多倫多聯合教會牧者要建立 "無神論者社群"
多倫多聯合教會一位宣稱自己不再相信上帝的存在的牧者 Gretta Vosper ﹐要繼續擔任聯合教會的牧師﹐並準備按照教會的既有模式建立一個 "無神論者社群"﹐在星期日上午聚會﹐開設成人及兒童事工﹐"以人的手段解決人的問題" 云云。這位牧師於 1993 年被按立為 West Hill United Church 牧者﹐於 2013 年公開放棄對上帝和聖經的信仰﹐去年 9 月一個聯合教會的評估委員會認定她已失去擔任牧師的資格﹐但她堅定拒絕辭職﹐聯合教會將於今年下半年決定是否將她開除。詳情請參閱以下的英文報導：
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/atheist-united-church-minister-starting-new-secular-community-in-toronto-1.3219776?hootPostID=86078a63f7f087bcb22d0790c7dcfb77
Atheist United Church minister starting new secular community in Toronto
Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, December 28, 2016 2:47PM EST
Rev. Gretta Vosper is seen at her West Hill United Church, in Toronto, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015.
TORONTO -- A minister deemed unsuitable by the United Church for declaring herself an atheist is now at the heart of an effort to establish a type of church-style, secular community in Canada.
Gretta Vosper is one of about 10 founding members of Toronto's Oasis Network, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada and due to launch in February.
Oasis communities, which have sprung up in several locations across the United States, are non-faith-based groups that try to draw people together based on five broad-based principles.
Among them are notions that reality is best understood through reason rather than religious insight, and that the world's problems are best addressed by people rather than divine intervention.
Vosper sees setting up the community in Toronto as a natural extension of the work she's already doing at one of the city's churches.
The United Church criticized Vosper for declaring herself an atheist and will hold an ecclesiastical hearing in late 2017 to determine whether or not she will be defrocked as a minister.
Vosper is fighting to keep her job as the pastoral leader of the West Hill United Church in east Toronto and said her involvement with the Oasis community builds upon what she has tried to establish there.
"There's many elements of religion that will be picked up by Oasis, but they're not exclusive to religion," Vosper told The Canadian Press.
"Religion has carried them forward and done it very, very well in many ways, but also in many ways has done it with drastic results. So to distill the best elements of religion in a way that can allow them to be embraced by an increasingly secular world I think is important, and that's what we're doing."
Oasis will maintain many trappings of a traditional church, she said.
The group will gather on Sunday mornings, often seen as the time best-suited for family activities, and congregate in a multi-faith centre in downtown Toronto.
They will offer programs for children while adults listen to a guest speaker or a local musician.
Gatherings will not centre around a single leader, but will instead be shaped by the guest presenters who will help lead discussions of topics that are relevant to the community.
Vosper said the group is open to anyone who shares the five core principles of Oasis: "people are more important than beliefs," "reality is known through reason," "human hands solve human problems," "meaning comes from making a difference, and "be accepting and be accepted."
She said the goal is to create a free-thinking, compassionate community that offers many of the same benefits regular church-goers have experienced.
Vosper said the group is far from an atheist community, adding people of all religious convictions are welcome.
Vosper emerged as a controversial figure in United Church circles when she renounced belief in God and the bible in 2013. She recently told a Church review panel that she identified as an atheist as a sign of solidarity with those who were persecuted for challenging religious fundamentalism or extremism.
In September that review committee issued a report saying Vosper's lack of belief in God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit made her "not suitable" as a minister.
Vosper, 58, who was ordained in 1993, joined her West Hill congregation in 1997 and has been up front about her beliefs for years.
Things came to a head after she wrote an open letter to the church's spiritual leader following the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in January 2015, pointing out that belief in God can motivate bad behaviour.
The general secretary of the church's council decided on the review of her fitness to preach.
Congregation members and fellow ministers have supported her throughout the controversy, with one retired leader asking to be defrocked as a show of support.
轉往凱道，路過總統府！執政者要正視同婚議題對台灣社會造成的對立與衝突
《基督教論壇報》( http://www.ct.org.tw/1300720#ixzz4ULQnTjMu)
何毓芬／攝影 日期: 2016-12-26
【本報記者台北報導】「轉往凱道，路過總統府！」立法院司法法制委員會於今天（26日）中午將同婚法案送出委員會，立院場外的民眾隨即從中山南路轉往凱道，要路過總統府。下一代幸福聯盟強調，既然立法院不聽反對民眾的聲音，那就要向更高層的單位發聲，隨即隊伍轉往凱道，要向總統府發聲，呼籲執政者要正視同婚議題對台灣社會造成的對立與衝突！
「民主政府用這樣的方式，可以接受嗎？」下一代幸福聯盟也表示，不能接受今天這樣的結果，將會產生更大的力量！預計要發動百萬公民公投，請反對修法公民一起做準備。也善用公民權利，發動罷免不適任的立委，2018 年選舉要用選票教訓投機政客。
另一位代表說，從 1117 開始，因為許多人站出來，開始讓整個社會、政府注意到這一件事，知道同婚修法有很多後續的問題。今天的結果雖然讓人遺憾，但大家站出來絕對不會是徒然的，要繼續堅持站立，回去後繼續遊說，讓更多人知道修法對國家、對下一代將會有多大影響。「我們需要起來改變，下一代會紀念我們今天站在這裡！繼續往前！」
第三為代表說，連法制委員會委員都沒共識，就要強制送出委員會，歷史會記載這一天！「我們今天穿白衣，要見證他們黑暗的立法作為。」我們為了愛家庭、愛子女，要繼續抗爭，相信這個國家還是有公義、盼望的！