As we started a weeklong celebration of preachers coming together to learn and grow together, we read and sang songs that were surprisingly masculine. And what I mean by that is that the liturgy all referred to God in terms of “He.” While this is very much a part of many traditions, I have become accustomed to liturgy that replaces the masculine pronoun with God.
All the women also sang together a stanza about subduing our stubborn will while the men never sang a stanza alone. Some people will call me oversensitive because I am pointing these things out, but it is important to note that there are people who are purposefully trying to create gender inclusive language and experiences in worship.
Whether you agree with that or not, I hope you get the chance to experience it because experience worship that doesn’t take note of that opened my eyes to how very important it is to me.