Article published February 17, 2001
New hymnal hits sour note for some
BY DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
A new 284-song supplement to the official United Methodist Hymnal is striking a sour note with some church leaders for lyrics that refer to God in feminine terms including "Mothering Christ," "Womb of Life," and "strong mother God."
The five songs in The Faith We Sing that describe God as female are being decried as "radical feminist theology," both inaccurate and unacceptable.
"Unfortunately, this publication, with its questionable theology, will be purchased by thousands of unsuspecting United Methodist churches," said Mark Tooley, director of the United Methodist committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington.
James V. Heidinger, president and publisher of Good News, a United Methodist newsletter based in Wilmore, Ky., also expressed concern over lyrics in the hymnal that "appear to depart from the historic understanding of God that we have."
Mr. Heidinger and Mr. Tooley both questioned the way the book was published, bypassing the public discussion that shaped the official United Methodist Hymnal before it was published in 1989.
"It almost seems a little bit futile to be debating whether we like the songs or not because the thing is in print," Mr. Heidinger said.
Hoyt Hickman, editor of The Faith We Sing, emphasized that the supplement is not an official denominational publication but is "simply a trade publication of Abingdon Press."
Abingdon Press is a Nashville-based publishing house owned and operated by the United Methodist Church, and one of the covers for the new book features a cross and flame like the one the denomination uses as its symbol.
Many church officials will mistakenly think the new book is an official publication, Mr. Heidinger predicted.
"The dilemma is that when you print it with a cover similar to the hymnal cover and it comes from the [denomination's] publishing house, for all practical purposes it is an official hymnal being used and purchased and put into practice in our local churches," he said.
Mr. Hickman, who also worked on the official 1989 hymnal, said publishing the supplement was "a very different process because we were not going for official approval." The editors conducted surveys, hired 180 consultants, and met with experts from different denominations who had recently worked on hymnals.
The final version of the supplement was approved by two United Methodist agencies, the Board of Discipleship and the Publishing House.
The new hymn book fills a need for diversity among the denomination, Mr. Hickman said.
"We know we've had constituencies out there that we haven't adequately reached with the hymnal. That was a major reason why we decided to develop this. It has quite a bit of American racial and ethnic music and world music."
The hymns referring to God as mother are clearly speaking metaphorically, Mr. Hickman said, and are "either allusions to particular Bible phraseology or in harmony with that."
For example, he said, the first song in the supplement, "Gather Us In," includes the line, "We sing to you, O God the rock who gave us birth."
"It's perfectly obvious that rocks don't give birth," Mr. Hickman said. "And the words, by poet Gracia Grindal, refer to Deuteronomy 32:18 [`You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.' - New International Version]. So we think it's perfectly acceptable."
Several Toledo-area UM pastors said they haven't decided whether to order the new hymnal supplements but have no qualms about the feminine descriptions of the Lord.
"I'm really supportive of using a variety of images for God," said the Rev. Cheri Holdridge, pastor of Central United Methodist Church. "The Bible has both masculine and feminine images of God. We've highlighted the male images and gotten sort of stuck using God as father."
"God is neither male nor female," said the Rev. Donald Taylor of St. Paul's UM Church. "To me, that is not an issue. God is neither black nor white. God is a spirit. I think God is more interested in saving people that are lost."
Mr. Heidinger said the descriptions are important because the church "owes it to its people to be careful in what it allows to be introduced in its hymnody." Referring to God as a mother springs from "radical feminism" and not from Scripture, he said.
"The argument you often hear is that many people have a poor father image and for them to think of God as a father is not helpful," Mr. Heidinger said. "You can understand that, but the fact is it has not been left up to us to determine the name of God. That's determined by Scripture, and Jesus consistently referred to God as father."
"The problems with these several hymns may seem minor to some," Mr. Tooley said. "[But] inclusion of even a few hymns that inaccurately describe God and defy settled Christian doctrine is unacceptable."
"Bring Many Names," a hymn by British songwriter Brian Arthur Wren, was originally titled "Strong Mother God" and rejected for the 1989 hymnal.
Mr. Wren wrote a new first verse and changed the title "to make it more palatable" to churches, according to Ms. Holdridge, and the hymn is included in the new supplement.
The feminine terminology is not the only controversial descriptions in "Bring Many Names," according to Mr. Heidinger.
"You help me figure out what a `young, growing God' is, or an `old aching God' is," Mr. Heidinger said. "When I see that, I want to hang my head and say, `What are we doing?'"
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