Common Service Book Explained

Common Service Book
Cover:Common_Service_Book_with_Hymnal_cover.jpg
Caption:1918 edition of the Common Service Book with Hymnal
Country:United States
Publisher:United Lutheran Church in America
Released:1917 (text only), 1918 (with music)
Next Hymnal:Service Book and Hymnal

The Common Service Book (CSB) is a worship book and hymnal originally issued jointly by the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of America, the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, and the United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South in 1917, and, after the merger of those bodies into the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) in 1918, by that body.[1] [2]

The hymnal employed the Common Service of 1887, the first common liturgy for the Divine Service among English-speaking Lutherans in the United States and Canada. The work of the inter-Lutheran committee that produced the Common Service and the hymnal itself was instrumental in bringing about the formation the ULCA.[3]

The text only edition, first published in 1917, did not contain the music for the hymns; the hymnal edition, first published in 1918, included the music. The Occasional Services section was also published separately.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Publication Society, The General Council Publication Board, and The Lutheran Board of Publication. 1917. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Columbia, South Carolina.
  2. Book: Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church. Board of Publication of the United Lutheran Church in America. 1918. Philadelphia.
  3. Book: Murphy, T. F.. Religious Bodies: 1936 Volume II Part 2 - Denominations K to Z. Government Printing Office. 1941. 9780883546871. Washington. 954.
  4. Book: The Occasional Services from the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Publication Society, The General Council Publication Board, and The Lutheran Board of Publication. 1918. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Columbia, South Carolina.