The Church of England has defended its prayer for the World Cup, after vicars said it had been “widely ridiculed” online.
Released on social media, it included a prayer for us to “see and celebrate the hand of God” in the players’ creativity - a nod to Diego Maradona’s infamous handball which knocked England out of the 1986 tournament.
The prayer also asked for the World Cup to allow us to “see something of the world you want us to be: a gathering of every nation and people who shared your glory”, as well as compassion for missed penalties and muddled Video Assistant Referee (VAR) checks.
Ahead of the General Synod, Rev Jeremy Moody from the Oxford Diocese tabled a question about the sign-off process for prayers and whether staff had to be practicing Christians. He said the prayer was “it was widely ridiculed online for its religious illiteracy and the inauspicious reference to ‘the hand of God’”.
Rev Canon Julie Holywell, from the Derby Diocese, asked if theological advice had been provided.
Bradley Smith, lay member from Chichester Diocese, asked if it was “a deliberate decision or an oversight” to not offer the prayer in or through Jesus, and for Christ not to be mentioned at all.
The Bishop of Lichfield, Rt Rev Michael Ipgrave, defended the prayer in his role as chairman of the Church’s Liturgical Commission. While there had been “some critical comment” on X, he said, it had been “positively received on other platforms such as Facebook which reaches a broader audience”.
“Occasions of national significance provide opportunities to engage people beyond the church’s regular audiences”, Bishop Michael said, which explained the “use of varied tone and format, including language that is more accessible, informal or light-hearted” for social media. He also believed the absence of Jesus in the prayer was because it was in a different “format and register than that of a formal collect”.
Prayers were “prepared by theologically trained staff and are subject to a process of internal review and sign-off”, Bishop Michael confirmed.