The Daily Mail reported over the weekend that the Church of England has urged clergy to change the lyrics of certain Christmas carols and Advent hymns so they can be sung “without causing unnecessary offense.” But the Church of England on Monday told Blaze News in a statement that “no one has been asked to change words in carols or liturgies.”
The Daily Mail said a vicar shared with the outlet an email to Birmingham diocese clergy that reads, “Try to use language that won’t add further confusion or tension or take away anything from the good news of the Nativity.”
‘If the Church cedes the line on this, what else?’
The vicar added to the Daily Mail that the Church of England has “really lost the plot” and that even Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “doesn’t order Orthodox churches to censor carols at Christmas.”
The outlet said “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” has been targeted for depicting other faiths as being “outside of God’s grace” — and the hymn’s “captive Israel” reference also rubs church higher-ups the wrong way.
The Daily Mail also said “Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending” — a favorite of Queen Victoria — has been called out as well, with clergy receiving a link to research noting that the second verse contains “problematic words” that state Jesus is the “true Messiah.”
What does the Church of England have to say?
The Church of England on Monday told Blaze News that the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt. Rev Dr. Michael Volland, issued the following Sunday statement in regard to the Daily Mail’s report:
No one has been asked to change words in carols or liturgies. Members of our team working closely with diverse communities in Birmingham invited churches to think about providing some context for people new to church who might be unsure why “Israel” is being discussed and whether this has any relation to the current conflict. The lyrics in some of our hymns, even those that have been sung for many years, are not always understood as having their roots in the Bible rather than current situations. The email from our team was an encouragement to help churches think about how they can tell the Christmas story authentically, without confusion, and in a way that makes all visitors feel welcome.
Canon Chris Sugden — a former member of the General Synod and executive secretary of the Anglican Mainstream group — told the Daily Mail that hymns shouldn’t be altered just because the Church of England “conforms to every progressive cause.”
“If one was attending a Jewish or Hindu festival, would you expect them to alter the lyrics or alter the liturgy because there are some who might find them difficult?” Sugden added to the outlet. “Who are the people they think are going to object to this?”
He also told the Daily Mail that “people who attend Christmas carols … will expect to have them sung properly. If the Church cedes the line on this, what else?”
The outlet noted that diocesan officials on its “presence and engagement team” claim the hymns have a “strong emphasis of supersessionism” — a doctrine holding that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people as God’s true covenant people.
The Daily Mail added that the email reads, “Some of the language used in our liturgy, hymns, and readings could easily cause confusion.”
Sam Margrave — a lay member of the General Synod — told the outlet that his “advice to clergy is sing loud and proud. We have a great heritage of hymns in this Christian nation, and any clergy who don’t like what the Church has to offer needs to think whether they are in the right role.”
A Daily Mail op-ed published Monday noted in connection with the Church of England’s reported Christmas carol email that “leftist, worldly preoccupations are displacing the divine. If God is disappearing from so many people’s lives, it is at least partly because He is disappearing from our national Church.”
Readers may recall a 2022 Blaze News report noting that All Saints with Holy Trinity church in Loughborough, England, changed the lyrics of the 17th-century carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” to read “God rest you, queer and questioning” and “God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased.”
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