Core Skill: Critical Thinking

​This artifact is a presentation on some problems with the liturgical texts commonly employed in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). This was inspired by a conversation I had with my linguistics instructor, Dr. James Pohlig. One of my main goals with this piece was to identify real issues with the usage of the English Standard Version as a pew Bible, and the consequences of outdated liturgical phrases. While Dr. Pohlig would present these arguments much more articulately, more specificity, and with more weight to them than I have here, I nonetheless did cover at least the basics of the issues at hand.

My other goal was to propose workable solutions that can at least serve as a launching point for resolving the aforementioned issues. Here I believe I fell somewhat flat, as I did not go much beyond, “ask members of the ACNA what their thoughts are on this issue,” and, “look for a better translation to use in the public lectionary readings than the ESV.” Looking back, I should have made a few suggestions for better Bible translations to use (Dr. Pohlig has commented that the NET Bible is a comprehensible, dynamic translation, good for public reading in a liturgical setting), and gone more in depth on how one could collect the information necessary to revise the Anglican liturgical rubrics effectively. But all in all, I am happy with what was essentially a first draft as far as the actual writing process behind it was concerned, and if any clergy see this, maybe it will get their wheels turning.