God ‘should NOT be gender neutral’: Poll finds two-thirds of public oppose Church of England using non-binary terms for deity amid bishops’ plan
- Bishops announced earlier this month a new ‘project on gender language’
- The MailOnline poll found that 65% of the public are against the plan, with 15% supporting it.
Nearly two-thirds of the public oppose Church of England plans to make God ‘gender neutral’, an exclusive MailOnline poll shows.
Breaking with centuries of tradition, the bishops announced earlier this month that they will launch a major “gender language project” this spring.
You can suggest that priests can stop using the masculine pronouns ‘He’ and ‘He’ when referring to God in some sentences, or even that they can drop the famous phrase ‘Our Father’ from the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer.
But a poll conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for this website found that 65 percent of the public was against the plan, and only 15 percent supported it.
Support for the move varied by age, with support from more than a quarter (26 percent) of 18-24 year-olds, but only six percent of 55-64 year-olds.
Breaking with centuries of tradition, the bishops have announced that they will launch a major “gender language project” this spring.
The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rev Michael Ipgrave, said: “We have been exploring the use of gender language in relation to God for a number of years, in collaboration with the Faith and Order Commission.”
Such a radical rewrite would have to be agreed to by the entire governing body of the church, the General Synod, and would be fiercely opposed by traditionalists for breaking with the words of the Bible.
The landmark move was revealed in a question submitted to the committee that develops the wording used in church services, called the Liturgical Commission.
The Rev. Joanna Stobart, vicar of the Diocese of Guildford, Surrey, said some clergy want to refer to God without saying He or He, particularly in prayers for forgiveness of sins.
She asked: ‘Could the Liturgical Commission provide an update on the steps being taken to develop more inclusive language in our authorized liturgy and provide more options for those who wish to use the authorized liturgy and speak of God without gender? particularly in authorized absolutions where many of the prayers offered for use refer to God using masculine pronouns?’
In response, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rev Michael Ipgrave, said: “We have been exploring the use of gender language in relation to God for a number of years, in collaboration with the Faith and Order Commission.
‘Following a dialogue between the two Commissions in this area, a new joint project on gender language will start this spring.
“Like other potential changes to the authorized liturgical provision, changing the wording and number of authorized forms of absolution would require a full synodical process for approval.”
The proposal was welcomed by a group campaigning for ‘gender justice’ in the Church of England.
But Synod member the Rev. Dr. Ian Paul said: “The fact that God is called ‘Father’ cannot be substituted for ‘Mother’ without changing the meaning, nor can ‘Father’ be neutralized in gender without loss of meaning”. Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable, but rather relate to their children in different ways.
‘If the Liturgical Commission seeks to change this, then, in a major way, they will move the Church’s doctrine away from being ‘Scripturally based’.’
He added that although masculine pronouns have always been used to refer to God, Christians do not believe that God has a specific gender.
The Bible uses feminine images and metaphors for God, but primarily identifies God using masculine pronouns, names, and images. Male and female images are not interchangeable,’ he said.