The Church needs to change its prayer books to be more inclusive, say the vicars, because ordering people to “all stand” or “all kneel” in church is cruel to those who are disabled.
A vote in the Church of England’s national parliament, General Synod, directed them to think about revising their prayer books to make them more inclusive for congregations.
After written queries were brought to Synod, Rev Canon Timothy Goode of Southwark made the recommendations so that the Church might continue its contemporary day accomplishments by “removing some of the hurdles which disabled individuals, clergy and lay, experience.”
The activities demanded additional study to determine the amount of disabled clergy to support advancement and do rid of rules requiring attendees to “all stand,” according to The Telegraph.
Responding to the recommendations during a discussion in the Synod chamber held at the University of York, the Bishop of Exeter, the Right Rev Robert Atwell, said editing the prayer books would be a “horror” and take “hours to hours” to complete.
In order to prevent worshippers from feeling excluded, he stated it would be preferable to adopt inclusive language during the service.
The necessity in the prayer book for a person to kneel when receiving Holy Communion, for example, shows that there is already freedom in the interpretation of rubrics mandating posture.
To “suggest that the Faith and Order Commission and the Liturgical Commission investigate how our liturgies might be made more inclusive to disabled individuals,” Rev. Canon Goode presented a written motion.
After discussion, the vote was approved to evaluate the motion; it will be examined later.
The Synod ended its session today, and the Church tweeted its conclusion, writing: “Business being concluded, Synod is officially prorogued by the Archbishop of York, and ends in prayer.”
It will reconvene in Westminster from February 6–14, 2023.