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General Assembly 2008: Kirk's plans for use of Gaelic
The 2007 General Assembly instructed the Mission &
Discipleship Council and the Ministries Council to investigate
the present standing of Gaelic in the Church of Scotland
and to report to the 2008 General Assembly on the strategic
development of the use of the language in the church.
May's General Assembly will hear that the Group, set
up by the Mission & Discipleship Council in response
to the Assembly's instruction, recognised the current
dichotomy between the position in Gaelic in the Kirk
and in Scottish society - in the Kirk, the decline in
attendances at Gaelic services and a shortage of ministers
with confidence to preach in Gaelic were a matter of
some regret among many Gaelic speaking ministers. It
was noted that many former Gaelic - speaking congregations
had moved directly from traditional Gaelic services
to English only and had not sought to embrace even an
element of Gaelic worship. In Scottish society as a
whole, there is a considerable and growing, interest
in Gaelic, illustrated by the preparation of A
National Plan for Gaelic in response to a
Scottish Executive initiative; the establishing of
Bord na Gaidhlig;
the development of Gaelic education; increase in the
number of adults learning the language and the development
of Sabhall Mor Ostaig
in Skye. The Group believes that the church today needs
to address two areas -
- the maintenance and development of the
use of Gaelic in areas in which Gaelic is still regularly
in use
- the development of Gaelic throughout the
whole Church of Scotland.
In the latter area, the Group recognised that, throughout
Scotland, there are individuals who have knowledge of
Gaelic and who would welcome the provision of some element
of Gaelic from time to time in worship, perhaps through
a Gaelic blessing or Benediction. It was recognised
that the 2009 Year of Homecoming,
with visitors from throughout the world tracing their
roots to Scotland in a VisitScotland
initiative gave a crucial opportunity for development
of the language in such ways.
The Mission and Discipleship Council will offer proposals
that include encouragement of worship resources on the
Church of Scotland website; the compilation of a short
collection of Gaelic blessings/prayers/short scripture
passages for use mainly within English services; provision
of some Biblical and storytelling resources for Gaelic
Medium Education and also for use in Sunday Schools;
encouragement of a wider understanding of the role of
Highland Christianity in the world church.
The Council will also mention the expected report on
the designation of Gaelic Speaking Charges and on the
support of Gaelic ministry which the Ministries Council
is expected to produce.
Ends
Note to news desk
For further information, contact Rev Angus Morrison,
Convener of Mission & Discipleship Council, on 07748
447751.
A full copy of the report is available on our General
Assembly pages online
here. GANR/03/03/08
Monday 14 April 2008
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