ยป Download the resource sheet: Expanding our Language (download pdf file)
How do we think about who and what God is, what the spirit of God is like? Which words and images do we use to describe a God beyond language and pictures? How is the mystery and greatness of God conveyed in metaphors that nourish and sustain us? And how do we describe our creator with words and images that include and embrace all people knowing that our language for God always will be limited, inadequate, and partial? Can we now welcome the opportunity and challenge to explore sacred speech so that we might “name and praise God in ways less idolatrous, more freeing, and more true to the Triune God…?”
This collection invites you to consider the power of sacred language in our life together. It is meant as a beginning conversation about the many ways our words and images for God shape and inform Christian life. My hope is that you will use these resources as an opportunity for reflection and discussion in your own life and in the lives of your congregations. The resources shared here represent some of the most thoughtful and responsible thinking on a topic central to our life together as the body of Christ. Our language matters.
Featured Resources:
- What Language Shall I Borrow? God Talk in Worship: A Male Response to Feminist Theology by Brian Wren (B1045)
- A Metaphorical God by Gail Ramshaw (B1715)
- Good Goats: Healing Our Image of God by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn,
and Matthew Linn (B2854) - Tell Me Your Name: Images of God in the Bible by Arthur Zannoni (B2867)
- Heart Talks with Mother God by Bridget Mary Meehan (B1599)
- Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder (B2337)
- Under the Tree of Life by Gail Ramshaw (B2304)
- Treasures Old and New: Images in the Lectionary by Gail Ramshaw (B2700)
- Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination by Mary Catherine Hilkert (B2881)
- Principles for Worship (PR728)
- Open Questions in Worship: How Does the Liturgy Speak of God? – Volume 8 by Gail Ramshaw, Catherine Ziel, and Walter Bouman
- “What is the Proper Use of Language in Worship?”
- The Journey is Home (VT517)
- She Who Is by Elizabeth Johnson (B1298)
- Christ in Sacred Speech: the Meaning of Liturgical Language by Gail Ramshaw
- Reviving Sacred Speech by Gail Ramshaw
- In Search of Belief by Joan Chittister (B2627)
- The Mother’s Songs: Images of God the Mother by Meinrad Craighead (B2892)
- Words that Hurt, Words that Heal: Language About God and People (PR795)
- Exploring the Feminine Face of God by Bridget Mary Meehan (B1374)
- Excellent Words: Inclusive Language in Liturgy and Scripture
- Included Out (animated video) (VT1016)
- Healing our Images of God (VT1786)
- Search for the Living God by Elizabeth Johnson (C203)
Subscribe to eQuip