I got up early in order to drive the twelve mile journey to Bassaleg Parish Church to attend the 8.30am said Eucharist service and hear Rufus, one of the students in my tutor group, preach for the first time on parish pastoral placement. There were thirty people present, a decent number for this large suburban setting. I was impressed at how relaxed and confident he was, but as a mature professional, used to speaking publicly and taking a lead, this isn't suprising.
Today is Bible Sunday, but the alternative set themed lessons weren't used, just the normal ones for the last Sunday of the Trinity-tide season. It was the same for me later when I celebrated and preached at St German's. Although these weren't greatly sympathetic to the theme, the best was made of limited material on offer. I'd seen what Rufus prepared beforehand, and we'd discussed a few points here and there, yet somehow we both failed to notice and take advantage of the fact that this year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible.
There has been some good publicity for this anniversary, radio and TV programmes, even drama centering on the KJV publication, as its text has had a major impact on the development of English language and literature. It's a key heritage document of British culture, so I wonder why this should have failed to excite our interest as preachers.
Our lifetime has seen many new translations of scripture, plus modern language liturgies. KJV still gets read in some big traditional public events, but quickly it seems to have become associated with ultra-conservative not to say cranky expressions of Christianity, those who refuse to countenance change, and strive to enage with the present with voices from a past that becomes increasingly distant.
It would have been better if we could have acknowledged the debt we owe to the KJV, because it did for its generation what contemporary translations do for us today. However, making a text intelligible to read is only part of the challenge of delivering the message in a vastly different world. With translation of the message goes intepretation and application to make it relevant, to engage an audience already striving to cope with the confusion of a multitude of other messages broadcasted for the benefit of our time. Looking back to our roots requires a particular effort, which forsook us today. Sometimes appraising our heritage may be best left to culture gurus - after all, they aren't missionaries, we are.
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