Prayer Book services to help dementia sufferers

The Church of England is to revive traditional terminology in some of its services to help Alzheimer’s sufferers.

Senior clerics hope that familiar texts of prayers and passages of scripture, often learnt by heart in childhood, could help trigger memories and provide moments of clarity and calm for sufferers.

Simple changes could mean making greater use of old version of the Lord’s Prayer, complete with words such as Thy and Thine instead of You and Yours.

The move is part of the Church of England’s re-examination of its services to prepare for an era when millions of people will face living with conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

The Liturgical Commission, the body responsible for any changes to the Church’s official service style, is calling in experts to help it plan “dementia friendly” services.

It is planning to issue guidance to parishes and cathedrals on how to structure worship to help those suffering from confusion or memory loss to participate as much as possible.

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