See also AFFIRM

See also some entries made specifically under ST. THOMAS WESLEY UNITED CHURCH

United Church study [report of Task Force of the Division of Ministry Personnel and Education, dealing with gays/lesbians and ministry].
P9 (1984): 15 (16cm.)

United Church and gays [report of a four-year study, "Toward a Christian Understanding of Sexual Orientation, Lifestyles and the Ministry," released March 4/88]. By Don Campbell.
P40 (April 13, 1988): 32-33 (37cm.)

United Church update [including information about anti-gay/lesbian ordination group, Community of Concern, and a Prairie Region branch of this group, formed in Regina; more than 100 ministers from Saskatchewan and Alberta; etc.] By Don Campbell.
P41 (May 18, 1988): 8-9 (36cm.)

Delegates compromise [at Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada regarding church report that favours ordination of gays/lesbians].
P42 (June 29, 1988): 32-33 (23cm.)

Goats and the church [in which writer argues that debate in United Church not about gay ordination, but about scriptural interpretation]. By Sally Boyle, National chairperson of Affirm.
P42 (June 29, 1988): 35 (17cm.)

People: a lesbian minister responds [interview of Sally Boyle by Gens Hellquist about her experiences as a lesbian and ordained United Church minister].
P43 (Aug. 10, 1988): 4-5, 33, 35 (109cm.)

Commentary -- a personal view [concerning United Church conference and ordination of gays/lesbians]. By Colleen Gerwing.
P44 (Sept. 21, 1988): 22-23 (33cm.)

Won't stand for it [Bill Cousintine's employment with Kingsway-Lambton United Church, Toronto, terminated; had told church officials at performance interview that he was gay and HIV-positive; charges of discrimination being taken to Ontario Human Rights Commission].
P58 (v8n5)(July 11, 1990): 18 (42cm.)

Looking for gay/lesbian ministers [Saskatchewan Conference of United Church approved resolution calling for 10 pulpits in province to be opened to self-identified gay/ lesbian ministers over next three years; resolution hotly debated].
P73 (v10n4)(June 10, 1992): 8 (19cm.)

Rev. Mr. November suspended [by United Church; Rev. Christopher Bowen appeared nude in Malebox magazine and on a calendar; etc.].
P79 (v11n2)(March 10, 1993): 20-21 (21cm.)

In the pulpit at last [Tim Stevenson, openly gay, after long struggle has been accepted as a minister at St. Paul's United Church in Burnaby, B.C.; to start on July 4].
P81 (v11n4)(June 9, 1993): 22 (17cm.)

Gay minister welcomed [after 12-year struggle, Tim Stevenson has a church pulpit; now minister at St. Paul's United Church, Burnaby, B.C.; seventy members of Vancouver Lesbian and Gay Chorus sang at service; his partner, Rev. Gary Paterson "will be covenanting" the following weekend at Ryerson United Church, Vancouver].
P84 (v11n7)(Oct. 27, 1993): 20 (17cm.)

Coming out on the prairies ["the author of this article lives in a small community west of Saskatoon. Recently that community has gone through turmoil over the introduction of a lesbian United Church minister....The [article gives]... the author's personal insight...."]. By Jim Farrier.
P114 (v15n5)(July 30, 1997): 6-7 (52cm.)

Watered down resolution ["delegates to the United Church's general council in August were not prepared to fully support redefining the term 'spouse' in the Income Tax Act"; approved watered-down resolution; etc.].
P115 (v15n6)(Sept. 10, 1997): 13 (15cm.)

Opening doors [St Thomas-Wesley United Church is first Saskatchewan United Church "to formally declare itself an affirming congregation that openly welcomes lesbians and gays to worship there"; one of only nine United Church congregations in Canada to take this step; details, background].
P116 (v15n7)(Oct. 22, 1997): 11 (30cm.)

The uncomfortable pew [author Heather Funk's personal account of some experiences as a lesbian United Church minister in a rural Manitoba pastoral charge with her partner; her conviction that "the power of Good is stronger than the power of Evil"].
P123 (v16n6)(Sept. 16, 1998): 8 (34cm.)

The benighted church of Canada [concerning the case of Heather Funk and the United Church of Canada; Funk's internship experiences in the Wilkie/Scott/Landis, Saskatchewan, pastoral charge; complex church politics in Funk's evaluations; problems with her supervisor; termination of her internship; many other details]. By Peter Millard, and including on same page a separate note on and contact information for Committee to Support Heather Funk.
P126 (v17n1)(Jan. 27, 1999): 8-9 (78cm.)

Letters [letter from Sally Boyle criticizing at length the report titled "The benighted church of Canada," including "presumed homophobia"; report appeared in P126 (v17n1)(Jan. 27/99): 8-9 and concerned Heather Funk issue].
P127 (v17n2)(March 10, 1999): 4 (29cm.)

