Jim Taylor's Columns - 'Soft Edges' and 'Sharp Edges'

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20

Feb

2019

Faith in something, not only someone

Author: Jim Taylor

“Ah yes, I remember it well,” Maurice Chevalier warbled in the musical Gigi. And then immediately proved that he didn’t remember it well at all.

            I remember a gathering of about 30 people at am Anglican retreat centre north of Toronto, to thrash out the policies that would guide a United Church committee for the next few years. Like Chevalier, I remember it, but not well.

            The one thing I remember for sure was the summation by Terry Anderson, then professor of ethics at the Vancouver School of Theology. Terry had been brought in as something called a “theological reflector.” His job, he explained, was not to influence us. It was to identify the theology he observed in our discussions and debates.

            And what he said has stuck with me ever since:

            “What the United Church really believes in is not any statement of faith or doctrine. What the United Church believes is that if it follows the right process, if it brings together the right mix of individuals, from the right mix of regions and interest groups, they can’t help coming up with the right answer.”


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12

Jun

2016

A uniquely Canadian church has a birthday

Author: Jim Taylor
The United Church of Canada had its 91st birthday this last week. On June 10, 1925, the United Church of Canada came into being when 10,000 representatives of the Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches of Canada met in the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto for the inaugural meeting of a new denomination. As far as I can tell, it is the only Canadian church formed by an act of parliament -- the United Church of Canada Act, passed July 19, 1924, to come into effect June 10, 1925. Other churches have been incorporated, usually for the purpose of owning property without vesting it in individuals, but they already existed as churches connected to international denominations.
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