Sharing the Word of God in Every Language
Liturgical Translations is now an official department of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center and will be taking a much larger role in our Orthodox Missionary outreach..
When asked about the goals of this ministry, department leader, Dr. Michael Colburn shares, “We want to equip and enable people translating into their native language to create easily accessible, accurate, and beautiful translations of the Liturgical texts for the Church so people can worship in their own language. We provide training, software, handbooks, and consulting from preparation through to publication.”
Dr. Colburn goes on to state, "The 144,000 words of the Bible take 15-40 years to translate into a language for the first time. There are over two million words in the liturgical texts! We provide translation tools and training to guide local translators in this daunting process."
Early success in the field includes a Liturgical Translations Program Office, recently established in Nairobi, Kenya, to serve the hierarchs of East Africa under the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. Their first project, led by Fr. James Hargrave, is to enter existing Swahili publications of Vespers, Matins, the Divine Liturgy, and other sacraments into a database. From this, hierarchs will select and create an approved standard Swahili version to be made easily accessible by website and mobile app, as well as printed books.
A similar project is well under way for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Mexico; led by OCMC Missionary Jesse Brandow, who last fall launched liturgia.mx, a website with Spanish language liturgical books and daily Divine Liturgy services with both the fixed and variable parts.
“It is very exciting to see visits to this site grow,” says Brandow, who manages the Spanish liturgical website under the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Santiago of Mexico.
“Currently, the greatest number of site visitors are from Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala. And our Liturgical Translation team is honored to assist the local leaders of the Greek Metropolis of Mexico, helping their Spanish translations to become more widely accessible across Central America.”
This technology provides a unique opportunity to share the gospel around the world – welcoming thousands of people into a transformative relationship with Christ in a way that respects their language and culture.
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Many Gifts, One Body, For the Glory of God!
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