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Showing posts from May, 2012

Don't pray to a lord

JannAldredge-Clanton has published books of inclusive hymns for use in Christian worship. I invited her to write a guest blogpost.    Jeanette The words we sing and speak in worship matter. Words carry great power to contribute either to the Good News of peace and justice or to support unjust systems.  In worship, words carry power because of the sacred value given to them; their power shapes belief and action.  Combined with music, words become embedded in the memory of singers.  I can recite from memory all stanzas of most songs in the hymnal used in the church where I grew up, but I have little recall of the sermons.  Christians should care about the names and images we use for Deity because our sacred symbols reflect and shape our deepest values.  When our names for divinity are exclusively male, we give greatest worth to men. If we truly believe that women are equal, then we must include female names and images of Deity in our worship.  But the language of litanies and hymns an