Book excerpt: Excerpt from A Liturgy for the Use of the Evangelical Lutheran Church The Synod of Pennsylvania, the oldest, and for a long time the only Synod of the Lutheran Church in this country, in the first year of its existence, found it necessary to prepare a Liturgy, in order to secure uniformity in the ceremonies of public worship. This first brief Liturgy was republished with alterations and addi tions in 1786. The next edition in 1818 differs but slightly in the order of public worship from the preceding. In 1842 a new edition, carefully revised and much enlarged, was published by the Synod of Pennsylvania in connection with the Synods of New York and Ohio. In 1855 a new edition was published, the fifth since 1748, in which many and important alterations and additions were introduced, chie y for the purpose of securing a fuller con formity to the ancient usage of the Lutheran Church. This is now the standard edition appointed for the use of the Congrega tions connected with the Synod. Of this edition the present work is a translation, made by authority of the Synod for the use of those Congregations in which the English language is used. Much of the matter contained in the German Liturgy the translators have been instructed to omit as super uous. In that portion of the work of which a translation is here presented, the translators have been instructed to' make a number of alterations, chie y for the purpose of securing a stricter conformity to the general usage of the ancient and purest Liturgies of the Lutheran Church, but in a few instances for the purpose of conforming to the practice of our English Churches in this coun try. A few of these alterations may be mentioned here. The German Liturgy contains no collection of Introits, unless the Versicles which precede the Collects are of this nature, though they seldom correspond with the ancient Introits. A selection of Introits is here given, taken chie y from the Liturgy of the Lutheran Church of Bavaria. They are intended to be sung by the Congregation, and to supplant the introductory anthem so frequently sung by the choir, and thus to furnish an appropriate opening of the service. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."