Review of atheist minister 'difficult' but necessary, United Church says

Rev. Gretta Vosper is seen at her West Hill United Church, in Toronto, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel)

TORONTO -- An ordained minister who believes in neither God nor Bible will have every opportunity to explain herself before any action might be taken to defrock her, the United Church said Friday.

Rev. David Allen, executive secretary of the Toronto conference, said an unprecedented review of Gretta Vosper's fitness as minister is difficult to have to do, but necessary.

"Many people have expressed support for Ms. Vosper," Allen said in an email to The Canadian Press.

"Some are worried that the church may be more closed to different ideas than they had thought; and there are those who are confused by Ms. Vosper's statements or reject them outright."

Vosper, 57, who was ordained in 1993 and joined her congregation in 1997, has been outspoken for years about her beliefs, which include rejecting the notion of an interventionist, supernatural being on which much church doctrine is based.

Last May, the church ruled Vosper's fitness to lead her West Hill congregation in east-end Toronto should be reviewed.

Nora Sanders, general secretary of the church's general council, said the review should determine whether the minister was being faithful to her ordination vows, which included affirming a belief in "God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

This week, Vosper lost an attempt to head off the hearings when a judicial committee of the church rejected her appeal to halt the process.

The minister will now have to face a committee of five people, who will then make recommendations to the full 40-member interview committee, which will then make a final recommendation to the conference's sub-executive on what, if anything, should happen.

The hearings will not be open to the public, Allen said, and the process will likely last into June.

"At the end of the process, (Vosper) will have had a full and fair opportunity to speak directly to the church about her position," he said.

"Toronto conference -- based on the review process -- will have good reasons why she should continue in (her) ministry or good reasons why she should not."

On Thursday, Vosper expressed dismay at the pending review, saying it amounted to unprecedented interference by the United Church in the relationship between a minister and congregation.

Members of the congregation stand firmly behind her, said Randy Bowes, board chairman at West Hill.

"There is strong resolve to carry on because everyone keeps saying this is a special place, we cannot let this place go," Bowes said.