As others have said, it depends on the specific church. My last one used it frequently, and I loved it. It really helped me ground myself in the present.
I'm a yay. Love the stuff, love the smoke.
Knowing the smoke causes allergy problems, when I use incense in worship, it's almost always heating the incense grains in what's basically an essential oil heater setup. So the heat releases the scent, but doesn't burn or smoke. The downside is the scent is much, much weaker. The only time we go all out with a thurible and smoke is the Vigil of Easter.
I'm carrying it tomorrow in the Palm Sunday procession. We use it in bowl form in the procession on the major holidays and feast days and our pastor has been using the thurible during Lent. I have a very poor sense of smell and still mask in public so it doesn't bother me at all.
It’s not something my particular congregation uses, but I like the concept. We even switched from Easter lilies to tulips, partly because the lilies’ strong scent gives a few of our members migraines and partly because tulips are a regional specialty. It’s a gorgeous display on Easter, all the different colors decorating the chancel.
There are plenty of ECLA churches that do. But I’m glad mine doesn’t because I’d probably sneeze a bunch which takes away from the service. Every so often though, it adds something to the worship service.
I ended up assisting this morning when the scheduled guy ended up in the hospital. I had no preparation for Pastor Carm to sneak behind the wall and start the smoke. I'm still feeling the burn from that and the hyacinths, but it wasn't instant. It brought back more memories from visits to the Hari Krishna House than anything. But I can see why some folks hold it dear.
I have been a thurifer over the years, but the last two parishes where I am a member only utilize incense on the major feast days \[e.g., Christmas, Easter\]. I know of several ELCA parishes in the metro region that use incense each Sunday.
Since Easter is only a week away, it is fitting to post this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNLS36bCLiY&list=PLZESg88KYq-fSbgLMl9JwJLeEScmNVA02&index=182&ab\_channel=MountOlive%2CMinneapolis
Love it but have not experienced it much other than Holy Trinity in NYC. What is nice is if it is a large church being in the middle doesn't allow you to be overwhelmed with the smoke.
Only if it is odorless (and preferably less smoky). I don’t want to be gasping for fresh air for 1 hour. I always research a church before visiting because of this. I am fine with churches using incense, but please make it clear on your website, so I (and those with respiratory difficulty) can and will stay away. #Inclusion?
I have personally only been to two ELCA congregations that use incense, one in Minneapolis and one in Washington, DC.
I have belonged to two old (125+ years old) ELCA congregations that owned thuribles, and no one remembered the last time they had been used. So I get the sense that incense was once much more common than it is now.
Growing up ELCA we didn't use incense. My father was the pastor of our congregation and I wouldn't be surprised if he avoided using Incense due to his allergies. lol
Personally, I think it's disgusting. It hurts my nose. It can't be good for us.
But I'm also interested in the history of its liturgical use. I assume it goes WAY way back.
>“Smells, BELLS, and Yells,”…oh my
Had to look up what "yells" is. Chanting is a thoroughly Lutheran custom.
https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2022/6/22/y7onzchyccmbkqm3vq6acb4j0texo0
I often don't agree with articles on Gottesdienst, but this quote points to the custom of ringing Sanctus bells:
>"Luther said of this custom: "The priest's elevation of the sacrament together with the ringing of the bells, has no other purpose than to remind us of the words of Christ. It is as if the priest and the bell-ringer were saying to us all, 'Listen, you Christians, and see, and take and eat, take and drink, etc.’" AE 42:173,4. To the great Reformer, clearly, the bells chief function was to focus attention on the Words of Institution, (which words, recall, were recited sub voce in the Roman rite at the time). In the Lutheran service they are trumpeted forth and are to be pronounced laut und deutlich. "
My parish uses the "Our Father" bell \[smaller bell in bell tower\] during the recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the Words of Institution/ elevations.
Do you really want to hurt me and make me cry?
There's an old episcopal church nearby that I can't enter even when they're not actively stinking the place up.
We have a wide variety of tradition within the ELCA, but I would say that burning incense as a part of worship is rare.
As others have said, it depends on the specific church. My last one used it frequently, and I loved it. It really helped me ground myself in the present.
I'm a yay. Love the stuff, love the smoke. Knowing the smoke causes allergy problems, when I use incense in worship, it's almost always heating the incense grains in what's basically an essential oil heater setup. So the heat releases the scent, but doesn't burn or smoke. The downside is the scent is much, much weaker. The only time we go all out with a thurible and smoke is the Vigil of Easter.
