Personally, I think this is beyond ridiculous, but since I don't associate myself with organized religion it doesn't really matter to me one way or another. But this did catch my eye so I'm wondering what others think of this new development? Any other churches making this leap? "The Church of England will begin exploring the possibility of using gender-neutral terminology to refer to God, officials for the religious institution said Wednesday. "Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female," a Church spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters, while also acknowledging that "the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship." This statement was accompanied by an announcement from the Church that it would form a commission on using gender-neutral terms this coming spring." https://www.yahoo.com/news/church-england-explore-gender-neutral-174833873.html
"Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" -- Matthew 7:21-23
So I guess that might increase the number of people attending church ? People should start paying attention to current events and stop trying to remake humans to fit their idea of life. We all wake up in a different world each morning not knowing what will be next.
To my understanding, woke churches generally lose active memberships. Without standards, there's not much reason to attend church. You may as well join a civic club. It's hard to tell though because more traditional churches lose membership as woke people leave or they split into traditional and woke versions.
Isn't the king the head of the Church of England? I wonder if Charles has a hand in this. I understand that church membership in the UK is dwindling.
There's lots to say on the subject, and I don't want to drag this topic too far afield. The churches around me who defied the COVID shutdown have been flourishing, while attendance at the others is diminishing. The pastor at the UMC church I was attending still thinks that the reason attendance is down is because congregants "got out of the habit of going," rather than the UMC's gay pastor drive. That's a horrific way to view one's congregation...we were only attending services because of "auto pilot." For a lot of reasons, I didn't say anything to the guy. And he's never asked me why I stopped attending. One of the 3 churches has already talked itself into accepting the UMC's gay agenda/gay pastors rather than splinter off. Long story short, many of these rural churches that you would think are conservative have generational ties to the facilities, and may lack the means (or the confidence) to break away. Regarding the topic: many of the mainstream denominations have been infiltrated...some might say by Satan himself. I don't get the feeling that the baptists are on board with the new wokeness. One would wish them all to "be better," but if this is how malleable (or broken) they are, then one cannot mourn their demise. In fact, it should be welcomed...and hastened.
The Baptists are not all one denomination. The Southern Baptist Church is much different that the American Baptist Church, just as the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church is different that the ELCA Lutheran Church. Churches and denominations with female clergy seem to be dropping members the fastest. When I attended a Methodist Church the rule was if a congregation accepted a female minister, they would always be assigned a female minister. The church I once attended was assigned a divorced single mother as the pastor. The turned the church into the center of the gay community near here. Attendance dropped to near zero and the bishop assigned a male pastor who was married and had several children. The church then recovered, but he developed cancer and may have died... not sure as I had left that church prior to the assignment of the wacky woman. Last I heard, they now have a husband and wife team that is heading that church. No idea how it is going. The Anglican Church has become quite wacky in recent years. The Pope beginning with JPII has been working to incorporate the conservative members of the Anglican Communion in the Catholic Church. I think they have been making some headway among the African communities, who do not accept gay marriage and female priest(esses) in their churches.
@Beth Gallagher I think they should be more concerned about what "gender" the devil is. Now that is a helluva hot topic.
There is that clear divide in the UMC. But I I read a quote from an African UMC bishop stating that there was no reason to even discuss an issue (homosexuality) that Jesus never mentioned. Of course, such a statement is legalistic contorting. Regarding this gender-negating stuff...what gender do the original languages use?
Dear God have mercy on us all. All the more reason to not belong to any religion. I was Episcopalian for years, after having been raised in Baptist Church. Seems the Vicar and I disagreed on money in regards to the church. After that i tried several different religions, none that left me feeling fulfilled, hopeful or loved. I proclaim to be a self religionist, from then on.
I had forgotten the first language and had to look up what took place to stop having one language. So this should explain how multiples of languages were born. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-Babel
I believe most of the ancient languages used the masculine as the default, but there is undoubtedly confusion generated by translation among the languages. For example, going from Hebrew or Aramaic to Greek in which most if not all of the New Testament was written, may have generated issues since Greek is a more advanced language that the others, has more vocabulary, and different syntax. I don't know if anyone here is familiar with how Aramaic was changed when it was translated into Classical Greek or not.
Luke 11: 1-4 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: "Father", hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. God is not gender neutral. We are living in an evil sick world.
I’ll have to read all the posts when I get glasses (I get headaches when trying to read right now) but I feel comfortable enough to weigh in a bit. In a way, I get it. God’s own description of Himself to Moses as “I Am that I am” is an all encompassing statement and in addition, the statement doesn’t give way for gender identification. In truth, there is no one who can fully comprehend the ramification contained within that singular statement and to try to place a gender on it would lessen the full impact contained in it. That said, it was seed of God (the Spirit of God) that impregnated Mary which would indicate the male influence in the creation of Jesus. Also note that one of the defining statements Jesus made during His later ministry was that God was the Father and Jesus was the Son. He and the Father are one. At the end of the day though, it’s all lace. It is said that when Leonardo DeVinci finished the Last Super, he invited some students to see the painting, They were all awe struck by the intricate lace table cloth that the great artist had painted which, as the story goes, infuriated him. In his moment of anger he picked up a rag and smeared through the lace whilst yelling and pointing out Jesus, “THE FACE, LOOK AT THE FACE”! It’s too bad that all many people can see is the lace……and not the face. If we just seek God with all our strength, love and mind, the lace disappears and we’re left with all the REAL great things God intends for us to have. (time for an Aleve)