James’ Message

Dear Friends,

2012 is going to be a significant year. In a couple of months time, there will be celebrations surrounding the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and then just a few weeks later London will host the Olympic Games. The Church is looking to embrace both these occasions whilst also looking to celebrate its own special anniversary with the 350th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer.

The 1662 Prayer Book meant that any churchgoer, whatever his position in society, could join in a communal act of worship. Morning and Evening Prayer gave shape to the English day, and familiar phrases such as "to love and to cherish" and "ashes to ashes" provided continuity between generations. The Prayer Book has been translated into hundreds of different tongues around the world including Arabic, Fijian, Gaelic and Hawaiian. This has helped pave the way for a universal declaration of faith and devotion with the Prayer Book having sold around 300 million copies. This may sound a lot but is insignificant compared to the Bible which has sold an estimated five to six billion copies.

Although 2012 is the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the book itself has not passed into antiquity. Thousands of people in thousands of parish churches worship from the book, which has a timeless quality. Reaching forwards as well as backwards, it is the script for birth, love, death, faith and life itself. The language can at times be a little difficult to follow, but then I'm sure that in years to come people may struggle to work out what people are saying in modern forms of communication such as texting and tweeting.

Language is a fascinating subject. Over time words can alter their meaning, fall out of use or fail to describe a situation adequately. This sometimes means that we use a word with one meaning only to find that it's taken on a different description all together. For example ‘wicked’ used to describe a malicious or sinful act, but can now imply that something is amazing or excellent. ‘Pants’ is no longer just a part of men's underwear but also used to call something ‘rubbish’ or of ‘poor quality’. And then there's the word ‘gay’. Once used to express a carefree and cheerful personality, but now a well established term favoured for homosexuals.

Whatever words we use however, it's often the way that we express them and the motive behind them, that is most important. Words can limit our communication and it's often said that ‘actions speak louder than words’. Perhaps the most important words that Jesus said to us are "you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind...and love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39). Words that are far older than the Book of Common Prayer but that continue to provide a common language around the world and help to unite us as a human family.

With my best wishes,

James