First, I didn’t think the five services in the new hymnal were all that different form each other. Yes they have variety, but I feel they have a certain ordos that runs through them. I guess I don’t see it as such a sytem shock that going from a traditional to a very edgy contemporary would be.

Also, my congregation, therefore my pastor’s direction, is to use four of the services (not using #5) and rotate them seasonally, so that during different parts of the church year you follow the one service for a few months, and then the next, and then… Maybe that can be a suggestion to your pastor.

At my previous congregation they did use all 5 for the lone traditiaonl service, but they ran through them all, so every fifth week you hit the service again. A slower learning curve, but eventually more memory retention so after maybe a year, you just never really thought about a different service each week. You just knew them all.

In the end, I guess a bit of adiaphora. I hope you can find a method that works best for your congregation.

Does your church have “non-traditional Sundays?”

Switching services can be very confusing…

I don’t know if I would call what he is doing “errors”. They are a part of our Synod’s hymnal.

Sorry that you have felt that you have no voice on the matter any longer.

I am not sure what you mean by the mixing of Divine Services? You may have to explain further.

I would suggest taking your concerns to your pastor about these matters.

Some things deserve mention; others, like this one, can certainly be included in the general prayer as well; still others are best served with a bulletin insert only, so as not to minimize the time spent on the readings for the day and the sermon. IMHO, of course!

This link provides some a good commentary on exactly that – the Christian’s obligation to take care of life, even if it is dropped on their doorstep:
http://priestlyrant.com/on-being-aborted/2513.html

I remember visiting Hohenschwangau (LCMS Headquarters) as a 4th year seminary student. They set us down in super-articulated chairs made by Porshe (we were told) and one guy listed off all the special Sundays that we were encouraged to do. I remember sitting next to my buddy and laughing like a loon at how nearly every Sunday of the year was dedicated to a particular cause. The one that really got us going was PMS Sunday (later changed to TIM: Together in Mission) We lost it…regained our composure… looked at each other and lost it again….you know the cycle. I like to imagine that that incident led to the change of the name.

Then when I became a Pastor, the endless flow of special Sunday bulletin inserts started arriving. They were almost as bad as the three-ring binders. At least the three ring binders could be reused as confirmation notebooks. What to do with all the special sunday inserts? I did use some of them to level a wobbly table once; another time I shredded them and added them to my compost pile; but most of the time, they went over the shoulder and into the bin unopened. I really appreciated when they’d have a sticker “important blah blah blah sunday materials inside!” That made it easier to file them properly.

I’ve always seen “special sundays”… as outside forces seeking to insinuate themselves at the front and center of the most precious time that congregation has: Jesus serving us in word and sacrament.

I agree with Matt that staying with the Lectionary gives ample opportunity to address various sins including abortion. That’s a much more organic approach which does not violate the call of the pastor and make him into some sort of huckster.