Press Releases21 Jan 04

"The Word of the Lord" is 'good' sales news

?THE WORD OF THE LORD? IS ?GOOD? SALES NEWS

22 January 2004

?The Word of the Lord?, the new Church of Ireland 500 page book of readings for the principal service is proving to be a best seller for the Good Bookshop in Donegall Street, Belfast.

Shop manager, Mrs Evelyn Lewis said: ?We are absolutely delighted with sales. The book is selling extremely well and looks set to prove a very popular complement to the new Book of Common Prayer due to be published later this year.?

Canon Brian Mayne, editor of the new edition of the Book of Common Prayer, also prepared The Word of the Lord ? the readings for the principal service according to the table in the new Prayer Book in the NRSV. This is a Church of Ireland version of the three volumes compiled for the Common Worship Lectionary of the Church of England by the Franciscan lay liturgist Brother Tristram who died at the end of 2002.

Brian Mayne said: ?I realised quite early in preparing the new Prayer Book that many clergy and people would find the absence of the printed out readings inconvenient. Yes, you can mark bibles in your chosen translation or use one of the books prepared for the Church of England. But with the latter there are a couple of dozen places where the Irish RCL readings differ.

?I was able to use my friendship with Brother Tristram and contacts in England to obtain copies of his files and from them construct a Church of Ireland version which includes the Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel readings for all the holy days as well as Sundays.

?Canterbury Press was delighted to publish this version as their first resource for a Church of Ireland market and we are pleased with the clear print and good binding which will make it easy to use at reading desk or at Holy Communion. I also hope that those who regularly read the lessons will obtain copies to help them prepare for the very important ministry called in the new Book of Common Prayer ?Proclaiming the Word??

The book of over 500 pages is priced at £25.00 sterling, Euro 37.50. Canterbury Press books are now distributed throughout Ireland by Columba Mercier Distribution Ltd.

Celebrating a best seller in the Good Bookshop, Belfast are
author Canon Brian Mayne with sales staff l. to r. Richard Ryan, Shop Manager Evelyn Lewis and Sally Shaw.