Wow. I’m in the New York Times
You’re probably thinking that it has got to be a total rush to have the weekend edition of the New York Times include a story about you. You’re right. It is. Sort of. When we read articles in newspapers and magazines, it’s easy to forget that there is an entire backstory the journalist couldn’t fit […]
Colleague asks to be defrocked
My colleague, Beverley Burlock, a former classmate at Queen’s Theological College, has asked to be “defrocked”, removed from the roll of clergy of The United Church of Canada because of the manner in which it is reviewing my ministry under the auspices of my effectiveness. Beverley’s letter has saddened me and, I hope, has saddened […]
My Response To Being Found To Be Unsuitable
This past Thursday, my lawyers, Julian Falconer and Akosua Matthews, the Chair of West Hill’s Board, Randy Bowes, and about fifty supporters from West Hill and the wider church accompanied me to a meeting of Toronto Conference’s sub-Executive Committee. West Hill and I had been invited to make presentations to the Committee in response to the […]
How many atheists?
I received the following query from Richard Bott, a colleague in The United Church of Canada. Richard is exploring the question of how many clergy in the UCC may be atheists and invited me to share whatever knowledge I had. My response is also posted below. Please feel free to share your thoughts on these […]
Getting Your Religion at the Gym?
For many, something other than religion meets the definition of religion It’s true. Fewer and fewer people in North America are heading to church on Sunday morning. Religion, well, its Christian iteration, is on the wane. But for hundreds of thousands of those who avoid church, alternate sources of inspiration, engagement, community, and well-being exist. We […]
Do you really want to risk that?
A letter to United Church of Canada elected officials and senior staff from Ben Robertson, Windsor, NS To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, I apologize for writing such a long letter; I didn’t have time to write a shorter one. As a member of the United Church of Canada, I am writing to express my deep […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
essential agreement
As a result of various Facebook conversations taking place that pose questions about the appropriateness of my ministry as an atheist within The United Church of Canada, I’ve been asked by Evan Smith, who is in the process toward ordination, to address the issue. Here is her question, followed by my response. Hi Gretta. I […]
united church boycott of goods from illegal israeli settlements
First, a disclaimer. I am not an expert in this area so I would recommend that you be intentional about seeking out information from a variety of sources that are able to provide more detail than that found here. The United Church national website has several links to the issue to which they have given […]
proud to be a member of the united church of canada
The following is an excerpt from my speech, The Perfect Storm, given at CCPC’s conference, Christianity: The Story Evolves, this week in Halifax. There are many other things that make me proud of the church of my heritage, but this brief synopsis got the point across. It was, of course, a prelude to a significant […]