Revised Hymns

Many worship songs that our churches deeply cherish could really use some updates.

You know what I’m talking about — their language is too binary, leaving our nonbinary siblings out; or else the language for the Divine reduces God down to solely masculine attributes, instead of expanding outward to encompass the feminine, the neutral, and beyond human perceptions of gender altogether.

And then there are the hymns that contain problematic theology, but that you can’t cut out of rotation entirely without Certain Congregants never letting you hear the end of it.

…And maybe, occasionally, they’re right to love the song anyway! Many hymns contain some deeply meaningful messages — if certain bits and pieces are fixed up. That’s where this page comes in.

For more on why (and when) to revise a hymn, click here.

Below, you’ll find hymns I’ve altered a little or a lot. You’re free to use them how you like — but do be aware that these are unofficial revisions, if your community is careful about that sort of thing.

There aren’t too many right now, but I plan to add more as time goes on. Feel free to ask questions or make requests by emailing me at queerlychristian36@gmail.com! I’d also love to hear how your community made use of one of these pieces, especially if you recorded them singing!

“For Everyone Born” by Shirley Erena Murray
  • Binary language revised to expand inclusion
  • “Abuser, abused” verse revised to center the person wronged
“O Come O Come Emmanuel”
  • Revised to remove supersessionist (anti-Jewish) implications; and
  • To speak to the occupation of Palestine
“Holy, Holy, Holy” by Reginald Heber
  • Moving away from patriarchal & strength-focused language in favor of emphasis of God’s power as compassion and solidarity
  • Moving from an equation of darkness and sightlessness with sinfulness
“What Wondrous Love is This“
  • Removing the “sinners in the hands of an angry God” language
  • Emphasizing the incarnation as God’s solidarity with us in our suffering
  • Keeping the imagery of the world to come, while adding a call to live into Christ’s Kin-dom here and now
“We Are One in the Spirit (They Will Know We Are Christians”
  • Revised to work with interfaith (especially Abrahamic) groups