Time or Too Late

Time or Too Late charts the evolution of the thought of atheist minister, Gretta Vosper, from the launch of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity (CCPC) in 2004 through to her identification as an atheist while continuing to serve as minister for West Hill United Church in 2013. A collection of speeches and articles written during the life of the groundbreaking CCPC, Time or Too Late opens with her powerful launch speech, It's Time, presented with both Bishop John Shelby Spong and the late Tom Harper in attendance. Her call for the Christian church to muster the courage to step away from doctrinal beliefs that had been dismissed by scholars for generations set a pace for the CCPC which took it beyond the goals of many other progressive religious movements. The book closes with the article written by Vosper for the final edition of the Centre's journal, Progressions. That edition was published a year after her denomination, The United Church of Canada, began disciplinary proceedings against her intended to strip her of her credentials. Based on her public refutation of doctrine to which the denomination had previously never required literal adherence by clergy or members, Vosper's fate in the denomination is pending. Bishop Spong has been a vocal advocate for Vosper, writing the preface to her first book, the bestselling With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe, and encouraging her to write her second book, Amen: What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief. At the time her review was initiated, Bishop Spong wrote a scathing letter to the United Church urging it to "step back from this precipice." Vosper is now a regular contributor to the John Spong weekly newsletter and was named as his first choice as successor in that work. Vosper has spoken across Canada, the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. You can find her writing on her blog at www.grettavosper.ca