PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
e-pray is on the way!
Ministry / worship planning software to arrive by Christmas
By Charles Sherlock
The long-awaited computer software for ministry planning, LabOra e-pray, arrives in
Australia in December - an ideal Christmas gift for all involved in leading worship.
The advent of e-pray in Australia follows the conclusion of contract discussions between
Broughton Publications, Australian Anglicans‟ own publishing company, and Duplo Data, the
Norwegian firm which developed the software, now used by two dozen major Protestant and
Roman Catholic churches in Europe and the USA.
The project, over a year in the making, got the go-ahead from Standing Committee in June,
and the signing of the contract was completed at its meeting on November 9th.
Acceptance signed in Norway
On November 25th, at Duplo Data‟s headquarters in Forsand, on the west coast of Norway, the
Acceptance Agreement was signed by Charles Sherlock on behalf of Broughton Publications.
Dr Sherlock is responsible for developing of LabOra e-pray for Australian use.
This signing indicates that the programme has been tested, and is certified to satisfy the
contract‟s design specifications. After some technical checks on its data and interaction with
the various Windows operating platforms (from Windows 95 and up), e-pray goes into
production on a self-installing CDROM.
“It was quite a thrill to put pen to paper and take this last step,” said Dr Sherlock. “The final
product considerably exceeds my expectations, especially in its flexibility, user-friendliness,
and ready intersection with the internet.
“But I was also conscious of the considerable responsibility being exercised, since e-pray
involves Broughton Publications in considerable financial and support commitments.”
The Brunswick green boxes to hold e-pray were shipped (by air) from Norway the day after
the signing. The CDROMs – attractively labeled with an Australian motif – are expected to
arrive in mid-December. When boxed with the e-pray Manual and Licence, e-pray will be
available soon after – just ready for initial users to have some fun in January!
Worship in the world of tomorrow
“e-pray allows Australian Anglicans to step into the world of the future in worship,”
continued Dr Sherlock. “Yet it keeps users in firm contact with the fundamental sources of
Christian life - the scriptures, sacraments, and „common prayer‟.”
e-pray was selected by the Liturgical Commission after a global search for suitable software.
The software „engine‟ of e-pray may be Norwegian, but its content is strongly Australian,
including all the resources and services in A Prayer Book for Australia.
“e-pray does much more than just put service texts on a computer,” commented the Chair of
the Liturgical Commission, Bp Roger Herft. “It enables services to be planned over time,
enabling variety within basic liturgical shapes.
Bishop Herft was speaking at the WELL („Workshop Encouraging Lively Liturgy‟) day held
at Wollaston College, Perth, on November 20th. The day, which focussed on Lent and Holy
Week resources produced by the Commission for trial use, included a presentation of e-pray
by Charles Sherlock.
“Worship is perhaps best understood as „sacred theatre‟, in which God is the main actor,
drawing us into the Gospel story,” Bishop Herft told the Perth WELL.
“In moving from very „set‟ forms to more flexible ones, we are given fresh opportunity to
prepare for the drama of worship. Such an approach calls for prayerful choice of resources,
considering matters such as setting and choreography, all the while looking for the sense of
spiritual „flow‟ that is open to God‟s surprises – and e-pray is an ideal tool to help us.”
“One of the benefits of e-pray is its effect on the people who use it,” said Dr Sherlock.
“Experience shows that they rapidly develop deeper skills in bringing together the resources
of the scriptures, liturgical texts and songs into services that „work‟.”
Given e-pray‟s training potential, Dr Sherlock was delighted to announce that it is offered to
diocesan ordination candidates on a „bulk Licence‟ basis. This brings the cost down, and also
offers a practical strategy to help a new generation of clergy learn the vital skill of worship
planning – one of great importance in a post-BCP, post-modern age.
So what does e-pray cost?
e-pray is not sold, but licenced, since a major part of the cost is copyright fees – and it
replaces all APBA reproduction charges. Being quality software, it is not cheap, but as an all-
in-one computer package for church use (see details below) it is excellent value for money.
e-pray is licensed on a parish / ministry area basis. An Initial Licence costs $450, plus the
annual subscription fee of $145 – a total of $595 (covering Advent 2002 to the end of 2003).
The better news is that a Second Licence for use in the same parish / ministry area cost half
this – $295 in total – while Additional Licences cost just $100 each. Once these initial fees are
met, the annual update fee is just $145.
This scheme seeks to enable Broughton Publications and Duplo Data to recover their
considerable initial costs, while offering an affordable licencing structure. Broughton has also
worked out a way by which dioceses as a whole may subscribe, and (as noted above) is
offering a group purchase plan for ordinands.
