Is God a She, a He or an It?

Some years ago a woman told me that she could never believe in
Christianity because Christians referred to God only as "Father" or
"He'.

I asked why that bothered her. She said that as a child she had been
raped by her father. She could not worship anything called "Father".

I have told this story to other Christians who regard themselves as
traditionalists. While everyone is sympathetic to the child, not
everyone gets the woman's point. A common response is, in effect, to
just get over it. God the Father is part of the Christian faith.

The truth is that Christianity grew out of a male dominated society in
the Near Middle East 2000 years ago. Jesus referred to God as "Abba"
or "Daddy" in Aramaic. And many of us continue to call God "he" and
flinch when others call God "she" or "Mother God."

But does the mystery called God really have a gender? Or is God beyond
gender?

Union Theological Seminary in New York--one of the great non-
denominational seminaries in the western world-- requires its students
to refrain from calling God "Father".

And the Scottish Episcopal Church has recently begun to use a gender
neutral worship service that does not refer to God as male. In their
view God is a mystery beyond gender. Of, if you like, God is both male
and female.

Should we follow? Come to Good Shepherd and the World this Sunday at
9:45 am as the Rev. Dr Karl Weddle addresses the question of whether
God is Male or Female.

In peace,

Charles