THE SPRINGFIELDER January 1975 Volume 39, Number 1 The Twenty-Seventh Institute of Liturgical Studies (Valparaiso University, February 4-6, 19 75) 'Fhp (11itJ1or is l~nstor of St, Philip's I,zttlzern~~ Church, Detroit, ~rlzd 1r(rr st~r17cd a5 vicitil~g professor of litlirgic~ at (~I~ICOY(!~CI Sctnz7lar), St. T,o?lis. I 'THE REV. DR. EUGENE BRAND (1;CfI) of the Inter-Lutheran . Coixlllission on Worship (ILCLV) was the "lteynote" spealter, pre- senting "Families ancl the Family" and stressing the baptized indi- viclual's relationship to the "fa~nily" (home and congregation) and to the "fainily meal" (Eucharist) over against an individualistic cm- phasis. Baptisnial rites shoulci rest "not upon the theology of the Sacl:ament but upon the theology of thc Church," according to Brand. Usc of historical criticism clorninatecl his presentation. 'The "great commission" (i\!latt. 28: 19) "can hardly bc the actual words of Jcsus" (bccause of Peter's lac]< of understanding in Acts and because of-' references to "Baptism in the name of Jesus"). It-Ie stroilgIy criti- cized our Agenda's introduction to Baptism, .r.rlith its references to original sill and its use of Scriptt~re: "we should Imow better," "it ~vou1.d not sta11d up under iVew Testament scholnrship." He con- tended that: onc could not base Br~ptism "on the actual \vorcls of Jcsus." Later, in ttlc small group discussions. Brand was aslced about the T,:~rge C;atccliisn~ (117 57), which states that we baptize infants "solel\i" oil account of thc comn1;lnd of God (h4:ltt. 28: 19). Brand respo;ldcd thnt, as wc treat the Scriptures with critical analysis, so we sho~~ltl tre;>t the confessions also. "Luther was a child of his day." 131.i11l(j S~~CSSC~ the community and the community meal. He nias not oplx)sucZ to infant Eaptism if the comnlunity took full responsibility (faniilv and congregation), and if, ideally, the infant were not barred fro~~l the Eucharist. Hc recognized that the latter condition may not be normative for the present and that we may "have to he content >, wit11 progress totwrd the goaI ~vhich escapes us in this generation. Ultimately, however, if we can get arouncl infant Baptism, we should bc al~le to "usc the same mental gvmnastics to support" infant com- n~union. There is no theological reason for withholding the Eucharist "fro111 :in!; baptizcd individual." He would "comc down hard on anj7- ollc who says that infant comnlunion is wrong." In the small group discussiolls Ile asscrtcd that bapt.izec1 infants receive God's grace, but that. if :) chiltl dies \\~ithou t Raptism, he is no worse off than a child .i.c:l.lo dies wit11 13nptism. 11. Thc tcaln of thc Ilev. Alfred Buls and Teacher Richard Si~n(llcr (B~t11el 1.nthcr;n Church, Ulliversity City, iss~ri) of- fered a free-ivhecling presentation on training families to prepare ~111il11 children for First Communion. The methods \\rere inductive institzttc of: I,it~mg!cal Stzt11ies . .. -- - 4 1 --- ("what cto you scc in this picture?" ctc.). There was no discussion of Luther's "core": Ten Co~~lnial~d~~~cnts, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer (although this content may in practice be present). 111. Thc Rev. Il'rofessor hlark Bangert (of the Joint Project for Theological Education) presented n kind of progress report on ILCW thinl