During the ‘Khrushchev Thaw’, the Soviet government eased its anti-religious policies, and this opened up the possibility for the Lithuanian Lutheran Church to publish its first postwar hymnal. However, due to its too ‘modern’ language, the 1956 hymnal was not introduced in parishes, but was only intended for personal use. The demand for a hymnal in line with the modern Lithuanian language remained relevant. Therefore, the 1970 synod decided to prepare a hymnal, the texts of which would be closer to the old hymns in the 1936 Lithuania Minor hymnal. The hymnal was published in 1982, and was introduced for use in many parishes. The third edition appeared in 1988. The article describes the challenges the Church faced in preparing a hymnal during the Soviet period, both internally and from the atheist Soviet government, which viewed religious literature as the manifestation of a foreign ideology.
The article examines the Lutheran liturgy in a theological and historical context. It analyzes its structure, surveys the criteria for liturgical reforms in the sixteenth century, considers the possible classification of a wide variety of Lutheran agendas as well as the influence of pietism and the Enlightenment on the liturgical life of the church. Particular attention is given to the Prussian Union and its agenda which has awakened a new liturgical sensibility among the Lutheran Churches and prompted them to re-appreciate their confessional and liturgical heritage, leading to the preparation of new agendas that more clearly reflected their confessional identity. The influence of liturgical movements on the sacramental life of the church and the results of the liturgical reforms carried out by the Lutheran churches of the United States, Germany, and Scandinavia in the twentieth century are also considered.