News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

UK News

Church accused of "woke agenda" after changing lyrics to much loved Christmas carol

by Alex Collett
Lyrics.jfif - Banner image
Twitter @ms_piffle

A church in Loughborough has been accused of following "woke agenda" after changing the lyrics to the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman".

All Saints with Holy Trinity in Loughborough added extra verses including the lines "God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased, through history ignored and scorned, defiled and displaced" and "God rest you, queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still".

More traditional lines telling of the birth of the saviour were then omitted.

 Further concerns were raised over lyrics which were overly political.

The new version was sung during a carol service for the local mayor.

Many people have taken to social media to raise their objections to the new verses.

Rev Matthew Firth, former vicar of St Cuthbert's and Holy Trinity Darlington was one of them.

Speaking to Premier, he said: "The entire Gospel message has been airbrushed and been replaced by woke mantras and that wasn't necessary. I think when the Gospels are being replaced, I think that's quite important to sort of speak out on."

Sam Margrave, general synod from the Diocese of Coventry tweeted a picture of the changed lyrics along with the comment: "When they say we aren't ordaining political activists show them this... Absolutely disgusted an act of worship to our Lord & Saviour is being used to push political ideology contrary to Church teaching."

Premier contacted the church and is waiting for a response. A statement was provided by the Diocese of Leicester however.

"The 320 churches in the diocese each choose their own hymns and carols and represent a wide range of theological tradition and opinion, and this will naturally be reflected in the hymns and carols that are sung in particular churches.”

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate