New Hymnal

The General Board of Discipleship will be asking the General Conference in 2008 to authorize a new church hymnal. Music is such an important part of worship in our church. Every generation of the last century, we published a hymnal. Hard to believe that that time has come again; I remember when this one was just a little baby.

There is, however, already a little bit of controversy surrounding this new project. There is a group whose purpose is to prevent the publication of hymns which emphasize a feminine view of God. This group sites the supplementary book of hymns -- The Faith We Sing -- which did not have to go through General Conference approval, includes what this group calls "problematic hymns." (read about it here.)

Why is it, do you suppose, that some people object to the idea of expanding our understanding of God using some feminine images? Why do some people insist that God is male? Why do we insist that God is female? Do we not believe that both men and women are created in the image of God? If so, then isn't there something about women that reflects back characteristics of God?

Participate in this process. Go to the GBOD site and take part in the hymnal survey. Good News, the group I mention above, is encouraging people to do this. I encourage you to do this, too. You can find the survey at this link.