Just as I have been dissatisfied with previous attempts to adjust plainsong to English, I have been dissatisfied with the various sorts of “inclusive” language that have been proposed. The problem is timidity, avoidance, evasion of the core issue — speaking of God in language that clearly indicates the equality of female and male. To say, for example, “And blessed be God’s kingdom” instead of “his kingdom,” does not proclaim the equality of male and female; it’s an act of evasion. Or to say, “It is right to give our thanks and praise” instead of “him thanks and praise” once again evades rather than proclaims.
The reason for this timidity is obvious. If we suddenly began to use feminine pronouns in place of masculine for God our worship would be deeply disturbed. We’d be paying attention to the words instead of God. There’s be a lot of protest. So what we need is to find a gradual route to egalitarian language. That’s why the evasion. It’s ok for most worship for now. But we can’t sit still there. Those who are willing to work towards the future need to be making changes in their worship now. For that I propose the Daily Offices as said by regulars of open and experimental temperament.
That’s where committed language comes in. Committed language is a stepping-stone along the way. It is a radical re-iteration of the psalms. For the patriarchal language of the psalms it substitutes matriarchal. The idea is that in using committed psalms for years the worshipper becomes accustomed to feminine pronouns. You get so you hardly notice them.
When that happens to a lot of people, those people can begin to find an egalitarian language that will work.
In the meantime those of us who preach can call God she every time they call her he. I do that. Whenever I use a pronoun for God I pause and use a pronoun of the other gender. And I think a few changes here and there in parochial liturgy might be found acceptable. The two examples I gave above — “her kingdom,” “her thanks and praise” — can probably be used without too much dissent in liberal-minded parishes.
So that’s committed language. But why “committed”? Why that word?
Because in deciding to use it we make a commitment. We are committing ourselves to a path towards egalitarian language.
However, I recognize that there are good people out there who may not want to make this commitment and yet want to chant the Office. For them I am in the process of constructing another website consisting of the chants in traditional language. You will find it at wcw9.warnercwhite1.org. In the meantime you can get chants in traditional language and traditional chants as well at warnercwhite.com.