have it your way!

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jun 20, 2006

Designer deities soon to be available from L.L. Bean. Now your faith community can custom order a divinity coordinated with your music, your language, your worship decor of choice. Richard Ostling reports:

Birmingham, Ala. -- The divine Trinity -- "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" -- could also be known as "Mother, Child and Womb" or "Rock, Redeemer, Friend" at some Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) services under an action Monday by the church's national assembly. Delegates to the meeting voted to "receive" a policy paper on gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, a step short of approving it. That means church officials can propose experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the Trinity, but congregations won't be required to use them. ...

A panel that has worked on the issue since 2000 said the classical language for the Trinity should still be used, but it added that Presbyterians also should seek "fresh ways to speak of the mystery of the triune God" to "expand the church's vocabulary of praise and wonder."

Besides "Mother, Child and Womb" and "Rock, Redeemer, Friend," proposed Trinity op-tions drawn from biblical material include:

"Lover, Beloved, Love."

"Creator, Savior, Sanctifier."

"King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love."

Early in Monday's business session, the Presbyterian assembly sang a revised version of a familiar doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" that avoided male nouns and pronouns for God.

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