Evangelical Lutheran Worship or ELW is the current, primary liturgical

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

 and worship guidebook and hymnal for use in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...

 and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 152,788 baptized members in 624 congregations, with the second largest, the Lutheran Church–Canada, having 72,116 baptized members...

, replacing its three predecessors, the Lutheran Book of Worship

Lutheran Book of Worship

Lutheran Book of Worship is a worship book and hymnal used by several Lutheran denominations in North America. It is often referred to by its initials as the LBW, and in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America the LBW is sometimes called the "green book" as opposed to With One Voice, a...

(LBW), the Hymnal Supplemental (an extension of the LBW), and the With One Voice (WOV).

Evangelical Lutheran Worship was first published in October 2006. Though not all ELCA and ELCIC congregations immediately adopted the book, demand for it was so great that it sold out its first and second printings and some congregations had to delay its adoption until more were available.

The book includes ten musical settings of the liturgy for the Holy Communion service, three of which were previously published in the Lutheran Book of Worship, as well as a Service of the Word. Morning Prayer (Matins), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline) are all included, as are occasional and pastoral offices such as baptism, marriage, burial, individual confession, and proper services for Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...

, Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....

, and the Triduum. Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's Small Catechism is also printed in the book. Unlike the abbreviated Psalter

Psalter

A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...

 included in the Lutheran Book of Worship, ELW includes the entire Book of Psalms

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

 in a version for congregational prayer and singing. Compared to the Lutheran Book of Worship

Lutheran Book of Worship

Lutheran Book of Worship is a worship book and hymnal used by several Lutheran denominations in North America. It is often referred to by its initials as the LBW, and in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America the LBW is sometimes called the "green book" as opposed to With One Voice, a...

, the selection of hymns is expanded, including many options from previously published Lutheran hymnals and hymnal supplements.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship is not without controversy. Some conservative Lutheran organizations such as Solid Ground and the WordAlone

WordAlone

WordAlone is a Lutheran grassroots network of congregations and individuals within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America , the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. According to its website, WordAlone advocates reform and renewal of the church, representative governance,...

 Network have expressed concerns over the book's use of inclusive language. Lutheran liturgiologist Philip Pfatteicher has criticized the book as idiosyncratic, obsessed with avoiding masculine pronouns, rubrically permissive, and less rich in resources than the Lutheran Book of Worship.

Many Lutherans who have used the LBW were also disappointed to find that many hymn settings that were once written in SATB

SATB

In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work...

format have been reduced to melody lines only.