true, of course, as it is for all of us ...... but honestly I just enjoyed entering and reading the other contributions, and never thought to check back.
Sorry!