By Michael Gryboski, Editor Thursday, November 13, 2025

In some progressive circles of Christianity in the United States, the term "Kin-dom" has become increasingly used in recent decades as another name for "Kingdom," as in "God's Kin-dom" or "the Kin-dom of Jesus."

At the United Methodist Church General Conference held last year, for example, openly lesbian Bishop Karen Oliveto preached a sermon to delegates that referenced the phrase.

In an article published last month, Presbyterian News Service, the news outlet of the Presbyterian Church (USA), quoted a pastor who spoke of "standing on the kin-dom side of history."

But where does the term come from, and why was it created?

The first confirmed use of the term came from Catholic modernist theologian Ada Maria Isasi Diaz, a theological liberal who spoke of the concept in a 1996 book titled Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-first Century.

The phrase has gained popularity among those who seek what they believe is a less patriarchal or imperial description of the Kingdom of God. 

Diaz, who died in 2012, had been credited with learning the term from Georgene Wilson, a Franciscan nun who belongs to a Franciscan sisters community in Wheaton, Illinois.

In comments emailed to The Christian Post, Wilson said she was inspired to come up with the term when "teaching about a relational God in the here and now, amongst us."

"It is how we related to God and one another as kin," she explained, "as sister and brother, as Jesus taught."

Wilson, who originally met Diaz decades ago at a conference advocating for women's ordination, expressed surprise that "kin-dom" had "gained popularity with Mainline Protestant churches."

"Kin-dom speaks of relationships. Jesus our brother … our kin," she continued in defense of the term, adding that Jesus is "our model of God's love."

One supporter of using the term is Reta Halteman Finger, a retired seminary professor who penned an opinion piece for Christian Feminism Today in 2013, arguing that "in the larger context of the New Testament, both 'kin-dom' and 'kingdom' make sense."

"I think 'kin-dom' is a good word and better reflects the kind of society Jesus envisions — as a shared community of equals who serve each other," Finger wrote.

"But in the political context of that day, and in the literary context of the sentence, the term 'kingdom' was easily understood — as well as in the 1600s when the King James Bible was translated."

Lē Isaac Weaver of Christian Feminism Today told CP that there has been "a slow but steady increase in interest in reading about the term" on the Christian group's website.

The term is not without its critics, who believe that the phrase doesn't adequately convey the authority of Jesus Christ as a King who will rule for all eternity.

Wyatt Flicker wrote a piece last year that was critical of "kin-dom" for the theologically conservative think tank, Institute on Religion & Democracy.

"Kin-dom is a sentimental and inaccurate rendering of basileia, the Greek term for kingdom in the New Testament," Flicker told CP via email. "Basileia can mean kingdom, dominion, sovereignty, or, in Jesus' time, the Roman Empire."

"In the original, the term has the context of an imperial, monarchical, or chiefly office, nothing like the familial context that contemporary theologians read into it."