The Anglican and Lutheran worshiping traditions are both similar and different. In a short article like this, a comparison of hymnals is one way to isolate the similarities (with my apologies for the immediate statistics!) and move us to the difference.

The [Episcopal] Hymnal 1982 and the Lutheran Book of Worship have 367 hymn texts in common. Of those 85 are identical, 29 have minor changes, and the remaining 253 have different translations or stanzas omitted or reversed. Of the 720 hymns in The Hymnal 1982 and the 569 in the Lutheran Book of Worship, 50 percent of the former are common to the latter, and 64 percent of the latter are common to the former. There are 242 tunes common to the two books, and 177 tunes set to the same texts in both books.

Depending how you count, the above statistics may change slightly, but they give a general overview. If the comparison is broadened to ethnicity, as one might expect there are more English sources in the Episcopal book and more Scandinavian and Germanic sources in the Lutheran one, but even in this respect there is more overlap than might be expected. Tunes from English sources, for example, make up 44 percent of the Lutheran Book of Worship, while the total of all Germanic and Scandinavian tunes is just over 41 percent. The Hymnal 1982, on the other hand, includes rhythmic versions of German chorales like Ein Feste Burg, Herr Jesu Christ, Herzlich Tut Mich Verlangen, and Nun Danket Alle Gott.

The organization of the two hymnals is similar. That may not appear obvious because the Daily Office begins the Episcopal book while morning and evening hymns come later in the Lutheran one, but for both the church year provides the organizing principal for a large portion of the hymns. Baptism, communion and marriage are also common divisions.

If one looks at the worship materials, there is again a great deal of similarity. The Eucharists are much the same in broad structure and in many specific features, as are the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer.

Though there is much that is common, the layout of the worship materials is not the same. This point is telling and locates a different ambiance. For Episcopalians worship services are assembled together as texts in the Book of Common Prayer. In the service music at the beginning of the Episcopal Hymnal, the texts of the prayer book are set to music in clusters. Various settings of the Kyrie or the Sanctus, for example, are grouped together, but services as wholes are not found together in one place in the hymnal.

In the Lutheran Book of Worship, however, a whole service is found with its music. The Eucharist, for example, appears with three settings, each with the complete service printed out. Episcopalians have two books, one with music and one without, while Lutherans have compressed all their materials into one book with music.

This may seem like a minor detail, but it indicates a difference in the way Episcopalians and Lutherans look at their liturgies, no matter how similar they may be. For Episcopalians the liturgy means texts. For Lutherans the liturgy surely means texts as well, but those texts are so closely identified with their music that one can almost say that in practice the liturgy for Lutherans means the music which clothes the texts.

Lutherans have found it almost impossible to have a service without music. They have almost invariably sung their services. In those rare circumstances where a service itself might be spoken, at least one hymn will be sung or Lutherans will feel they have not worshiped. For Episcopalians, however, 8 a.m. spoken services on Sunday morning are a norm where the lack of music does not bother them and may even be desired by some parishioners.

Despite this difference, both groups have had a great deal of respect for the liturgy. This respect is under fire at the moment from Lutheran pietists, Episcopal evangelicals, and others who tend to ally themselves with popular cultural norms. At this point the center of both traditions assumes the broad historic shape of word and sacrament and of prayer offices helps keep the church faithful to the gospel with which it is entrusted.

The Rev. Paul Westermeyer is professor of church music at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., where he directs the MSM degree with St. Olaf College.