Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, has called us to faithful and expansive language for God for decades with work including the groundbreaking book She Who Is (1991).  More recently, she wrote: “All-male images of God are hierarchical images rooted in the unequal relation between women and men … Once women no longer relate to men as patriarchal fathers, lords, and kings in society, these images become religiously inadequate. Instead of evoking the reality of God, they block it.” (The Quest for the Living God, 2007)

In the search for more expansive language, gender is sometimes set aside altogether as a limiting concept for God. However, until the idea of God as “She” is no longer shocking, it is a necessary tool to disrupt conscious and unconscious assumptions of the maleness of God. A powerful and empowering God who is called “She” also challenges and changes our understanding of human femaleness.

This text describes a liberating God with female pronouns, set to the tune ELLACOMBE.

You can preview or purchase the piece on GIA Unbound here. It is also a part of my collection Elemental Joy. This piece can be reproduced for worship using One License.