Church of Sweden tells pastors to stop referring to God as 'he' or 'Lord' so as to stay 'gender neutral'

               

The Church of Sweden wants its clergy to use gender-neutral language when referring to God, refraining from using terms such as “Lord” and “he” in favour of the less specific “God.” 

The move is one of several taken by the national Evangelical Lutheran church in updating a 31-year-old handbook setting out how services should be conducted in terms of language, liturgy, hymns and other aspects. .

The decision was taken on Thursday at the end of an eight-day meeting of the church’s 251-member decision-making body, and takes effect on 20 May on the Christian holiday of Pentecost. .

Archbishop Antje Jackelén told Sweden’s TT news agency that a more inclusive language had been discussed as early as the 1986 conference. “Theologically, for instance, we know that God is beyond our gender determinations, God is not human,” she said.