Gretta Vosper
Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity — Toronto, ON
Named one of 2009’s Most Compelling Women in Canada by More Magazine, Gretta Vosper has been in the spotlight since founding the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity in 2004. Her national bestselling book, With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important that What We Believe, featured in the cover article of Maclean’s magazine on the week of its publication in 2008 by HarperCollins, was listed on Amazon’s Top 25 Books that Caused a Commotion alongside classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Female Eunuch. Met with both acclaim and vitriol by those inside and outside the church, With or Without God challenges the clergy’s silence on contemporary scholarship that debunks the myth of the Bible as the authoritative word of God for all time and calls the church to create communities grounded in life-enhancing values rather than indefensible doctrinal beliefs.
Perhaps Vosper’s most unique and distinguishing characteristic is that she makes her challenge from within the church itself while leading a United Church congregation in Toronto. She has appeared on two of the CBC’s national radio shows, Tapestry in 2006 and The Current in 2008, local talk shows across the country and is a regular on the “Culture Wars” segment of The John Oakley Show on AM640 Talk Radio in Toronto. Her work has been featured in the newspapers of all major Canadian cities, and has taken the blogosphere by storm showing up on pages launched from Korea and Australia to the United Kingdom. A sought after speaker, Gretta has led workshops across the country. In April 2010, she will be the keynote speaker at the International Gathering of Religious Progressives in Melbourne, Australia.
Gretta can be reached via e-mail at gretta [at] grettavosper [dot] ca
Watch part one of Gretta's talk titled "With or Without God":
