Panel: CHRISTAN WORSHIP - A UNIVERSAL PHENOMENON WITH LOCAL MANIFESTATIONS



798.5 - THE WOMEN'S WORLD DAY OF PRAYER (WDP): ANALYSIS OF LITURGICAL ADAPTATIONS IN THE NORWEGIAN CONTEXT

AUTHORS:
Mestad K.M. (VID Specialized University ~ Stavanger ~ Norway)
Text:
The Women's World Day of Prayer (WDP) is a global ecumenical movement led by Christian women. Originating in the United States, the movement has organized and invited participation in an annual World Day of Prayer service since 1927. Until the mid-1960s, the United Council of Church Women (UCCW) in the US selected themes and prayer writers from around the world and distributed the material globally. From 1968, the work was restructured and organized through the WDP International Committee. This change also mandated the establishment of official national WDP committees responsible for translating and preparing the text of the WDP service and its preparatory materials. In Norway, the International Day of Prayer for Women has been organized since the late 1920s by a dedicated national committee with representatives from various denominations and missionary organizations. The liturgical materials received from the International Committee have been translated and adapted by the Norwegian committee. This paper analyzes how a selection of these transmitted liturgies have been adjusted and contextualized to reflect the specific Norwegian religious and cultural landscape.