# 2026-04-21 CFT — Inclusive Language Music and Hymns **Summary.** Anne Linstatter's guide, published by Christian Feminism Today (EEWC-CFT), surveys the practice of inclusive-language worship music across mainline Protestant hymnody. The article names three working methods — small modifications, hymnal revision, new composition — and catalogs composers and denominational hymnals doing the work. Progressive-feminist tradition. This source anchors the wiki's inclusive-language hymnody concept page. ## Bibliographic - **Author.** Anne Linstatter. - **Publication.** Christian Feminism Today (EEWC-CFT). - **Full source path.** `Readwise/Articles/Inclusive Language Music and Hymns Christian Feminism Today.md`. - **Tradition.** Progressive, feminist, mainline Protestant. ## Three Approaches Named ### 1. Small modifications to classic hymns Change "Sons of men and angels say" to "Heaven and earth together say." Keep the tune. Keep most of the text. Broaden the address where possible. ### 2. Systematic hymnal revision Denominational committees revise every text. Scrutinize metaphors and pronouns for God, Christ, and the Spirit. The UCC *New Century Hymnal* (1995) is the leading example. Linstatter quotes the editors: they "sought to broaden the traditional divine references so that they included the feminine" and "every text underwent careful scrutiny." ### 3. New composition Composers write texts that carry inclusive, feminine, or non-gendered divine imagery from the start. Linstatter names the lineage from Miriam Therese Winter through Mary Louise Bringle and Mark Miller. ## Composers and Works Catalogued - **Miriam Therese Winter.** *Joy Is Like the Rain* (1967). *WomanSong*. *Woman Prayer, Woman Song: Resources for Ritual* (Meyer-Stone Books, 1987). Medical Mission Sister. - **Jann Aldredge-Clanton** with Larry E. Schultz. *Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians* (Eakin Press, 2006). *Earth Transformed with Music* (Eakin Press, 2015). *Inclusive Songs from the Heart of Gospel* (Eakin Press, 2022). - **Carolyn McDade.** *This Ancient Love* (Surtsey Publishing, 1996). - **Mary Louise Bringle.** *Joy and Wonder, Love and Longing* (GIA, 2002). *In Wind and Wonder* (GIA, 2007). Chaired the PCUSA *Glory to God* hymnal committee. - **Mark Miller.** *Imagine the People of God* (2013). "Child of God" (2013). "I Choose Love" (2015). - **Elizabeth A. Moore.** *God Is Still Speaking, We Are Still Singing: New Hymns with Familiar Tunes* (2016). - **Colleen Fulmer.** *Cry of Ramah* — includes "Washerwoman God" with Martha Ann Kirk. ## Denominational Hymnals Named - **United Church of Christ.** *The New Century Hymnal* (Pilgrim Press, 1995). Full inclusive revision. - **Presbyterian Church (USA).** *Glory to God* (Westminster John Knox, 2013). Chaired by Mary Louise Bringle. - **Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.** *Evangelical Lutheran Worship* (Augsburg Fortress, 2006). Incorporates expanded divine language. ## Problems Named - **Copyright.** Linstatter names the practical obstacle: "Copyrighted choral arrangements can make changing lyrics difficult, and it may take great effort to persuade some publishers to grant permission to change 'Father' to 'Mother' or 'he' to 'she' in certain anthems." Larry Schultz's permissions work is cited as a model. - **Contemporary praise music.** Linstatter calls this "another unplowed field for feminist work." Most praise-and-worship catalogs have not had inclusive-language treatment. - **Trinitarian expansion.** Alternatives to "Father, Son, Holy Spirit" face resistance from conservatives (who call the alternatives heterodox) and from feminists (who note that "Creator, Christ, Spirit" or "Source, Word, Breath" still elide the feminine). ## Web Resources Named - Christian Feminism Today (eewc.com). - WATER — Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (waterwomensalliance.org). - Re-Imagining Community (reimaginingcommunity.org). ## Named Entities Introduced - **Anne Linstatter.** Author of the guide. - **Christian Feminism Today (EEWC-CFT).** The Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus, publishing progressive-feminist theological writing since 1974. - **Medical Mission Sisters.** Miriam Therese Winter's religious order. - **Mary Elizabeth Johnson.** Winter's longtime collaborator and partner. ## Hermeneutical Framework Feminist, liberation, and mainline Protestant. Linstatter operates a historical-critical hermeneutic that treats the patriarchal flattening of biblical divine imagery as the intrusion on scripture, not the recovery of feminine imagery. ## Contradictions Logged > [!contradiction] > **Linstatter's claim:** biblical divine imagery is already more diverse than the masculine pronouns it has been translated into; recovering Ruach, Shekinah, Wisdom/Sophia, mother hen, midwife, and nursing mother restores scriptural fullness. > > **Traditional complementarian reply:** masculine language for God is revealed, not culturally constructed; changing it is an intrusion on scripture. > > Both sides appeal to scripture. The hermeneutical question is weighting. ## DARVO and Coercion Flags None. Standard denominational and scholarly prose. ## Connections to Existing Wiki - Anchors [[Inclusive Language Hymnody]] (new 2026-04-21). - Feeds [[Worship Songs Evaluated]]. - Reinforces [[Progressive Christianity]]. - Seeds [[Miriam Therese Winter]] (stub). - Seeds [[Jann Aldredge-Clanton]] (stub). - Seeds [[Christian Feminism Today]] (stub). ## Open Threads - Dedicated entity page for Mark Miller (UCC composer). - Dedicated entity page for Mary Louise Bringle. - A sibling concept page on contemporary praise music's inclusive-language gap — Linstatter's "unplowed field." - Cross-reference to [[The Inclusive Bible]] (Priests for Equality) as the translation parallel to the hymnal revision tradition. ## Related - [[Inclusive Language Hymnody]] - [[Progressive Christianity]] - [[Worship Songs Evaluated]] - [[The Inclusive Bible]] - [[St. John's UCC Chambersburg]]