Horizons magazine is published by Presbyterian Women (PW) the national women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Issue link: http://horizons.epubxp.com/i/521232
O ne Sunday, a pastor nominating committee of a church I visited when I was in seminary g ave a report to the congregation after wor- s hip. I remember the chairperson of the committee stood at the lectern and said, "We searched all over looking to find the best man for the job." My heart sank. Was this just an unfortunate choice of words? Did the chairperson misspeak? Or was he communicating that a woman would not be considered for a pastoral call at this church? This was a congregation where I had preached, taught and served. As a candidate for ordination, I spent a lot of time wondering what qualities would prompt a pastor nominating committee to pick one candi- date over another, so this was disturbing to me. Now, for the sake of argument, let's assume that the committee had followed church policy and Equal Employment Opportunity laws and consid- ered applicants of different genders, racial ethnic backgrounds, ages and other demographics in their search. Even if the committee interviewed a diverse pool of candidates, the chairperson's word choice seemingly negated this. I became even more aware of how gender-biased language—with a preference toward the male gender—excludes individuals and whole groups of people, and how language can either separate us from one another or else affirm our value as children of God. Inclusive Language Many of us in the church have embraced inclusive language over the years as a way of communicating to include the people of God. Using inclusive lan- guage means selecting words that acknowledge all of one's intended audience (e.g., "humankind," "humanity," "people"), and when a person refers to a particular gender, the gender specific referent is used (female or male). A definition of inclusive language, as found in "Definitions and Guidelines on Inclusive Language," adopted by the 197th General Assembly (1985), is "Language that intentionally seeks to acknowledge the diversity of the membership of the church in such a way that each person may feel included, addressed and equally valued before God." 1 Specific suggestions include using "brothers and sisters," rather than "brethren"; "God's children," rather than "sons of God"; "our ancestors" or "our mothers and fathers," rather than simply "our fathers." The Welcoming Church Why the church should use inclusive and expansive language BY RHASHELL D. HUNTER