Consolation in Sixteenth Century Protestant Church Orders

This article presents four ways that demonstrate how Protestant church orders provided comfort and consolation to the laity in sixteenth century Germany, with specific focus on the sacraments of baptism and communion and their respective rituals. The turmoil that could accompany religious change demonstrated that reforms needed to be approached sensitively and implemented in ways that supported the laity as they adjusted to new confessional realities, the loss of past certainties, and changed ritual experiences. Existing literature considers how reformers comforted parishioners through their ministry, sermons, consolatory works and other practices but church orders traditionally have not been seen as belonging to this broader framework of consolation. Thus, exploring how consolation can be detected in the church orders situates them within the wider landscape of consolatory literature.