The Presbyterian Church (USA), at its national convention, "received" a policy paper which suggests that the church adopt gender-inclusive language for the Trinity. Referring to the Trinity as "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" is obviously sexist and alienates womyn everywhere. It's a wonder any female would want to become a Christian, huh?
So here are their alternate ways to refer to the Trinity:
- Rock, Redeemer, and Friend
- Mother, Child, and Womb
- Lover, Beloved, and Love
- Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier
- King of Glory, Prince of Peace, and Spirit of Love
I begin most of my prayers with, "Dear Father," for whatever reason. Learned it as a kid, I guess, and fell into that rut. Perhaps I should begin prayers with, "Dear Creator," or "Dear Lover." Yeah, that would catch Pam's attention in a public prayer meeting.
Then there's the familiar Doxology, which ends "...praise father, son, and Holy Ghost." The delegates sang a version which uses alternate language and avoids male nouns and pronouns for God.
I learned about this on Mark Driscoll's blog. He referred to "some folks at the Presbyterian Church (USA) who have free time because no one is going to their church." Oooooh, touche!
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
Don't mean to nit pick but the last option has King of Glory. How is that gender neutral?
Actually, although I don't waste much time on these sorts of things, there is a bigger picture. I think a lot of this debate started with Bible translators working in cultures that were not just matriarchal based but where translators also found that when they translated directly they were losing a lot of the attributes we in the west typically assign these terms. I don't recall all the details but perhaps Dave or some one with a lot more knowledge than I will come along and explain more. Of course once you open such a can of worms there is a tendency for it to get hijacked and end up where no one originally intended it.