Joel Kontinen
The Rev. Gretta Vosper, the minister of the West Hill United Church in Toronto, has been breaking new headlines. Ms. Vosper does not believe Jesus was the son of God, or in God himself or in the or the Holy Spirit, she has had to organise church worship in new ways.
Since In 2015, a public letter she wrote sparked so much ire, the local jurisdiction of the church launched a review committee to examine Rev. Gretta Vosper beliefs. "She was on the verge of being defrocked."
However, her church – The United Church of Canada – "was the first church to ordain transgender ministers, its leadership supported abortion and same-sex union before either became legal in Canada".
Ms. Vosper has slowly "stripped away the traditional biblical language from her Sunday ‘weekly gatherings.’ In its place, she put words and rituals that reflected her congregation’s agreed beliefs — love, justice, compassion, integrity, forgiveness."
What she doesn’t belief in, these were the words Jesus taught about us.
"Instead of the Lord’s Prayer, the congregation recites the ‘Words of Commitment,’ which Ms. Vosper wrote with her third husband, the church’s musical director, Scott Kearns. They stand to sing humanist hymns dedicated to peace and love that the two also wrote."
Ms. Vosper’s church lacks all the divine input that god can give, as He walks by the Spirit, making us alive.
Source:
Porter. Catherine. A Canadian Preacher Who Doesn’t Believe in God. The New York Times (1 February).
Posts
