Episcopal Prayer Book Changes, Rejecting God as ‘Man’ Necessary to Fight Abuse of Women, Prof. Claims
by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post:
A divinity school professor has said that recent talk about gender-neutral revisions being made to the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer has been influenced in part by the MeToo movement.
The Rev. Ruth Meyers, a scholar and professor at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, told Sojourners in an interview Monday that the prayer book should be revised to reflect the changing world around believers.
“It’s important because our worship needs to speak to this world that’s on fire today and needs to tell this incredible Gospel story that we have and draw people into that Gospel proclamation,” Meyers said.
“When I was doing some work with this ‘Me Too’ committee preparing for general convention, one of the women on my committee talked about being in conversation with one of her peers. And their image of the church was, you know, God is this old white haired old man with a beard and what does [H]e have to do with me? This kind of stilted and narrow vision of God,” she added.
“And my friend said, ‘Oh, the Episcopal Church isn’t like that. We’re much more open and accepting and welcoming.’ And then this person came to church on Sunday and it was all [F]ather, [H]e, and this imagery of kingship and lordship and not the sense of God that my friend was trying to communicate.”
Meyers asserted that it’s vital to revise the prayer book so that it reflects God “as we’ve come to understand God today.”
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