Two leading divinity schools in the United States have introduced gender-neutral language for staff and students when referring to God. The Divinity School of Duke University has issued new guidelines which call for ‘he’ and ‘him’ to be avoided in reference to God, suggesting instead that ‘God’ and ‘Godself’ be used. The guidelines also offer an example of gender-neutral metaphors such as “God is the father who welcomes his son, but she is also the woman searching for the lost coin”. Meanwhile, at Vanderbilt University, professors in the divinity school have been urged to give “consistent attention to the use of inclusive language, especially in relation to the Divine,” because campus policy “commits continuously and explicitly to include gender as an analysed category and to mitigate sexism”.