What convention (or conventions) exist for words that are recited by a group of people, but refer to oneself using gender-specific pronouns? The most common context is probably group worship in a church service (as this is what caused me to think of this tonight), but could also include the recital of pledges, such as in court, or a 4-H meeting, etc.
Let's use a simple, made up example:
Estoy comprometido con la verdad.
What conventions exist for writing such words/lyrics that are expected to be recited by both men and women?
I could see it being written with both forms (i.e.
comprometido/aor similar), but tonight at church, I noticed the feminine version of the word was written on the overhead projection, which seems like the least likely convention to me.
What conventions exist for actually speaking these words aloud?
Will each person say the same word (either masculine or feminine), or will each person substitute their own gender? At church tonight, I noticed the music leader, who was female, sang the masculine pronoun, despite the feminine pronoun being written.
So whatever conventions do or may exist, my experience tonight seemed to confuse them.