Inclusive Language with Reference to the People of God
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28 NRSV
“We believe that the imagery conveyed by language and language itself is important and that they articulate and influence our understandings of what is revealed to us about the nature and activity of God and the dignity of all God’s people as created in the image of God.”
UCC Inclusive Language Covenant
| Words That Exclude: | Words That Include: |
| brothers, brotherhood (in the faith) | Children of God, siblings, friends, kindred, family of faith, neighbors, humankind |
| man, men, mankind | people, all people, humanity, persons, everyone, all of us, we, one |
| sons (of God) | Children of God, people of God, God’s people, heirs |
| chairman | chairperson, chair, moderator, group leader, presiding officer |
| workmen | workers |
| forefathers | ancestors, forebears, forebearers |
| disabled person | person with a disability, wheelchair-user, person using a wheelchair (for a helpful guide, see How to Write about People with Disabilities, 9th Edition) |
| clergyman | clergy, minister |
| layman | laity, layperson, member of the congregation, congregant |
| fellowship | community, communion, friendship, “koinonia” |
| man-made | constructed, not natural, human-made, synthetic |
| stand as able | if you are able to do so comfortably, please stand; rise in body or spirit |
| minority people | racial ethnic people, people of color, BIPOC, non-white people, non-dominant culture |
| foreigner, alien | visitor from another country, immigrant, migrant, undocumented worker (not illegal alien) |
| man and wife | husband and wife, woman and man, spouses, partners |
| kingdom | realm, reign of God, Kin-dom |
| third world | developing nations, two-thirds world |
| washed white, white lies | washed clean, lies, (the phrase white-washed is often used to refer to a colonizing process of removing the experiences of people of color and/or non-dominant perspectives to center the perspective of whiteness) |
| blacklisted | discriminated against, excluded |
| darkness of evil | presence of evil |
Inclusive Translations of Scripture
- The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995
- Inclusive Language Lectionary, Years A (1983), B (1984), C (1985), New York: National Council of Churches
- Inclusive Language Psalms, Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1987
- The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation, Priests for Equality, 2007