17 May GS 2001 art 91

Posted at 16:01h in CanRC, GS 2001 by

GS 2001 Article 91 – Book of Praise: Church at Owen Sound re: NIV references.

Committee 3 presented its proposal on the letter of the Church at Owen Sound. The following was adopted:

1. Material

Letter from the Church at Owen Sound appealing the decision of Synod Fergus, Article 140,IV,C,1, “to mandate the Committee to prepare the prose section of the Book of Praise with NIV references …”

2. Admissibility

The letter from the Church at Owen Sound is admissible since it is an appeal against a decision of the previous Synod.

3. Observations

  • 3.1. Owen Sound requests Synod 2001 not to implement changes in the prose section of the Book of Praise with NIV references. The grounds for this request are:
    • 3.1.1. Many churches have not switched to the NIV;
    • 3.1.2. Synod 1995 recommended the NIV for use in the churches, but left it in the freedom of the churches if they felt compelled to use another translation, i.e. ,the NKJV or the NASB;
    • 3.1.3. Owen Sound informs Synod that it has chosen to use the NKJV rather than the NIV;
    • 3.1.4. The Australian churches that also use the Book of Praise use the NKJV rather than the NIV.

4. Considerations

  • 4.1. It should be noted that the RSV is not in use within our churches any longer. It will therefore be beneficial to the churches to make changes in the prose section of the Book of Praise that reflect the fact that we have moved away from the RSV to a new translation.
  • 4.2. Since Synod Abbotsford 1995, the large majority of the CanRC have switched to the NIV. This makes it a logical step to adjust the prose section of the Book of Praise in accordance with the NIV.
  • 4.3. Synod realizes that this may cause some inconvenience for the churches that have chosen to use the NKJV or the NASB. However, when these churches decided to adopt the use of the NKJV or the NASB, they should have considered the possible consequences with respect to the use of the Book of Praise.
  • 4.4. It is to be appreciated that the Australian churches use the Book of Praise. We certainly value and welcome any input from them in regards to the Book of Praise. However, the Book of Praise is published under the responsibility of the Standing Committee of the Book of Praise of the CanRC, and reflects the decisions of our General Synods.
  • 4.5. It is not clear how the fact that there is a variety of Bible Translations in use among our churches could possibly be taken into consideration when changes are being made to our Book of Praise.

5. Recommendation

Synod decide to deny the appeal of Owen Sound.

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