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TORONTO – A United Church minister who had faced an unprecedented ecclesiastical court of law in the face of a long-running case.
In an unexpected development this week, Rev. Gretta Vosper and the church settled ahead of what had been dubbed at "heresy trial," leaving her free to minister to her east-end Toronto congregation.
"It's going to be wonderful," Vosper said in an interview Friday. "We'll be out of that heavy cloud. Now we'll be able to really fly. "
The settlement, the terms of which are confidential, which is supposed to be a week of routine preliminary motions ahead of the full hearing later in the month.
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The church did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Richard Bott, who was elected in July to lead the United Church in Canada, said in a public message that he was pleased with the resolution.
At the same time, Bott to the controversy that has been swirling around Vosper and the church's initiative to fire her. In a message to the adherents, Bott referenced the church 's core values of faith in God and inclusiveness.
"The dance between these core values, how they interact with each other, is one that we continue to explore as followers of Jesus and children of the creator," he said. "As a Christian church, we continue to expect that ministers in the United Church of Canada will offer their leadership in accordance with our beliefs."
Vosper, 60, who was ordained in 1993 and served as minister of West Hill United Church since 1997, has been upfront about her atheism and non-belief in the Bible for years.
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Most of her current congregants are supportive of her views but are critical, saying her beliefs are at fundamental odds with the doctrine and values of the United Church, Canada's second-largest religious denomination.
Things sent to the head of the church's spiritual leader following the Charlie Hebdo mbadacre in Paris in January 2015 in which she pointed out that belief in God can motivate bad things.
Following complaints, the Toronto Conference interview conducted in a split decision in 2016, that is, that it is not possible to continue in the ordained ministry because "she does not believe in God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit."
Vosper's lawyer, Julian Falconer, called it an important day for the United Church.
"Both parties took a long look at the cost-benefit of running a heresy trial and it was good for anyone and the results speak for themselves," Falconer said. "They recognized there's a place for Gretta, and there is no reason to separate the minister and the congregation."
Vosper, who was allowed to keep his position pending outcome of the aborted hearing, is free to continue his ministry without any restrictions. She calls herself an atheist to describe her non-belief in a theistic, interventionist, supernatural being called God.
Critics have called it the church would allow an atheist to stand in a pulpit and proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Either way, Vosper said it was a long road to clearing her name.
"There have been times of elation when I have felt the incredible support and support of the world and affirmation from my congregation and around the world," she said. "And there have been moments of incredible despair."
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