Doesn't have the same ring as '8 out of 10 cats' but there you go!

According to the Times 75% of Christians asked think that God is male.  This being so, it is small wonder the church is also seen - and often experienced - as male dominated.  These thoughts are prompted by, but not a response to, the article.

For anyone who has ever thought about it or studied theology at all it is a tired argument - God is not male, God is not female, God is not an 'it'.  Both maleness and femaleness echo something of the divine nature but neither can fully express it.  Having just had Trinity Sunday and an opportunity to ponder afresh that God's nature is indeed a 'holy and profound mystery' it is a little sad to be back to arguments of the "God's a 'he', the Bible says so" variety.  It is a shame that attempts to address gender inclusivity in liturgical language are perceived as political correctness - especially when such comments come from women who work under UK employment law that allows them equal rights, unlike female ministers who can be, and are, rejected by congregations merely on the grounds of their chromosomes.

I suspect that the reality is that at least 7.5 out of 10 Christians never even think about their images of God.  I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when one of my people saw the Rublev icon as female and was not phased by the idea of feminine in God.  I was also amused when one of my newer folk felt safe to tell me the joke that "when God made men she was only joking."  For all that, it is sad that that the kick-backto "God's a 'he'" can be "no, he's a she."

And then there is one of the more wonderful mysteries of good liturgical and homiletic language: it can be gender inclusive and, in its divine references, gender neutral, without being wishy washy waffle.  There are many excellent practitioners out there, but two Baptists who seem to have reached a stage where their speech is naturally inclusive and Godly are Keith Jones and Myra Blythe.  An opportunity to listen to either of these people would surely transform some of the sceptics who deride inclusive language as dodgey.  It does take practice, and I certainly don't have it cracked, but it is perfectly possible to speak of our wonderful God in ways that do not depend on gendered pronouns.

Roll on the day when 7.5 out of 10 Christians think such debates are old hat.