ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9607020012
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: DEBRA HALE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In ``Silent Night,'' the baby Jesus' sex is not mentioned.
``Faith of Our Fathers'' is now ``Faith of the Martyrs.'' ``O Beautiful for Spacious Skies'' is now ``How Beautiful, Our Spacious Skies'' and sings praises of all the Americas, not just one America.
``Right hand of God'' is sometimes changed to ``mighty'' or ``strong'' hand of God - lest the left-handed be offended.
These lyrics, issued last June in the United Church of Christ's New Century Hymnal, reflect a trend of denominations offering their congregations modernized, ``politically correct'' hymnals.
"Hallelujah," say some religious leaders.
"Political correctness run amok," say others.
Many hymns are being rewritten to be more gender-inclusive. In the United Church of Christ. Language that might offend minorities and the disabled - ``darkness'' and ``blind'' to symbolize spiritual ignorance, for instance - often has been changed. Military language is diminished, and poetry by South Africans and American Indians is more common.
In addition to the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Moravian Church have adopted hymnals or supplements in the past year. But none have gone as far as the United Church of Christ.
Arthur Clyde, music editor for the Cleveland-based UCC, said many worshipers are ``singing hymns that include them for the first time.'' The book's 617 hymns include such favorites as ``Amazing Grace,'' printed in English and Lakota, an American Indian language. And ``Just As I Am,'' minus a reference to ``poor, wretched, blind.''
The 6,200 UCC congregations are not required to use the new hymnal, which balances masculine and feminine images of God and sometimes refers to God as ``her.'' And some aren't - sometimes for financial and sometimes for theological reasons. Still, sales have reached 250,000, including editions sold to other denominations.
The Rev. Charles Ford, a UCC pastor in Boylston, Mass., said his congregation's response has been mostly negative. ``They do not want to use that hymnal,'' he said. ``We are experiencing a reaction to ... political correctness.''
But Jeffrey Radford, who has some arrangements in the hymnal and who is minister of music at Chicago's 7,000-member Trinity UCC, said Christians should be sensitive to others.
And Clyde said fewer male images in hymnals attains more balance. ``Is the most important thing about Jesus that Jesus was a man? ... Sometimes [as in `Silent Night'] we call Jesus a child. It's not a matter of disguising.''
Still, some UCC congregations are buying the more moderate Chalice Hymnal released last June by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
The Chalice also tries to balance ethnicity and gender language. "Instead of 'Good Christian men, rejoice,' we say, 'Good Christian friends, rejoice,'" said David Polk, a Chalice editor. But the Chalice, while using some female images for God, generally avoids female pronouns for God. ``We didn't want to just deliberately alienate people,'' said Polk.
Martin Marty, religion professor at the University of Chicago, said hymns should be revised when language is so ``egregious'' it is distracting. ``But overchanging them is not fair to the poetry and can be equally distracting.''
For Marty, deleting male references to Jesus is a problem because Jesus was a historical figure, ``and you can't term him androgynous.... Suppose you take the great women of the Bible and pretend that Mary Magdalene or Deborah are neuter?''
Last fall, the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a 288-page hymnal supplement, ``With One Voice.'' ``In a few places, we have used language that isn't exclusively male, and that has raised a few eyebrows,'' said the Rev. Paul Nelson, director for worship. God is never referred to as ``she,'' though there is ``Mothering God, you gave me birth.'' The hymnal also changes ``Merciful Father'' to ``Merciful God.''
In the new Moravians hymnal, many ``thees'' and ``thous'' are gone, and gender references to humans are more inclusive. Male references to God weren't changed.
Some hymn revisions are, in fact, more accurate translations of original songs. The Latin ``ex parentis,'' for example, has been translated back to ``Of the Parent's'' instead of ``Of the Father's'' in the UCC hymnal's ``Of the Parent's Heart Begotten.''
Thomas Smith, executive director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada in Fort Worth, Texas, estimated 90 percent of denominations have adopted a new hymnal since 1975. ``The language of the past century still speaks to many people today, but much of it has evolved and needs to beO altered,'' said Smith.
Still, Marty believes some hymns might be better abandoned than altered: ``When you start chopping all over the place, there are some hymns you might as well not sing,'' he cautioned. ``You can't rescue everything from the past,'' he said.
A SAMPLING OF HYMN REVISIONS
'O Beautiful for Spacious Skies,' last stanza from United Church of Christ 1974 hymnal:
O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
'How Beautiful, Our Spacious Skies,' from UCC's New Century Hymnal:
How beautiful, two continents, and islands in the sea
that dream of peace, nonviolence, all people living free.
Americas! Americas! God grant that we may be
a hemisphere where people here all live in harmony.
'Dear Lord and Father,' UCC 1974 hymnal:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways.
'Dear God, Embracing,' new opening:
Dear God, embracing humankind, forgive our foolish ways.
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