Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Hundreds Attending United Church Triennial General Council In Newfoundland

The Canadian Press, 07 Aug, 2015 10:45 AM
    TORONTO — Hundreds of people have been descending on Corner Brook, N.L., ahead of Saturday's opening of the United Church of Canada's triennial conference, which will elect a new spiritual leader and thrash out governance issues.
     
    One hot issue that likely won't be debated beyond the hallways is whether Gretta Vosper, an avowed atheist, should be allowed to stay on as minister of her east-end Toronto church.
     
    "That's at this point a local matter," Nora Sanders, general secretary of the general council, said in an interview.
     
    "It's not something that the general council could deal with in any way."
     
    Vosper, who is fighting a ruling by Sanders that lays out the process for reviewing whether she has violated her ordination vows, has raised eyebrows with her rejection of God and the Bible as a divine book.
     
    The church's Toronto and Hamilton conferences proposed looking at the ordination process on the basis they don't reflect contemporary thinking, Vosper said.
     
    "Whether that will get on the floor of general council is questionable," she said. "I don't know that it would be in their interests to begin a conversation like that."
     
    The 42nd general council runs a week, with election of a new Moderator to take place Thursday and installation the day after.
     
    Twelve candidates, four of them women, are in the running to replace the Right Rev. Gary Paterson, who said in a statement that he had spent several days earlier in the week at a retreat north of Corner Brook "in silence and in prayer" preparing for the conference.
     
    Each candidate will get five minutes to make a formal pitch to voting members in addition to posting statements on the council website.
     
    In all, 356 delegates called commissioners have the right to vote, while about 200 guests and observers will add to the crowd.
     
    For the past three years, a task group has been consulting widely across the church — Canada's largest Protestant denomination and second-largest Christian faith community — about what changes are needed. The group's proposals and responses to them are up for debate.
     
    A key recommendation among 190 proposals up for discussion is to move to three from four layers of governance, and have a bigger general council.
     
    "We're looking to do major reforms of the structures of the church," Sanders said. "Instead of having people chosen from each region, every congregation would be entitled to send people."
     
    Some voting delegates are young people, including 13 commissioners aged 18 and under who have been travelling the country on a pilgrimage since the beginning of July. They will report out on what they have heard about where the church needs to go.
     
    Delegates will also be looking at proposals for mutual-recognition agreements and partnerships with similar-minded denominations in South Korea and the Philippines, as well as a "full-communion" agreement with the United Church of Christ in the U.S.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Chris Hyndman Of CBC-TV Series 'Steven And Chris' Has Died

    Chris Hyndman Of CBC-TV Series 'Steven And Chris' Has Died
    The CBC reported that Hyndman, 49, was found without vital signs after 11 p.m. on Monday in an alleyway near Toronto's Queen and Broadview streets.

    Chris Hyndman Of CBC-TV Series 'Steven And Chris' Has Died

    Indo-Canadian Singer Alysha Brilla Leads Topless Protest In Ontario

    Indo-Canadian Singer Alysha Brilla Leads Topless Protest In Ontario
    Alysha Brilla, led hundreds of topless women in a rally organised in Ontario to advocate women's right to be topless in Canada

    Indo-Canadian Singer Alysha Brilla Leads Topless Protest In Ontario

    Anonymous Vigilantism Fills Hole In Traditional Justice System, Says Beneficiary

    Anonymous Vigilantism Fills Hole In Traditional Justice System, Says Beneficiary
    The group made headlines last month after one of its alleged members was shot and killed by police in Dawson Creek, in northern British Columbia

    Anonymous Vigilantism Fills Hole In Traditional Justice System, Says Beneficiary

    Canadian Rugby Team Looking To Close Out Pacific Nations Cup On A Positive Note

    BURNABY, B.C. — Canada has steadily improved at the Pacific Nations Cup. All that's been missing is a victory.

    Canadian Rugby Team Looking To Close Out Pacific Nations Cup On A Positive Note

    Kevin Vickers Receives Order Of New Brunswick For Role In Stopping Shooter

    FREDERICTON — Kevin Vickers, the former sergeant-at-arms in Parliament, has been named a recipient of the Order of New Brunswick for his role in stopping a shooting spree by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau last fall.

    Kevin Vickers Receives Order Of New Brunswick For Role In Stopping Shooter

    Campaign Won't Keep Canada From Trans-pacific Trade Talks, Harper Says

    LAVAL, Que. — It's a campaign promise of a different sort: Stephen Harper says he won't let his marathon ballot battle keep Canada out of a massive international partnership billed as the backbone of future global trade in the Pacific Rim.

    Campaign Won't Keep Canada From Trans-pacific Trade Talks, Harper Says