Section W-1.2006a of the “Directory for Worship” – The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Part II, Book of Order, 2011-2013 states (bold emphasis is mine):

Since the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a family of peoples united in Jesus Christ appropriate language for its worship should display the rich variety of these peoples. To the extent that forms, actions, languages, or settings of worship exclude the expression of diverse cultures represented in the church or deny emerging needs and identities of believers, that worship is not faithful to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A number of years ago I attended a seminar on inclusive language in Nashville, Tennessee that was presented by Brian Wren (see below). When Dr. Wren was introduced to those of us who were attending the seminar it was hard to miss that he was wearing a t-shirt that carried the message, “God is not a boy’s name.” Almost immediately, however, Brian Wren made it very clear that this seminar was going to be about much much more that just the gender of pronouns in the language of hymns and worship. He taught us that inclusive includes many different things – not the least of which was verbal communication – but also hospitality to people with a handicapping condition – something that has become part of my life during the last couple of years. I can assure you that just meeting the minimum standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act is not the same as inclusive hospitality. For instance, I am now aware that automatic doors which are set to remain open for just a few seconds often do not meet the needs of a person in a power wheel chair – especially on rainy days. And – when those accessible doors are not located anywhere near to the “blue tag” handicapped parking – even if the vehicle is parked by someone travelling with the person in the power wheel chair – words about hospitality quickly turn to the realization that genuine hospitality is not primary in the considerations of reality for some. And it is not just for people with a handicapping condition. I will never forget the sign on a restroom in a church building that read “Women and other handicapped” – and – I will also never forget how quickly that sign was changed to read “Handicapped and other women” once the mistaken verbage was pointed out to those who had ordered the sign.

Changing the focus – I was born in a parsonage next door to a small white frame church where my grandparents served as Methodist missionaries to the Cherokee peoples in northeastern Oklahoma. This has always been a part of my heritage that gives me great satisfaction and pride. I also will tell anyone who shows any interest at all in listening that my grandmother appears to be the first woman ever licensed to preach by the Oklahoma Conference of the Methodist Church in the early to mid 1950s – truly amazing!! So, naturally, I was thrilled to connect with Dr. George E. “Tink” Tinker, Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, and an enrolled member of the Osage Nation, just a few years ago. His book Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation should be required reading for anyone who genuinely cares about matters of inclusivity. I conclude today’s post with his words that open Chapter 3 of this valuable book:

“Turning inside out the insistence of missionaries of a scant generation ago, a radical American Indian activist instructed a young christian Indian on a critical issue of Indian identity and religious affiliation: ‘You have to choose. You are either Indian or christian. You can’t be both!” (37) What a sad commentary on inclusive welcome and hospitality.

Of course the above offers only a couple of examples of how many communities of faith do not respond to the divine initiative of continuing creation by using language and taking actions that do not display the rich variety of all peoples. How are we able to say that all are welcome when, clearly, that is not true!! It is time for all Christians to offer the radical hospitality taught by Jesus!!

BRIAN WREN (b. 1936) is an internationally published hymn-poet whose work appears in hymnals from all denominations and traditions. Ordained in Britain’s United Reformed Church, he lives in Decatur, Georgia, where he serves as the first holder of the John and Miriam Conant Professorship in Worship at Columbia Theological Seminary. A Fellow of the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada, Brian holds B.A. and D.Phil (= Ph.D.) degrees from Oxford University and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis. He is the author of PRAYING TWICE, the music and words of congregational song (Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), WHAT LANGUAGE SHALL I BORROW? (Crossroad, 1989 – now out of print), PIECE TOGETHER PRAISE: A THEOLOGICAL JOURNEY (1996), an anthology of his hymn poems (Code No. 1884), and six words-and-music hymn collections, of which the most recent are VISIONS AND REVISIONS (1998) (CODE No. 1590) and CHRIST OUR HOPE (2004) [Book Code No. 8222; CD Code No. 8222C]. Brian lives with his partner in marriage and ministry, Rev. Susan Heafield (“Hayfield”), a United Methodist Pastor and composer. Together they have published two worship song collections, WE CAN BE MESSENGERS [Book Code No. 8149, CD Code No. 8150] and TELL THE GOOD NEWS (Book Code No. 8171, CD Code No. 8172) distributed in the USA by Hope Publishing Company. Brian Wren’s hymn collections are published by Hope Publishing Company, which represents all his hymns in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Twenty five Brian Wren hymns appear in Hope’s new hymnal WORSHIP & REJOICE (2001).
(http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/main.isx?sub=307&search=107)

Tinker, George E. Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004.