NEWS STORY: Church of England to keep contemporary Lord’s Prayer

c. 1998 Religion News Service LONDON _ Efforts to exile to an appendix a modern-language version of the Lord’s Prayer used in the Church of England’s liturgy have been soundly defeated by the church’s general synod, the denomination’s top decision-making body. The modern-language version, drawn up by the International Consultation on English in the Liturgy […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

LONDON _ Efforts to exile to an appendix a modern-language version of the Lord’s Prayer used in the Church of England’s liturgy have been soundly defeated by the church’s general synod, the denomination’s top decision-making body.

The modern-language version, drawn up by the International Consultation on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) in 1975, and which is also used in some mainline Protestant churches in the United States, has come under sharp fire from conservatives.


As a result of the action by the general synod, which met Feb. 10-11, the new liturgy being prepared for use in congregations of the Church of England in the next century will include the contemporary as well as the traditional version of one of the world’s most famous prayers. The prayer is found in two versions in the Bible _ Matthew 6:9-13, and Luke 11:2-4.

The chief differences in the two texts is that the contemporary version uses the words”sins”and”sin”rather than”trespasses”and”trespass”or, in the King James Version,”debts”and”debtors,”as most liturgical translations use. It also renders the familiar”lead us not into temptation”as”save us from the time of trial.” The aim of the contemporary translation is to create a single modern version of the prayer all English-speaking churches _ Protestant, Anglican and Roman Catholic _ can agree on.

The ICEL version, for example, has been approved by the Roman Catholic hierarchies of England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland as an optional alternative in the up-dated English-language liturgy and has been endorsed by hierarchies throughout the English-speaking world with the exception of the United States. It must still win approval from Rome.

According to Anglican officials at the synod, the contemporary version is already used in English-language congregations in the Philippines and India, as well as in New Zealand. According to these officials, the late Mother Teresa once caused some confusion at the Irish shrine of Knock when she used the ICEL contemporary version when leading a recitation of the rosary.

But Bishop Peter Nott of Norwich, England, said he found it”both confusing and divisive”to have different versions of the Lord’s Prayer in circulation, and questioned whether accuracy of translation should be paramount.”Beauty of language in liturgy is as important as accuracy of translation,”he told the synod.”And it is beauty that makes language memorable, and by repetition enables it to be learned by heart.” Nott said he is”absolutely certain”there is still a very substantial number of people both inside and outside the church who know the Lord’s Prayer by heart _ the vast majority of them in the traditional form.

Nevertheless, he failed to persuade the synod to relegate the modern version to an appendix. His motion was defeated by a 272-68 vote.

DEA END NOWELL

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