Thursday, June 7, 2018

UMC Minnesota Removes "Father" from Prayers; Does So to Refer to God in Gender-Free Language

The Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church edited the historic Apostles' Creed so that it removed references to God as "Father" for a worship service, the Christian Post website reports today (June 7, 2018).

At the Minnesota Conference -- held from May 30 to June 1 -- liturgical folders included a copy of the creed that removed gender-specific language for God, changing "God the Father Almighty" to "God the Creator Almighty" and "Jesus Christ His Only Son" to "Jesus Christ God's Only Son."

The Rev. Keith Mcilwain, pastor of Slippery Rock Methodist Church in the Western Pennsylvania Conference, took issue with the editing, explaining that it "fails to affirm the classical ecumenically-supported understanding of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which teaches us that God has been revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

"No United Methodist individual or body has the authority to edit those creeds which were formulated by the early Church and have helped define orthodox Christianity for the better part of 2,000 years," Mcilwain said.

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