THE SYNOD encourages the placing of Bibles in churches for the use of worshippers and visitors.
Introducing a private member’s motion on Tuesday afternoon, Timothy Cox (Blackburn) quoted 2 Timothy (“All scripture is God-breathed. . .”), and said that he knew of many churches where Bibles were not readily available. Some did not even fulfil the legal requirement of a Bible on the lectern.
It was all the more important to have Bibles in churches when “staggering” numbers were open outside church services, and one in 20 was open for 24 hours a day. “This motion is not prescriptive. It simply expresses a desire that we encourage churches to make the scriptures available.”
The finance paper suggested that the cost could be between £100,000 and £200,000, but “given people’s willingness to make tangible gifts, it may be that £200 per church would be easily raised.”
Canon Professor Marilyn McCord Adams (Oxford University) had grown up in the Bible Belt of the United States. “The Bible is a guide for life in every season.”
In many churches, the 1662 Prayer Book and Hymns Ancient and Modern were available in the pews, but at best these were “deutero-canonical”. The Church needed to build people up in the priesthood of all believers: how could people object to what the “higher-ups” said if they only ever encountered lectionary snippets? She supported the motion as a “mini-step” to follow up the Church’s commitments on scripture in many recent declarations.
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Revd Jack Nicholls, drew the Synod’s attention to the work of translating the Bible into British Sign Language. It was “a long and expensive process”, and he commended it to members’ prayers.
Brigadier Ian Dobbie (Rochester) cited Wycliffe, Luther, and William Temple. All who came to “a believing faith” did it through God’s word read, explained, or expounded. Here was an “evangelistic opportunity”. If the Bible was read in church, it was more likely to be read at home. The Church should stand with the Gideons.
Lois Haslam (Chester) said that where large numbers of children and younger people were in church, an inclusive-language version should be considered seriously. Versions without inclusive language would be against many schools’ policies.
The Revd Ruth Worsley (Southwell & Nottingham) spoke of the international character of her church. They kept Bibles in several languages, and favoured the inclusive version of the Good News Bible in worship, because its limited vocabulary was helpful to children, those with learning difficulties, and those for whom English was a second language. This was not included in the Bishops’ note referred to in Mr Cox’s motion. Her amendment had the effect of broadening the range of scripture translations.
Dr Christina Baxter (Southwell & Nottingham) asked why, if the canons of the Church allowed specified versions of the Bible to be used in public worship, the Synod did not also want to allow them in the pews.
Paul Hancock (Liverpool) said that his PCC had noticed that Bibles from the church pews “had gone AWOL”. He said that they had probably been taken home to read. People from the congregation had donated Bibles — and there were now two Bibles per pew.
Mrs Worsley’s amendment was carried.
Paul Boyd-Lee (Salisbury) said that there were two questions to be considered: Bibles used in public worship, and Bibles used after services. “People like to come in to church to read the Bible for themselves,” he said. People needed “a nudge” to ensure that Bibles were available.
Mr Boyd-Lee’s amendment, requesting action from the dioceses, was carried.
The Revd Mark Ireland (Lichfield) said that, rather than printing weekly pew sheets, they had invested in pew Bibles so that people could become familiar with them. “If you don’t find your way about the Bible in church, what hope have you got of learning that at home?”
The Archdeacon of Malmesbury, the Ven. Alan Hawker (Bristol), said that at the Reformation, the Bible had been chained to the lectern, but it was at least there. It was “critically important” that the Bible was in church buildings and available to people to use.
The motion was carried overwhelmingly:
That this Synod, believing in the importance of Scripture, desire that anyone entering a church building or attending a church service should have easy and unfettered access to one of the versions of the Bible referred to in the note by the House of Bishops on Versions of Scripture dated 9 October 2002 or one of the versions of the Bible that may be used by virtue of the Prayer Book Versions of the Bible Measure, and would request all dioceses to take steps to give effect to this desire in their churches.
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