I've never heard a prayer end that way. The Hebrew word “amen” originally derives from another Hebrew word of similar meaning: ʼāmán. Amen was eventually ported from the Hebrew language to Greek then ultimately to Late Latin by Grecian theologians, who were translating the Bible, and finally to Arabic and English. It usually means “so be it” or “we agree that the Bible is truthfully God’s Word” Also, interestingly, Amen is the last word in the Bible. (the first word is “In”, middle word is “the Lord” - since there are 14 words in Psalm 118:9). Putting together we get: In the Lord, amen. But, to my knowledge, there is nothing of gender in the word, so I think the Senator made a faux pas .
I believe Cleaver did this as a subtle snipe at new House rules concerning gender neutral pronouns. He has a good point. Spending time on such things simply gives the opposition something to talk about to distract from the real problems facing the country right now. It went over their heads, and still provided such a topic.
I hadn't thought of that. I thought it was the Dem's first implementation of those rules. You may be right.