General Synod backs change to text conceding present wording may cause eyes to glaze over
The Church of England is to offer shorter, snappier baptisms in “BBC1 language” after its governing body voted overwhelmingly in favour of a more accessible service, Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent of The Guardian reports.
Bishops, clergy and laity attending the General Synod in London heard how the religious language of existing texts saw “the shutters come down among the unprepared guests”.
The Rev Tim Stratford, who proposed the idea, said the pictures and metaphors in the baptism service – “slavery in Egypt” or “brought to birth by water and the Spirit” – did not resonate with the experience and knowledge of lapsed Anglican parents.
He told the synod: “It sounds as if the church wants an entirely religious response – removed from our behaviour, actions and conversation.”
It was not a request for “christenings without Christianity” but making “culturally relevant references readily understood by the majority of Britons”, he explained.
The number of babies baptised fell to 83,800 in 2009, from 86,500 in the previous year. However, the number of child and adult baptisms increased to 43,500 and 11,000 in 2009 from 42,300 and 10,400 respectively in 2008.
The archbishop of Canterbury supported Stratford’s proposal, conceding how the “wordiness” of baptisms might lead to “eyes glazing over”.
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The BBC reported that the motion had come from Liverpool Diocesan Synod.
Dr Tim Stratford, from Kirkby, Merseyside, said it was not a request for “christenings without Christianity”.
The diocese has singled out three passages during the Common Worship baptism – the Decision, the Prayer over Water and the Commission – which particularly baffle non-churchgoers.
Dr Stratford said: “The text does matter. You cannot make EastEnders out of Shakespearean tragedy without changing the language.”
Dr Williams told the debate: “I find myself very much in sympathy with this motion. Like most of those who have spoken, I too, have a sense of the wordiness of what we have and a slight feeling of eyes glazing over.”
“It is not, I think, solely as a result of my delivery,” he added.