Word: methodistically
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...nothing sacred? After church leaders set about updating the United Methodist Hymnal in 1984, their most controversial acts were to excise one of the most popular hymns in the Protestant repertoire, Onward Christian Soldiers, and to strip verses from The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The literal-minded rationale: a pro-peace church should not use "militaristic imagery." Outraged parishioners would have none of it. The two hymns were restored -- banners, watch fires and all -- after the revisionists were inundated with 11,000 protest letters...
...copies of which are being shipped to churches, carries only half the 547 hymns contained in the previous, 1966 edition. Of those, 162 survive with rejiggered words. The most significant alterations involve not war and peace but the battle of the sexes. With women destined to form half of Methodist clergy early in the 21st century, the 16-man, nine-woman hymnal committee desexed many a familiar line that was deemed to perpetuate male bias...
Feminist clout also shows up in the book's liturgical section. In the new wedding ritual, for example, the father no longer gives away the bride. Another change in worship concerns the Lord's Supper. The abstemious Methodists specified in their 1966 hymnal that only "the pure unfermented juice of the grape shall be used." Teetotalers attending last year's Methodist conference failed to get that clause inscribed into church law, and the new hymnal omits the rule. So congregations may use wine if they wish, but most Methodists still opt for grape juice. Score one for tradition...
...hemorrhaging of memberships in the three major faiths that date from colonial times. The United Church of Christ (which includes most Congregationalists) has shrunk 20% since 1965, the Presbyterian Church 25%, and the Episcopal Church 28%. As for two related denominations that mushroomed in the 19th century, the United Methodist Church has dropped 18%, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 43% after a de facto schism. Together, these five groups suffered a net loss of 5.2 million souls during years when the U.S. population rose 47 million. (In addition to these five denominations, "mainline" generally refers...
...continent where communion with the spirits and ancestors remains a powerful belief, most Protestants are exceedingly cautious about all the visual arts. Zaire's indigenous Kimbanguist Church strictly forbids decoration except on preachers' and singers' robes. But many Anglicans, once hesitant, are enthusiasts for the new church art. Methodist theologian Dkalimbo Kajoba encourages art so long as it is for "decoration," not "adoration...