A shared commission of the Church of Ceylon, working for both dioceses.
The liturgical calendar
The Commission has built a liturgical calendar for the Church of Ceylon incorporating the feast days, seasons and commemorations that belong to this church rather than only the inherited English ones. It was presented again to the General Assembly this year and now awaits approval for use. Specific local commemorations have been recommended for submission to the Anglican Consultative Council, for inclusion in the calendar of the wider Anglican Communion.
Translation
The main work at present is translation. Seasonal material in Sinhala and Tamil, and the marriage liturgy in Sinhala, have been presented to the General Assembly to be recommended for experimental use, with suggestions invited back. Translations of the other pastoral liturgies are in progress. The Commission is candid that this remains the hardest part of the job, and it is the work that will eventually make a Prayer Book for the Church of Ceylon possible.
The formation of the people of God
The Commission studied Liturgical Formation of All Baptized, a document of the Anglican Consultative Council, and made five recommendations to the General Assembly: that clergy receive thorough liturgical training so they can teach their own parishes rather than relying on occasional seminars; that liturgical education be built into confirmation classes; that parish worship committees learn new liturgies and then teach their congregations; that regional workshops be run for Sunday Schools, youth groups and choirs as well as for clergy; and that educational resources be produced to support the testing of new liturgies.
Chaired by the Revd Lakshman Daniel.