High Church--Low Church (part 18) Bibles

 Fifth Thursday after the Epiphany

Thanks to April for her comment. I would love to get more comments and questions from more of you. I want the blog to be much more interactive. The blog has about 25 everyday readers. There are only about four whom I hear regularly from. 

On yesterdays blog about clerical collars I mentioned that I thought clerical collars were a protection for pastors going into difficult or dangerous situations and that I suspected they were protection for Black pastors going into White situations. I had my monthly Zoom meeting with Justin Coleman today. He confirmed that his clerical collar had been protection for him in numerous such situations. 

Many of you know that Justin's wife Chaka was in the hospital for a week a couple of weeks ago with migraines and then seizures likely resulting from the radiation after the brain tumor removal she had a couple of years ago. Justin was a her bedside virtually the whole time she was there. I ask for you prayers for them and their family. 

 

Let me note that things will move in a slightly different direction for me and for the blog next week, as I seek to move more into the contemplative life. I want to pray for you and would like to have specific prayer requests, which you can send to on personal email, I think starting next week.

The reading of scripture has always been a part of Christian worship. the big Bibles are sometimes called Pulpit Bibles. That designation is accurate only in a center pulpit sanctuary. In a normal divided chancel church a large Bible should be brought in during the Processional and placed on the lectern by an acolyte, then opened to the first reading of the day. Second  readings and Gospel reading should be clearly marked in the Bible, so that the lector can easily move from one reading to the next. 

In High Church worship during the Gradual hymn the Bible is brought down the center aisle about half way in a small procession. The preacher reads the gospel text from there. Afterward the Bible is returned to the lectern and the preacher to the pulpit during the next verse or verses of the Gradual hymn. I haven't seen this done in a United Methodist church, but it's commonly done in Episcopal and Lutheran churches. 

 

From wherever the Bible is read, it is that Bible, the Pulpit/Lectern Bible, that should be read. The lector should not use another another Bible, or a written out piece of paper, or a laptop, or an i-phone, to read the scripture. This goes back to Hoyt Hickman's principle of authenticity. The Bible, whether in a sanctuary or on a coffee table is something to be read. It is not a decoration. 

The version of the Bible used in church is a significant issue. If your church has an old King James Pulpit Bible, put it in a display case somewhere other than the sanctuary. It's a historical item (shall I say a relic) of your church. A modern version should be read in church. The standard Bible for United Methodist churches has been the New Revised Standard Bible. Before that it was its predecessor, the Revised Standard Bible. In recent years United Methodist curriculum resources and many United Methodist churches (including UUMC) have begun to use the Common English Bible (CEB). When people at UUMC asked my opinion about it, my response was, "We'll get used to it." I haven't. I'm still working on it. I have one about eight feet from me at this moment. I cringe a lot when I read it or hear it read. I suppose the rendering that bothers me most is "the Human One," for "Son of Man," the title Jesus uses when speaking of himself. I also have problems with the constant use of contractions. In general, the CEB is a good and accurate translation. I know a number of the translators, all of whom are better scholars than I. Still my preference is far and away the NRSV. 

Faithfully,

Christian