fr. james Hargrave

MISSION SPECIALIST

Liturgical translation program

meet Fr. james hargrave

Father James Hargrave is a Liturgical Translation Specialist working with the OCMC Liturgical Translation Program, which provides tools, training, and consultation to overseas mother-language translators of liturgical texts.

In the Great Commission (Matthew 28.16-20), Christ commands us to make disciples of all nations (ethnic groups), implying the need for translations into each language. Throughout history, the Orthodox church has prioritized translation of both the Bible and Liturgical texts into the mother-tongue of the faithful. In fact, His Eminence, Archbishop Makarios of Kenya has said, "Without translation, there cannot be mission."

Father James is creating an introductory course in liturgical translation and developing exegetical tools for liturgical translators. He provides training in the use of OCMC liturgical software such as the Online Liturgical Workstation (OLW) and Doxa. He also develops templates used by Doxa to generate multilingual liturgical books.

Father James was raised in Kenya and has an academic background in translation and Linguistics. Prior to seminary and ordination, he and his wife Khouria Daphne served as long-term OCMC Missionaries with the Holy Archdiocese of Mwanza in Western Tanzania. Father James’ familiarity with East African culture and languages— especially Kiswahili— helps him tailor his work to serve the needs of minority cultures and languages throughout the world. He holds an M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and is pursuing an M.A. in Bible Translation in Orthodox Perspective through the Hellenic Bible Society.