Malaysia
Last week, a government official in Malaysia urged citizens to “vehemently” hunt down young atheists whose pictures appeared on social media. They were members of the Atheist Republic whose founder, Armin Navabi, has provided a service to over a million subscribers who find inspiration and connection through his posts and encouragement. In a world where […]
The reason I’m an atheist …
… in case you missed it. Last night, I celebrated with a family the first birthday of their beautiful, strong, one year old daughter. She was born here in Canada, far from her parents’ families and friends, the first Canadian in a refugee family. Her early birth, a year ago, brought them joy in a time of loss […]
Sea Change in The United Church of Canada: Part One
The process that led to the review of my effectiveness Over the next few days, I’m going to be posting material pertinent to the United Church disciplinary process that has come to light because of the current review of my effectiveness. That may be of little interest to some of you, especially if you’re not clergy in the […]
Bangladesh
It is no secret that I first identified as an atheist in 2013 because of the arrest and threatened execution of four Bangladeshi bloggers following the brutal murder of Rajib Haider that February. My theological beliefs had long since morphed my understanding of God from a supernatural being who could intervene in the natural world […]
Dividing the United Church
Today, at its meeting in Cornerbrook, NL, the General Council of The United Church of Canada (UCC) sent two petitions to a Commission rather than dealing with them with all its Commissioners in attendance. The two proposals had been triggered by both the review of my effectiveness ordered by Toronto Conference’s sub-Executive Committee and the sending of […]
What God is Supposed to be Saying
This and That It’s a confusing world out there if you’re attempting to discern what a supernatural, divine being is trying to do and say in this world. Between, on the one hand, the millions of Seventh Day Adventists meeting to argue over whether the Bible permits or disallows the ordination of women, and, on the […]
Witchcraft and Sorcery
We thought it would be hard not to become immobilized by fear as the acts of terror associated with religious extremism spurred on by anti-imperialist sentiment began to scroll through our Twitter and Facebook feeds and captivate our shuddering attention with alarming regularity. And yet, for many of us, as the news of beheadings slips closer and closer to […]
Confronting the Unbelievers
The United Church Observer, a magazine that explores issues relevant to The United Church of Canada (UCC) and its members from an arm’s length position, has drop-kicked the conversation on whether clergy who no longer believe have a place in the UCC’s pulpits. Confronting the Unbelievers was published in its May issue.* It is a conversation that […]
The Church of Gleaned Practices
There is a group currently meeting in Houston that calls its members “spiritual naturalists”. They are, for the most part, people who do not believe in doctrinal claims of any religious sort, but who have noticed that the act of everyday living seems to demand something more from them. So they get together twice a […]
to the glory of good
On Sunday, March 15th, Eric Andrew-Gee of the Toronto Star joined us in our weekly gathering. It was a busy morning. We’d removed half the pews that Saturday in one of our first efforts at continuing our work toward creating a barrier-free community, this time focused on the challenges that traditional forms of gathering as […]
the atheist minister – a faithstreet feature
Thank you, Becky Garrison, FaithStreet journalist, for the wonderful feature article, The Atheist Minister, she wrote. Here are her opening words: “Gretta Vosper describes herself as both a minister and an atheist. That may sound like an oxymoron to some, but her work and witness offer a model that speaks to those who no longer believe […]
intentionally focused contemplation: prayer beyond belief
Doesn’t it seem like the plethora of interactive electronic means for communication available to us has made it harder and harder for us to make time in our daily schedule to be truly attentive to those things that matter most in our lives: our relationships; the issues that are important to us; the values we […]
favourite letter to the editor of the observer
It’s been two months since the articles of the “Beyond Belief” piece in The Observer were published so it was with some trepidation I opened my newly arrived copy to see what the response had been. Eight years ago, when the first article “Out of the Box” was published, letters flooded the editor’s office and […]
cbc tapestry – letting go
It was wonderful to be able to share an hour with Mary Hynes of CBC’s Tapestry talking about the challenge and reality of letting go. Mary is a gracious, welcoming host so our conversation was incredibly comfortable and I very much enjoyed it. I’d love your feedback. Here’s the program. Letting It Go, CBC Tapestry […]