Feminist hymnody

Throughout Christian history, the language and imagery of worship has been overwhelmingly male. Congregations have sung of themselves as ‘men’ and ‘brothers’; apart from Mary the mother of Jesus, references to biblical characters have focused on males; and God has been addressed in terms that emphasise masculinity. For much of this time, the creators and leaders of liturgy have been almost exclusively men. With the rise of ‘second wave’ feminism in the 1970s, there was a specific move towards feminist and inclusive language in Christian worship, which included hymn and song writing. However, while this is by far the most overt and vigorous period of such writing since the 19th century, it...