🎙️ When God Is She: Reimagining the Divine Beyond Gender
In this episode, Herman and Pastor Shelley explore the bold and beautiful idea of referring to God as “she,” challenging patriarchal traditions and inviting listeners to see the Divine through a more inclusive lens. The conversation dives into the theological, emotional, and cultural layers of gendered language in faith — asking how our words shape our view of God and ourselves.
Pastor Shelley shares her personal journey of deconstructing faith, embracing womanist theology, and discovering a mothering spirit in God that transcends gender. She reflects on her congregation’s reaction at St. Peter’s, where using “she” for God was met not with resistance but with gratitude from those who felt newly seen in the Divine image. Together, she and Herman explore scriptural references that reveal both maternal and paternal aspects of God — ultimately affirming that God is beyond binaries.
Their discussion widens to include LGBTQ+ inclusion, empathy in ministry, and the dangers of using faith as a weapon. Pastor Shelley describes her work through Be Out Ministries, a movement dedicated to helping people of all backgrounds reconcile faith and identity. Herman shares how his own faith journey — and his upcoming book about his uncle’s murder as a gay man — have deepened his understanding of grace, justice, and spiritual truth.
The two also tackle the mistranslation of the word “homosexual” in the 1946 NIV Bible, exploring how linguistic errors have shaped modern prejudice. They discuss the documentary 1946, which exposes how ancient Greek terms like arsenakoitai and malachoi were misinterpreted — a mistake that fueled decades of harm toward queer Christians.
At its heart, this episode is about love over judgment, curiosity over certainty, and compassion over conformity. Herman and Pastor Shelley remind listeners that true Christianity isn’t about who’s right or wrong — it’s about who’s loved and who’s left out. They challenge the church to reflect the radical inclusivity of Jesus, who met people where they were, not where others thought they should be.
Takeaway: Faith evolves when we allow discomfort to teach us. Language matters because it reveals who we believe God can be. And perhaps, in calling God “she,” we begin to heal parts of ourselves that patriarchy taught us to silence.
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