The Rev. Gretta Vosper, the minister at West Hill United Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, had a crisis of conscience four years into her time at the church: she didn’t believe the Bible was the authoritative word of God, and she let her congregation know that. “It’s not that I don’t have a definition of God that I can adhere to,” Vosper said. “It’s that I think we need to stop using that language.”
The progressive congregation asked her to stay, and began modifying the language in the church, replacing talk of God and Jesus with talk of love, compassion, and beauty. When Vosper switched from identifying as a non-theist to an atheist, the United Church denomination started questioning whether she should continue as a minister, and threatened defrocking by an ecclesiastical court. After five years of debate, the denomination has dropped the charges and agreed to let her continue to serve her congregation. The Right Rev. Richard Bott, who leads the United Church, said he was pleased with the resolution.
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Canadian Press