In a powerful experience during a labyrinth walk, I realized that I did not see my mother, my two daughters, or myself as made in the image of God.  When I looked at the liturgy I discovered there are 195 male nouns and pronouns in Rite I and 145 in Rite II.  In both cases, there is one reference to a woman - the Virgin Mary in the Creed.

If our liturgy is our story, the telling of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, where are the voices of the women that Jesus loved, respected, and held dear?  Where is an understanding of the holiness of being a daughter, wife, or mother?

Wondering what it would be like to have services to the Divine Feminine, I wrote a Eucharist and Morning Prayer service in 2001.  If one feels that reading these services is blasphemous, I can only say that writing them felt even more so.  Yet I felt called to continue, for what else would allow us to see the narrowness of our current liturgy?  One of the arguments for retaining the male language is that “He” is inclusive.  If that were the case, changing the gender of the nouns and pronouns and using feminine God imagery would not be so startling.

My hope is that these services will begin a dialogue about the ways in which language affects the quality of our worship, our feelings towards God, and our sense of being created in God’s image.  I hope that you will join me in that discussion.

- Sandra Thomas Fox