The Church of Sweden has urged its clergy to use gender-neutral language when referring to God, refraining from using terms like “Lord” and “He” in favour of the less specific “God”.

The move is one of several taken by the national Evangelical Lutheran church in updating a 31-year-old handbook setting out how services should be conducted in terms of language, liturgy, hymns and other aspects.

The decision was taken at the end of an eight-day meeting of the church’s 251-member decision-making body, and takes effect from May 20 on the Christian holiday of Pentecost.

Source: Premier