Hymnal Deletion of <i> Lord </i> Opposed
Writers of a new hymnal for the United Church of Christ are cleansing hymns of patriarchal language, including words like Father and King. But if delegates to the church’s General Synod have their way the word Lord will be kept.
Meeting Monday in St. Louis, delegates voted 424 to 252 to ask the church’s Board for Homeland Ministries, which is editing the hymnbook, to restore all deleted references to Jesus as Lord. Those who object say it means “oppressive master.”
But delegates who voted to restore Lord believe the board is stripping away so much of the traditional language that the hymnal will lose its appeal to the people.
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