...But most of all I do not want to hear any more from the Rev. Gretta Vosper, the minister at West Hill United Church who has apparently managed the ultimate doublethink. She has removed God, Jesus, the resurrection and most of the Bible from her services, yet claims to be a Christian.
She has just written a controversial book called With or Without God in which she discusses the need for Christianity to reform. In her case, that means dropping Jesus off a cliff and making up some kind of "spirituality" instead. There's no "big Godism" at her church, she says. Indeed, there is no God at all by the sounds of it. Doesn't that make her a pagan," one talk show caller wondered after listening to her.
It's more than a little pathetic and goes a long way toward explaining why the United Church is the most rapidly shrinking of Canada's mainstream churches. It may also explain why the church is having a bit of a struggle coming up with a new statement of beliefs.
Take the Christ out of Christianity and what's left? A Tim Hortons coffee club, that's what. What can they be thinking at the United Church of Canada?
There seem to be schisms developing in many churches these days, and they generally center around the conflict between absolute truth (i.e. the Bible) vs. moral relativism (everything is o.k. as long as nobody's getting hurt).
It's just one more manifestation of a weak culture that badly wishes to justify self-serving, hedonistic pursuits and has thereby rendered itself vulnerable to others with more discipline and purpose.
