Issues In Developing Inclusive Language For Worship

As the previous article suggests, the language the church uses in worship communicates important attitudes about the status of women in the church. Yet reforming the liturgical language of the church is no easy task. Reforms can easily be either insufficient because they retain an unjust use of language or too radical because they sacrifice valuable texts from the church's history and weaken the theological basis of the church's worship. The following article presents one strategy for reforming the church's language in a balanced way.

One of the most controversial issues in worship today is language. Many women and men in Christian churches are calling for inclusive language in hymns and worship resources, yet they may differ as to what defines "?inclusive.?" Still others would prefer that language remain as originally written and that respect for the original text of a litany, a hymn, or Scripture be honored. Most people recognize that language is in continuous flux. The question is how to hear the desires of persons of varying viewpoints, as well as to answer the broad spectrum of needs for justice and equality. Language has the power to shape our world and change our churches. It affects our thinking about one another, as well as our respect for each other. Hymnal committees find themselves spending many painstaking hours searching for ways to be responsible to biblical accounts and theological tenets, to historical integrity, to congregations, and to a vision of a world in which women and men are equal in the sight of God. There is no one answer to the dilemma of inclusivity of language, for interpretation of the very word inclusivity comes from many voices. Does inclusivity include the personhood of God as well as humanity? Is inclusivity achieved when metaphors and images are deleted, rather than expanded, especially when speaking of God? How do we as Christians respect the biblical words that refer to God and Jesus while, at the same time, break down hierarchical structures? Consider the following issues: (1) If radical change is made in historical texts, an important sense of history is lost. Therefore, traditional hymns and prayers of the Christian church may need to remain in their original form. (2) Memory of an personal association with hymns contributes to the richness and integrity of worship. Therefore, we are called to respect the memory banks of sisters and brothers, even when the words of that memory may bring uncomfortable images to other brothers and sisters or to us. (3) New hymn texts and litanies need to express our world today and our part in modeling the equality of persons, whatever their race, culture, or sex. Therefore, we include in worship "?texts which enlarge and deepen our faith through their poetic expression in late twentieth-century terms?" ("?Statement of Policy on Language for the Hymnal Project,?" of the Church of the Brethren, the General Conference Mennonite Church, and the Mennonite Church in North America, October 29, 1987). (4) No one biblical translation is solely God's voice. The "?original?" Bible is one which does not exist in today's worship, for it was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Therefore, the use of Bible readings from an inclusive language lectionary help to increase our understandings of biblical truth and are often closer to the original intent and meaning of the Bible. Some of us struggle greatly with language that is not changed or made contemporary, while some of us struggle greatly with language that is changed. Change might best happen when we respect the old while at the same time introduce the new, for newness is more possible when we approach it out of security. Language is fluid, always undergoing change. The expression of our human nature and God's divine nature is best achieved when we increase our understanding of each other and our understanding of who God is. We need to do this by working at a multiplicity of images to describe men and women, as well as to describe God who embraces not only all that is male and female, but more. There is comfort in warm, parental images of God. To take out the male and female characteristics of God often has resulted in the depersonalization of God. Therefore, our concept of God must not erase the masculine entirely, but go beyond exclusively the masculine to include the feminine. As we approach the twenty-first century, we are called to enlarge and deepen our faith through images and terms that give honest and creative expression to the Word and age in which we live. The language of our worship will hold us accountable to each other and to God.