Mourning the passing of LCMS burgundy

Though Martin Luther shook the foundations of the earth when he challenged Rome, his followers over the ages have not been known to be so bold in embarrassing change.

As witness too this fact, I still hear folks referring to one particular service we follow as being from "page 15" even though there is no page 15 service in our current hymnal ( Lutheran Service Book (c) 2006) nor its predecessor (Lutheran Book of Worship/Lutheran Worship (c) 1978/1982). The "page 15" they refer to is from a hymnal published in 1941--71 years ago!

And, so, it is with great astonishment, yet chagrin, that I announce to you a great happening to our corporate brand as a denomination. We are no longer the church of the Burgundy cross. It is now blue. Same cross, and, apparently, the same fonts, as before, but LCMS Burgundy is no longer featured in the color palate. Its blue.

Now, the tri-circled "emphasis" device can be red, green and a different color of blue, but definitely not burgundy or purple. Black? Yes. Grey? Certainly. But not burgundy. Never burgundy.

So, what is an LCMS congregation to do?

Its taken some of us 20 years or more to embrace the "new" old logo. We've finally invested in signs with the burgundy/purple cross, we've installed purple carpeting to match in our sanctuaries, we've printed tons of business cards and letterhead with the purple cross, we have a myriad of Recognized Service Organizations which have implemented the cross and color scheme to their sub-brands. What ever shall we do now? It'll take years to use up all that "old" branded stuff. We are conservative (translation: tightwads) with our money and would never just through it away, especially after buying in bulk quantities which insured us the best deal. What ever shall we do?

But perhaps the most important question of all--What will we call the Purple Palace?
The Smurf Palace?