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Anglican Church of Canada no longer to pray for conversion of Jews

The Anglican Church of Canada has removed a prayer calling for the conversion of the Jews.

By World Israel News Staff

The Anglican Church of Canada will remove a prayer for the conversion of the Jews. The Canadian Jewish News reports that it’s “being hailed as a milestone.”

The church’s governing body, the General Synod, approved nearly unanimously on July 16 the measure to replace the conversion prayer in the Book of Common Prayer with another entitled “For Reconciliation with the Jews.”

The amendment will need to be ratified at next General Synod in 2022. The church’s Vicar General of Quebec, Edward Simonton, says this is “‘just a formality,” the paper reports.

Right Rev. Bruce Myers, the Anglican bishop of Quebec, led the effort to remove the conversion prayer.

He told this year’s synod that persecution of Jews “is not a thing of the past, nor is it restricted to other parts of the world.” He mentioned the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh as an example.

Myers said that the church should “assume a humble and reconciliatory stance with our Jewish elders in the faith,” adding, “It also invites Anglicans to be ever mindful of Christianity’s deep Jewish roots.”

The “Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews,” asked God to “hasten the time when all Israel shall be saved” by accepting the Christian Messiah.

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The new prayer “For reconciliation with the Jews,” was worked on by the Anglican Church, the Prayer Book Society of Canada, and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, the paper reports.

It reads: “O God, who didst choose Israel to be thine inheritance: Have mercy upon us and forgive us for violence and wickedness against our brother Jacob; the arrogance of our hearts and minds hath deceived us, and shame hath covered our face. Take away all pride and prejudice in us, and grant that we, together with the people whom thou didst first make thine own, may attain to the fulness of redemption which thou hast promised; to the honour and glory of thy most holy Name.”

Rabbi Adam Stein of Congregation Beth Israel in Vancouver and  Rabbi Reuben Poupko of Montreal both praised the new prayer, the Canadian Jewish News reports.

Poupko acknowledged the synod for its “principled decision, which represents a milestone in Anglican-Jewish relations.”