Women's Committee recommends altering proposed Trinity study By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Thursday, June 22, 2000 The Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns is advising commissioners to the 212th General Assembly to approve a recommendation calling for a study of the Trinity, with one amendment - which changes the scope of the entire recommendation. Instead of forming a task force to study the doctrine of the Trinity in Presbyterian theology and worship, the advocacy committee wants to pay "particular attention to the need 'to seek new terms that refer to the being of the persons of the Trinity' as stated in 'Definitions and Guidelines on Inclusive Language.'" The study of the Trinity comes in response to a 1998 Assembly directive to "conduct research to assess the current status of the church on inclusive language policy at all levels." 'The Trinity is our theology' "The Trinity is our theology," said Charles Wiley of the Office of Theology and Worship, "not a trivial way we speak about God. It is the way we speak about our faith." Wiley introduced the proposed study to members of the General Assembly Council when they met in February. The council approved the proposal. The study was recommended, said Wiley, "as an attempt to say the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to the church," and now how does the church move forward? "It's not about how far can you go," he said. By moving toward middle ground "we are losing our doctrine of God and who God is." In contrast to the advocacy committee's amendment, the original recommendation made a distinction between using inclusive language for the people of God and inclusive language for God. It cited a survey conducted by Research Services which said significant majorities of church members, elders and ministers prefer the use of inclusive language for the people of God. However, the same survey states that only 5 percent to 16 percent of church members and elders approve of gender-inclusive forms of Trinitarian language. In further breakdowns of the statistics, it states that church members and male ministers "overwhelmingly" favor traditional Trinitarian language, while every single grouping of female ministers, faculty and students prefer non-traditional Trinitarian language. "We affirm the use of 'intentionally diverse and varied' language for God in worship. However, we note that the word inclusive does not refer in the same way to language for God as it does to language for the people of God. When discussing language for the people of God, the issue is clear: 'the diversity of the people of God is to be acknowledged and embraced in such a way that all may feel included.' That understanding founders when referring to God. Who or what is it that need to be included when referring to God?" asks the original report. Advocacy committee's advice "We believe that the language we use, including the language of God, must affirm all persons," declares the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns. "… The struggle for expansive language for God is directly connected to the recovery of dignity for all of God's people in all their variations. Language serves us as a lens through which we perceive God, ourselves, and others." The advocacy committee's advice concludes by saying that "Scripture offers a great variety in terminology for God. In emphasizing the language of the Bible as the standard for God language, the report acknowledges that the Trinitarian formula 'father, son and holy spirit' is found in the Bible only once. Therefore, ACWC recommends that the task force created to study the doctrine of Trinity pay particular attention to the need 'to seek new terms which refer to the being of the persons of the Trinity'…" Faith-building language for God The original recommendation, which was prepared by the Office of Theology and Worship, suggests what it calls "an important shift" in terminology: "from inclusive language for God to faithful or faith-building language for God." It continues, "Christian worship and theology is, by nature, Trinitarian, not because a particular formula is used, but because the doctrine of the Trinity sums up the good news of the gospel. … The doctrine of the Trinity is not simply a confusing add-on to a more fundamental idea of God; Trinity is our very understanding of God."

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