An alternative version of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen has sparked fresh debate over Christmas traditions within the Church. In a Monday night carol service, the All Saints with Holy Trinity church choir in Loughborough performed an updated version of the classic Christmas hymn. The new lyrics were more inclusive, honouring women and queer people within the carol, although the update has not been welcomed by some senior religious figures.
In an apparent ode to the LGBTQ+ community, the alternate version of the Christmas carol sang: “God rest you queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still.
“Believe that you are deeply known, and part of God’s good will.
“For all to live as one in peace, the global dream fulfilled.”
A member of the parish and ordained member of the Church of England tweeted a picture of the lyrics, captioned: “Flipping love my church.”
However, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, rejected the rewrite of the traditional Christmas carol.
The Archbishop told Times Radio: “I think what Christmas does, and many other moments, it tells us the importance of ritual. Ritual helps us to step outside of our own little bubble and connect with something we have received, inherited and that we hope to pass on.
“Those values are the continuation of musical repertoire, of the ability to sing together, of looking at the rituals that have been fashioned over centuries
“Those are probably for me more important than particular sensitivities which come and go.”
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