NB: Licence charges have been set on a „costs-recovery‟ basis, with local technical and legal
work being done on an expenses-only basis. For example, Dr Sherlock‟s travel to
Norway has been largely funded through his work for the Anglican-Roman Catholic
International Commission, taking him to Europe three times in 2002.
e-pray – what’s in the package?
e-pray includes fully-functional service planning, word processing and database use (with
useful templates for Vestry, cradle roll, musicians etc supplied). It keeps track of hymn / song
usage, sermon themes, attendance, giving, staff and membership lists - automatically!
e-pray contains all the elements needed for effective service planning:
the full (corrected!) text of APBA, both in Rich Text Format files and as user-friendly
„templates‟ that release the full flexibility of the book, including the automatic selection of
sentences, readings and prayers of the day (and BCP canticles).
the full text of the New Revised Standard, New International and Authorised (King James)
versions of the Bible, together with WORDsearch 5 (developed by The Navigators) which
assists users prepare sermons and Bible studies. WORDsearch contains a comprehensive
range of maps, and comes with other Bible versions which can be „unlocked‟ for a fee.
the full indexes (number, first lines, scripture index, themes) from the six hymn / song
books most commonly used by Australian Anglicans.
Output from e-pray is as wide as a user wants to make it: full service text, pewsheets,
Powerpoint presentation, and cue sheets. And two mouse-clicks sees you generate on-screen
the daily offices and Prayer at the End of a Day for today‟s date!
e-pray allows users to write their own liturgical material, construct their own song book, and
form new services using „Service Creator‟. Templates for new services are readily developed
–a healing service, harvest festival, Taize celebration – and can be shared with other users.
e-pray is also very web-friendly: it gives ready access to daily prayer points, liturgy and song
resources, mission agencies and church contacts, and is configured for easy updating.
Broughton Publication‟s www.e-pray.org.au website is currently under construction, through
which ideas and services can be shared and queries answered.
Each annual license update contains not only the next year‟s calendar-based resources, but
also new ones. The next step planned – hopefully for the 2004 edition - is to include the texts
of hymns and songs, together with their music scores and associated MIDI files.
PS: For the technically minded, LabOra e-pray runs on Windows 95 and up, on a PC with
32MB minimum RAM, 240MB disk space, and CDROM drive (internet access is
desirable). These requirements would be met by most PCs bought since 1996 – though
more recent models will run e-pray better.
How do we get e-pray?
Order forms for e-pray are being mailed (and emailed where possible) to all Anglican
parishes in Australia. Simply fill one in, send it to Broughton Publications with the Licence
fee and your e-pray kit will be in the mail as soon as possible!
Enquiries may be directed to Ruth Oakden, paris@pipeline.com.au or Charles Sherlock,
sherlock@triinty.unimelb.edu.au.
Check out www.litpress.org/labora/index.html to see a major US version, or go to www.team-
labora.com/Internet/en and click on „Worship‟ (other options introduce other LabOra products,
from composing songs to indexing church documents!)
Photo captions:
Acceptance: The Revd Dr Charles Sherlock (Broughton Publications and the
Liturgical Commission) signs the Acceptance Agreement at Duplo Data‟s offices,
in the presence of Mr Per Halvorsen (Director, Duplo Data).
Dagfinn Skogoy The Revd Dagfinn SkogØy (Product Director, Duplo Data) who
originally developed the LabOra programme, and continues as its main
programmer.
Acceptance trio The Revd Dagfinn SkogØy (Product Director, Duplo Data), the
Revd Dr Charles Sherlock (Broughton Publications and the Liturgical
Commission), and Mr Per Halvorsen (Director, Duplo Data) with the Acceptance
Agreement.
LabOra e-pray – some background
LabOra e-pray began in the early 1990s when Lutheran pastor Dagfinn Skogoy, asked to
plant a church in a new housing area in west Norway, started to use his computer to plan
services, bringing together the Bible, hymns and prayer book in an integrated whole.
Soon others heard of his work, and the project was taken up by the Church of Norway, then
other Lutheran churches in Scandinavia. By 1994 a company was needed, and Per
Halvorsen, a lay businessman, became its Director. The new company negotiated with local
municipal authorities and was able to lease a site in an area needing employment: today
some 20 local people work in the „factory‟.
The software „engine‟ of the program has been through several editions, currently 4.5. It
has been taken up by many European churches – Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic
– and more recently in the USA, where the Presbyterian, Evangelical Covenant and Roman
Catholic churches use it, along with „non-liturgical‟ bodies such as the Salvation Army.
Versions now exist in 25 churches using eleven languages.
In 1996 LabOra was presented with the Creativity Award of the Norwegian Computer
Society, against all comers. The jury reported that
It is a combination of an expert system for preparing worship and a helpful program
for the many tasks of a parish. LabOra is creative and user-friendly … it is supplied
with a well-organised and tidy user manual, and also has standard Windows help
functions.