01 Dec GS 1986 art 118

Posted at 12:44h in CanRC, GS 1986 by

GS 1986 ARTICLE 118

Book of Praise (See Art. 106)

Committee 1 presents:

A.    MATERIAL

  • – Agenda VIII, B, I, a, b, 2 Report of the Standing Committee for the Publication of the Book of Praise;
  • Report re Audit Finances Standing Committee:
  • Report from Dr. J. Faber re Committee for the preparation of definite texts of creeds and confessions.

B.    OBSERVATIONS

  1. 1.     The Standing Committee for the Publications of the Book of Praise reports to Synod regarding its activities (see Appendix of Acts).
  2. 2.    The Church at Brampton reports that no audit of the books of the Standing Com­mittee for the Publication of the Book of Praise was possible since it was ” in­ formed by the convener of the committee that there are no financial books for the committee.” The Church at Brampton recommends that “this appointment be discontinued unless the financial books for this committee exist elsewhere.”
  3. 3.     Dr. J. Faber proposes  that  synod  “set a target  date for  the  definite  adoption of the creeds and confessions and appoint a committee for the preparation  of this final edition. The committee could even be mandated to take also into con­sideration the important work that in the meantime has been done in the Chris­ tian Reformed Church with respect to the modernization of the English text of especially the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort.”
  4. 4.     In the Preface to the Book of Praise, the Standing Committee writes that “ex­cept for the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed, our creeds and confes­sions are now presented in the more modern version provisionally adopted by the 1983 General Synod.”

C.    CONSIDERATIONS

  • 1.     Although the Committee does not specify whether it indeed fulfilled its mandate given by the 1983 General Synod of Cloverdale regarding the linguistic correction and scrutiny of the entire Book of Praise (Acts, Art. 123, Rec. 13), it can be assumed that the Committee did fulfill its mandate in this respect.
  • 2.     It is indeed not possible for the Church at Brampton to audit the books of the Standing Committee if no such books are available .
  • The treasurer of the General Fund reports that an amount of $556.07 was paid for the “Committee for the Book of Praise.” The Standing Committee reports that it is ” not involved in financial transactions.”
  • 3.     It is important for the “final edition” of the Book of Praise that also the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds be linguistically revised. Since the Standing Com­mittee for the publication of the Book of Praise has already been appointed for linguistic scrutiny and correction, there is no need to appoint a special commit­ tee for this work. It is good that a “target date” be set for a final edition.

D.   RECOMMENDATIONS

Synod decide:

  • 1.     To thank the Standing Committee for the Publication of the Book of Praise for its report and for the work done.
  • 2.     To reappoint the committee with the following mandate:
    • a.     to see to it that the Book of Praise remains available to the churches at a reasonable price;
    • b.     to make the necessary arrangements with printers and others for the pro­ duction and distribution of the Book of Praise;
    • c.   to maintain its corporate status in order to be able to protect the interest of the Canadian Reformed Churches in all matters concerning the Book of Praise;
    • d.     to implement all synod decisions relating to the contents of the Book of Praise;
    • e.   to foster an increased awareness of the existence of the Book of Praise also among others;
    • f.     to serve as address to which any correspondence regarding the Book of Praise can be directed;
    • g.    to see to the linguistic revision of the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed and to present a draft of this revision to the churches no later than 1 year before the next  general synod and to include this revision in the  report to the next general synod for the final edition of the Book of Praise.
  • 3.     To thank  the Church at Brampton  for its  report re the auditing of the books of the Standing Committee.
  • 4.     Not to reappoint the Church at Brampton for this task.
  • 5.     To set the General Synod of 1989 as target date for the final edition of the Book of Praise.
  • A motion, duly seconded, reads:
    • “Replace Consideration 3 with: ‘It is important that in the “final edition” of the Book of Praise also the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds be presented in a more modern English version.’
  • Delete Recommendation 2, g.
  • Insert Recommendation 3: ‘Since the modern English version of the other creeds was presented by a separate committee, it stands to reason also to appoint a small, separate committee for the modernization of the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds.’
  • Renumber existing Recommendations 3, 4, 5, as 4, 5, 6. ”

The motion is DEFEATED.

The recommendations of the committee report are ADOPTED.

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