The Church of England is weighing up whether to change all references to God’s gender.
It’s considering whether to stop referring to God as He after some priests asked to be allowed to use gender-neutral terms instead.
The Church said it would launch a project on the matter this year to decide whether to propose changes or not.
Any potential alterations, which would signify a major departure from traditional Jewish and Christian teachings, would have to be approved by the Anglican Church Synod.
Bishop Michael Ipgrave who’s one of the leaders responsible for the matter, said the Church had been “exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years”.
The specifics of the project are still unclear.
The Press Association reports it’s unclear what would replace the term Our Father in the Lord’s Prayer if it was ever changed.
Some Anglican priests say any changes would represent an abandonment of the Church’s own doctrine.
A spokesman for the Church of England said the issue was “nothing new”.
“Christians have recognised since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship,” he said.
“There has been greater interest in exploring new language since the introduction of our current forms of service in contemporary language more than 20 years ago,” the spokesman continued.
“As part of its regular program of work for the next five years, the Liturgical Commission has asked the Faith and Order Commission to work with it on looking at these questions.”
“There are absolutely no plans to abolish or substantially revise currently authorised liturgies and no such changes could be made without extensive legislation.”
