Episcopal Paganism

From Built on a Rock, a document from the official website of the Episcopal Church. (Click here if you can’t open the Word document.)

What it does, in trendy feminist fashion, is take key pieces of the liturgy and replace “Father” with “Mother” or “Lady.”

For example:

The Word

A hymn, psalm, or anthem may be sung.

The people ( P) standing, the celebrant (C) says

C: Blessed be the Lady who births, redeems and sanctifies us.

P: And blessed be all of her creation forever. Amen

C: Nurturing Mother, our hearts are open to you. You know our yearnings and our deepest fears. Purify our hearts with your burning love, that we may learn to love you more and more. Amen.

C: Loving Lady, have mercy.

P: Mother Jesus, have mercy.

C: Loving Lady, have mercy.

The effect, of course, is rather Wiccan/Pagan — which is doubtless OK with the people who promulgate stuff like this.

As you might guess, the comments are rather withering:

• Double, double, toil and trouble!
• Well, at least they left the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer alone.
• But now it appears to be addressed to a different god than the rest of the liturgy.
• We say “Our Father” because Jesus did — and we know who his mother was.
• But if God is “mother,” who is “father”?
• In a certain sense, it should be no surprise that the “bridge church” has become a bridge to nowhere!

The problem, of course, is that while a few people who value trendy secular ideologies more than traditional Christian understandings hang around in “Mainstream Protestant” denominations and make trouble with things like this, it’s clear where they are headed: out the door.

They in fact have little interest in religion except to the extent that it supplies some spiritial-sounding rhetoric for what is really a secular liberal agenda.

The religious movements and groups that are growing have no problem with “God the Father.”