An English bishop objected after a church choir sang an “awakened” version of a popular Christmas carol that injected LGBT and “inclusive” language into the song.
“God rest you strangers and questioners, your anxious hearts be still,” read a line from the modified American version of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen sung by the All Saints with Holy Trinity choir in Loughborough, England, read: according to The Expresswith another saying: “God rest you women too, who have been erased by men. Through history ignored and despised, desecrated and displaced”.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, took issue with the modified version of the song and the injection of progressive wording.
“I think what makes Christmas, and many other times, tells us the importance of ritual,” Nichols told Times Radio. “Ritual helps us get out of our little bubble and connect with something we have received, inherited and hope to pass on.”
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Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, speaks at a vigil outside Westminster Abbey
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“Those values are the continuation of the musical repertoire, of the ability to sing together, of looking at the rituals that have been shaped over the centuries. Those are probably more important to me than the particular sensibilities that come and go.”
The modified American version, written by Jeffrey Wilsor and used by the progressive United Methodist Church of Hollywood, retains only the first two lines of the original song, which dates back to 17th-century England.
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All Saints with Holy Trinity Church in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
(Google Earth)
“We strive to be an inclusive, ecological, and intercultural community of worship (CBI) committed to issues of social, racial, and climate justice,” the church website states.
“We don’t think we have all the answers, but those who wish to journey with us in Christian faith and action will find a welcome here.”
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The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, attends the Consistory for the creation of new cardinals led by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica.
((Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images))
All Saints with Holy Trinity Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
“Absolutely disgusted, an act of worship to our Lord and Savior is being used to push a political ideology contrary to the teachings of @ChurchofEngland,” Sam Margrave, member of the Church’s General Synod, posted on Twitter along with several other users who took issue with the new wording of the song.
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Not everyone took issue with the song, including trainee priest Rachael Brind-Surch, who said, “I love my church” when she posted a photo of the service bulletin online, according to the Daily Mail.
“My faith informs my politics and I will never be sad or angry or apologize for attending a church that challenges me to think more about them and the policies that are legislated in our name,” Brind-Surch added later after he controversy broke out.