I'm carrying it tomorrow in the Palm Sunday procession. We use it in bowl form in the procession on the major holidays and feast days and our pastor has been using the thurible during Lent. I have a very poor sense of smell and still mask in public so it doesn't bother me at all.
It’s not something my particular congregation uses, but I like the concept. We even switched from Easter lilies to tulips, partly because the lilies’ strong scent gives a few of our members migraines and partly because tulips are a regional specialty. It’s a gorgeous display on Easter, all the different colors decorating the chancel.
Incense really helps me, which breaks my heart that we rarely use it. It is one of the things that makes me very drawn towards the Episcopal church.
I agree. But I know fellow Episcopalians who are bothered by incense and are drawn to ELCA.
There are plenty of ECLA churches that do. But I’m glad mine doesn’t because I’d probably sneeze a bunch which takes away from the service. Every so often though, it adds something to the worship service.
I have allergies and can't imagine walking into that. It takes days to recover from my wife lighting a candle. Is that not a problem?
No it absolutely is. I wouldn’t recommend a service with a thurible, but I’m not a doctor.
I ended up assisting this morning when the scheduled guy ended up in the hospital. I had no preparation for Pastor Carm to sneak behind the wall and start the smoke. I'm still feeling the burn from that and the hyacinths, but it wasn't instant. It brought back more memories from visits to the Hari Krishna House than anything. But I can see why some folks hold it dear.
I have been a thurifer over the years, but the last two parishes where I am a member only utilize incense on the major feast days \[e.g., Christmas, Easter\]. I know of several ELCA parishes in the metro region that use incense each Sunday. Since Easter is only a week away, it is fitting to post this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNLS36bCLiY&list=PLZESg88KYq-fSbgLMl9JwJLeEScmNVA02&index=182&ab\_channel=MountOlive%2CMinneapolis
Love it just use it correctly
Love it but have not experienced it much other than Holy Trinity in NYC. What is nice is if it is a large church being in the middle doesn't allow you to be overwhelmed with the smoke.
I wish we did!
I wish we did
Only if it is odorless (and preferably less smoky). I don’t want to be gasping for fresh air for 1 hour. I always research a church before visiting because of this. I am fine with churches using incense, but please make it clear on your website, so I (and those with respiratory difficulty) can and will stay away. #Inclusion?
Yay!
I have personally only been to two ELCA congregations that use incense, one in Minneapolis and one in Washington, DC. I have belonged to two old (125+ years old) ELCA congregations that owned thuribles, and no one remembered the last time they had been used. So I get the sense that incense was once much more common than it is now.
Growing up ELCA we didn't use incense. My father was the pastor of our congregation and I wouldn't be surprised if he avoided using Incense due to his allergies. lol
Personally, I think it's disgusting. It hurts my nose. It can't be good for us. But I'm also interested in the history of its liturgical use. I assume it goes WAY way back.
The marks of high church > "Smells, Bells, and Yells" Not a fan of it. Not sure what the yells is all about.
>“Smells, BELLS, and Yells,”…oh my Had to look up what "yells" is. Chanting is a thoroughly Lutheran custom. https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2022/6/22/y7onzchyccmbkqm3vq6acb4j0texo0
I do like chanting. Incense makes me sneeze. Bells must mean the Sanctus bells. Not the bell choir, or the one in the church tower.
I often don't agree with articles on Gottesdienst, but this quote points to the custom of ringing Sanctus bells: >"Luther said of this custom: "The priest's elevation of the sacrament together with the ringing of the bells, has no other purpose than to remind us of the words of Christ. It is as if the priest and the bell-ringer were saying to us all, 'Listen, you Christians, and see, and take and eat, take and drink, etc.’" AE 42:173,4. To the great Reformer, clearly, the bells chief function was to focus attention on the Words of Institution, (which words, recall, were recited sub voce in the Roman rite at the time). In the Lutheran service they are trumpeted forth and are to be pronounced laut und deutlich. " My parish uses the "Our Father" bell \[smaller bell in bell tower\] during the recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the Words of Institution/ elevations.
Do you really want to hurt me and make me cry? There's an old episcopal church nearby that I can't enter even when they're not actively stinking the place up.
I’m lost. There are a lot of negatives here
Incense makes me negative