Gretta Vosper
minister of the United Church of Canada
Margaret Ann Vosper (born July 6, 1958), known as Gretta Vosper, is an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada who is a self-professed atheist. Her beliefs have caused controversy both within and outside of the United Church. In 2016, following the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, her public statement that the belief in a supernatural God promoted hatred led the United Church of Canada to institute an official review of her suitability as a minister. In 2018 that process was discontinued when Vosper and the United Church reached an agreement that left her free to continue as a minister.
Quotes edit
- The United Church is the only denomination in the world that could declare the Bible is not the authoritative word of God for all time. And that needs to be said by a major recognized denomination in order to undermine every single statement that is made by any religious extremist group — that their document, whether it’s the Bible, the Qur’an or the Bhagavad Gita, is not a divinely authored piece from some supernatural source.
- [The United Church has been teaching this stuff in theological colleges for decades], so is it not time to say it publicly? A lot of people would breathe a sigh of relief. And it may set humanity on a different course.
- Now it’s not just about me. Now it’s about me and my community.
- Clergy who don’t believe are a dime a dozen. But congregations who let them actually be honest about that are extraordinary.
- Meet the United Church minister who came out as an atheist (By Amy Dempsey Feature Writer Sun., Feb. 21, 2016 timer 15 min. read update Article was updated Feb. 24, 2016)
Quotes about Gretta edit
- What people kept saying is how can a minister who says she doesn’t believe in God be a minister in the Christian church?
- People were confused, and so what we thought was that we need to bring some kind of clarity to the situation.
- I’ve had a lot of people getting in touch with me, both who support Gretta and those who are wondering why the church hasn’t done something long ago on this one. What I keep saying is that the review is an opportunity for us to do the investigation and then to know at the end of it good reasons why she should be allowed to continue as a minister with the United Church, or have good reasons why she should not be.”
- David Allen Meet the United Church minister who came out as an atheist (February 2015)
- We were looking for someone deemed to be progressive-thinking. [West Hill as a congregation that wanted to] explore new roads in its spiritual journey.
- Randy Bowes Meet the United Church minister who came out as an atheist (1997)
- Anecdotally my sense is there are a lot of ministers who maybe wouldn’t say it as forcefully as Gretta would, but at the end of the day they don’t really believe in anything resembling traditional Christianity.
- You are stealing the tradition of a noble religion and using it when you are preaching the exact opposite of what they believe
- Andy Oudman Meet the United Church minister who came out as an atheist (March 2015)
- A minister who is not suitable, cannot be effective. To assess suitability, the review committee may ask the minister to answer the ordination questions again, starting with: Do you believe in God?
- Gretta has called herself 'an atheist minister'. While that language is startling to some, the Christian academy knows exactly what she is saying. To refer to oneself as an 'atheist' does not mean that one is asserting that there is no God; it means that the 'theistic' definition of God is no longer operative or believable.
- John Shelby Spong Meet the United Church minister who came out as an atheist
- Whether or not Gretta Vosper is a minister is a decision that is made by a regional body called a conference, and Gretta Vosper is not in London Conference, which is the conference I serve
- Cheryl-Ann Stadelbauer-Sampa Meet the United Church minister who came out as an atheist (March 2015)
