The Church of England is considering alternatives to referring to God as “he” after priests asked to be allowed to use gender-neutral terms instead.
The Church said it would launch a new project in the spring to decide whether to propose changes or not.
Any potential alterations, which would mark a departure from traditional Jewish and Christian teachings dating back millennia, would have to be approved by the Synod, the Church’s decision-making body.
The Rt Rev Dr Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield and vice-chair of the liturgical commission responsible for the matter, said the Church had been “exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years”.
“After some dialogue between the two Commissions in this area, a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring,” he said.
“In common with other potential changes to authorised liturgical provision, changing the wording and number of authorised forms of absolution would require a full Synodical process for approval.”
The specifics of the project are as yet unclear.
The bishop’s comments came in response to a question asked at Synod, the assembly of Christian leaders, by the Rev Joanna Stobart, vicar of Ilminster and Whitelackington in Somerset. She asked about the progress on developing “more inclusive language” in services.
It is currently unclear what would replace the term Our Father in the Lord’s Prayer, the central Christian prayer which Jesus Christ is said to have instructed his followers to say together down the generations.
Conservative critics have hit back at the possibility of changes, with the Rev Dr Ian Paul telling the Telegraph that they would represent an abandonment of the Church’s own doctrine.
He said: “The fact that God is called ‘Father’ can’t be substituted by ‘Mother’ without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralised to ‘Parent’ without loss of meaning.
“Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways.
“If the liturgical commission seeks to change this, then in an important way they will be moving the doctrine of the Church away from being grounded in the scriptures.”
