Readings:
Psalm 107:35-43
Numbers 10:29-36
Acts 6:1-7
Luke 5:1-11Preface of a Saint (1)
PRAYER (traditional language)
Creator God, whose hands holdeth the storehouses of the snow and the gates
of the sea, and from whose Word springeth forth all that is: We bless
thy holy Name for the intrepid witness of thy missionary John Horden,
who followed thy call to serve the Cree and Inuit nations of the North.
In all the places we travel, may we, like him, proclaim thy Good News
and draw all into communion with thee through thy Christ; who with thee
and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, in glory everlasting.
Amen.
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Creator God, whose hands hold the storehouses of the snow and the gates
of the sea, and from whose Word springs forth all that is: We bless your
holy Name for the intrepid witness of your missionary John Horden, who
followed your call to serve the Cree and Inuit nations of the North. In
all the places we travel, may we, like him, proclaim your Good News and
draw all into communion with you through your Christ; who with you and
the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Thei commemoration appears in A Great Cloud of Witnesses.
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JOHN HORDEN
MISSIONARY BISHOP IN CANADA, 1893
John
Horden (1828 – January 12, 1893) was the first Anglican Bishop of
Moosonee, Canada.
On May 10, 1851, he received a letter from Church Missionary Society, informing him that the bishop of Rupert's Land had made a request for a schoolmaster at Moose Factory, in northern Ontario, and that he had been appointed to fill the position. They also told him to prepare to leave within a month, and indicated that they desired he marry and take his wife out to assist him in his missionary work. Although he was less than enthused about the appointment, he immediately prepared for his new position. He contacted the woman of his choice, a young lady who herself had missionary inclinations, and she agreed to marry him. On June 8, 1851, they set sail for Canada. Horden spent much of his time on the trip by continuing his studies of the Greek Testament and beginning the study of the Cree language.
He went among the natives, writing down new words as he heard them and, after eight month's effort, was able to preach to the natives without an interpreter. He was ordained a priest during this period. Soon Horden had prepared a prayer book, a hymnal, and translations of the Gospels in the Cree language.
Then in 1865, Horden and his family, which now included five children that he and his wife had had in Canada, sailed back to England so that his children could be educated. Upon Horden's return to England, he found he was very well-known throughout the British Isles, and became a popular and sought-after speaker. In 1867, Horden returned with his wife to James' Bay.
In the autumn of 1872, Horden received a message to return to England to be consecrated as a bishop, and on December 15, 1872, he and two others were ordained in a ceremony involving eight other bishops, including Bishop Anderson, who had first ordained Horden 20 years earlier.
He continued to serve as bishop of his huge territory, making pastoral visits to as many parts of his huge diocese as possible, despite his having a serious problem with rheumatism. In his later years, he also worked diligently to finish his translation of the Bible into the Cree language.
more from Wikipedia
Besides the Cree BCP linked to above, we also have a BCP translated by Bp. Horden into Ojibwe. Links to a number of his other translations, plus a biography of him, are at Project Canterbury.