“Whose Prayer?”
By BARBARA SIMPSON
Those who are concerned about disagreements among Roman Catholics concerning their Church don’t realize how there are even more problems facing members of the Church of England. What is described as the “latest assault on the tenets of the religion” is the statement by the Archbishop of York concerning the “Lord’s Prayer.”
It was during a meeting of the General Synod, the governing body of that Church, that the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, called into question the use of the Lord’s Prayer, calling it “problematic” that we say, “Our Father….”
He referenced the fact during an interview with GB News, noting that many people have had difficult, destructive, and abusive experiences in life with their “earthly father” and have experienced an “oppressively patriarchal grip on life.”
He called it “a disgrace, an affront to Christ and all He came to give us.”
Cottrell is the second-highest ranking bishop in that Church and for those familiar with the current beliefs within Church leadership, his view is not surprising.
There has been a push for the Church to adopt more progressive beliefs — for example, there was a vote by leadership earlier this year, to allow priests to offer “prayers of God’s blessing” for same-sex marriages. This was the first time this has ever been done in the history of the established Church of England.
The Church is set to begin a project looking into using more gender-neutral language for God — the aim supposedly is to be “more inclusive.”
There is a hotly debated issue within the Church concerning the gender of God, since the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has declared that God is “gender neutral.” It should be noted that Welby has used his position as leader of the Church to support and push for left-wing issues, such as those surrounding illegal immigration and climate change.
This is where the question of the Lord’s Prayer come into the discussion. Some suggested that phrases like “Our Father” be replaced by supposedly neutral terms or feminine alternatives in order to combat alleged sexism in the Church.
The reaction to the suggestion by Archbishop Cottrell was heard and not everyone agreed. The chairman of the conservative Anglican Mainstream group, Dr. Chris Sugden, said, “Is the Archbishop of York saying Jesus was wrong or that Jesus was not pastorally aware?”
He said, “It was emblematic of the approach of some Church leaders to take their dues from culture rather than Scripture.”
GB News presenter Calvin Robinson — who is also an Anglican Deacon — said, “We call it the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ because it is the prayer the Lord gave us. He taught us to pray it. We call God ‘Our Father” because that is how He instructed us to address Him.”
“Is the archbishop saying Christ was wrong? That God made a mistake?”
That’s a huge question and one which should engender an enormous reaction from that entire church — and not just the Church of England. Just think of the consequences if the traditional “Our Father” prayer were changed to suit the modern mores of progressive beliefs.
One might also consider what would happen to other aspects of our beliefs and prayers if how we worship is changed to suit progressive left-wing issues.
While this issue now is in the Church of England, it is really just a matter of time before the same issues present themselves in the Roman Catholic Church. How they would be dealt with from Rome and from various dioceses across the West will present many problems and raise many questions.
I suspect many Catholics would not be surprised and would not welcome this destruction of their faith.