Letters [lengthy letter from Bev Irwin, an official of the United Church, regarding the Heather Funk matter, and about Peter Millard's Perceptions article, "The benighted church of Canada," which appeared in P126 (Jan. 27, 1999): 8-9].
P128 (v17n3)(April 21, 1999): 4 (42cm.)

Supporting gay adoptions [Calgary United Churches call on Alberta United Churches to support their petition calling on provincial government to permit adoptions by gays and lesbians; government has been taken to court over issue by two lesbian couples; etc.].
P128 (v17n3)(April 21, 1999): 11 (19cm.)

United Church sued [by Edward Wigglesworth, an "ousted conservative United Church minister" who opposes ordination of practising homosexuals; other details].
P128 (v17n3)(April 21, 1999): 26 (12cm.)

Funk's fight almost finished [reporting that "Heather Funk has reached a settlement in her year long fight against St. Andrew's College, a United Church college, in Saskatoon"; she has still however been asked to appear before Education and Student's Committee in Winnipeg on June 4].
P129 (v17n4)(June 2, 1999): 12 (48cm.)

Doors slammed shut [reporting that "after over a year of fighting to remain in the United Church, Heather Funk has once again" been rejected; committee in Winnipeg announced at June 4 meeting with her that they would not return her candidacy status; other details and background; also Committee to Support Heather Funk announcement printed adjacent to news report on same page].
P130 (v17n5)(July 28, 1999): 12 (33cm.)

The Queer Project [an exhibit titled "The Queer Project" will open at St. Thomas Wesley United Church on October 22, 1999; exhibit refused for display at Saskatoon City Hall and at Saskatoon police station; displays will be at various sites throughout Saskatoon; exhibit of works by Peterborough, Ontario native, Spencer J. Harrison, on "subject of gay-bashing and the violence that queer people live with on a constant basis"; has over past four years been mounted in eight other cities; etc.].
P131 (v17n6)(Sept. 15, 1999): 10 (44cm.)

Anti-homophobia workshops [reporting that "Planned Parenthood Alberta's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Two-Spirited Rural Youth Outreach Project is hoping to design...workshops directed towards faith communities in Alberta"; brief reference to other activities of the group; reference also to difficulty in getting United Church congregations to become "affirming," with special reference to Westminster United, Calgary; reported comments of Stephen Lock and Bill Rutherford, project committee members].
P133 (v17n8)(Dec. 8, 1999): 11 (50cm.)

More progress in the United Church [at meeting of General Council on August 17, 2000, Council renounced former position, adopted in 1960, that homosexuality was a sin; several other resolutions concerning gays/lesbians; etc.].
P139 (v18n6)(Sept. 13, 2000): 26 (21cm.)

Queers ordained ["history was made in Alberta in June when two openly gay men, Ned Garstad and Read Sherman, were ordained to the ministry" by the United Church in a Lethbridge ceremony; biographical details of both men; Garstad has been appointed to a church in Nokomis, Sask. and Sherman will start in Gatineau region near Ottawa].
P162 (v21n5)(July 23, 2003): 21 (13cm.)

Rainbow ministry [report on Rainbow Ministry of United Church of Canada, Winnipeg; Ministry established in 1989 and "has been active in Winnipeg's queer community ever since"; Laura Fouhs [i.e., Fouhse?], open lesbian, appointed in July as minister; contact information; this is an example of reaching out to queer community, while in contrast "many churches are actively campaigning against gay marriage and gay clergy"].
P163 (v21n6)(Sept. 10, 2003): 11 (19cm.)

Bucking the tide [about two lesbians who "are in the middle of both debates" -- same-sex marriage and "evils of homosexuality"; Sally Boyle and Lynn Elliott are together in a "committed relationship" and are both United Church ministers in rural Saskatchewan, at Melfort United Church; "popular mythology...says that rural people are less accepting of queers..."; both Boyle and Elliott feel welcomed and accepted; details].
P164 (v21n7)(Oct. 22, 2003): 12-13 (22cm.)

Gays and the Bible [information on two initiatives in Saskatoon regarding the relationship between gays/lesbians and the Christian church and Bible -- a four-week series of presentations sponsored by University of Saskatchewan Campus Chaplains in conjunction with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Centre on campus, titled "What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality"; and, secondly, a discussion series, "Coming Out to God," at Grace-Westminster United Church].
P166 (v22n1)(Jan. 28, 2004): 8 (24cm.)

Letter from Sven [to United Church of Canada requesting explanation of phrase "practising homosexuals"]. By Sven Svensson.
P44 (Sept. 21, 1988): 26-27 (36cm.)