Anglophone Christian Worship’s Changed (and Changing) Language in the United States

Abstract

In the past 50 years or so, the language of Christian worship in English has undergone the most profound changes it has experienced since the Reformation, when Latin was replaced by vernacular languages in the Protestant churches. These changes have been prompted largely by concerns that began to arise – mainly in the 1960s – over archaic versus modern English, inclusive versus noninclusive language for humans and for God, military imagery, what are perceived to be negative references to people of certain races, and other factors. But the changes in language do not stop there, for there is an increasing trend toward using languages other than English in largely Anglophone churches, partly in recognition of the increasing language diversity of the United States and also as a means of validating and showing unity with Christians of other countries, ethnicities, and cultures.

At the same time, in some worship and song traditions, “church” language continues to be widely employed. The dichotomy in language usage also has a geographic dimension, with churches (and denominations) in certain sections of the country continuing to rely more heavily upon traditional language approaches than others in different sections that make more use of what might be called “revised expressions.”

These language choices stand out most clearly in scripture reading and song texts, which will be the principal focuses. A brief summary of language usage in worship since the period of the New Testament will be given, concentrating upon the use of “King James English” since the early seventeenth century. The reasoning behind each of the various language issues and the use (or nonuse) of languages other than English as mentioned above will be explored, and the geographic distribution of the various language uses will be noted. The discussion will partly be descriptive and partly evaluative, pointing out, for example, linguistic and theological problems that arise from the use of both gendered and gender-neutral language for God.