Ray (I couldn’t remember his last name for the life of me).Much to my mom and grandmother’s dismay, I promptly stopped attending when I was 14 or 15.And I haven’t given it a second thought since.And based on the membership numbers the church has shown since its peak, I’m not the only one.The church has been grasping at relevancy for years, trying to retain current members and recruit new ones.And like many other religious organizations, my former church has taken to pushing the conversation away from scripture and into secular life and politics.Except in some cases, where they suggest what is written in the Bible shouldn’t be taken literally because it doesn’t fit with our times (stone any adulterers lately?).To varying degrees of success, the church has long pushed gay rights, aboriginal issues, and social justice.And it goes back a long way. Early leaders after the church became the church were proponents of the temperance movement.But recently they have also pushed for, among other things, divestment in Israel, an end to gossiping among church members and, this week, opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline.From the correct course of action on gay marriage 10 years ago, to Gateway today some people may think that it’s perfectly reasonable to take these two seemingly similar policy stands.After all, there’s probably overlap between the gay rights crowd and the pipeline hating anti oil nuts. But the gulf between the two is huge.Lobbying on behalf of gay marriage, other than being the right thing to do, makes sense for the United Church.If it decides it wants to perform weddings for gay and lesbian couples, and be a welcoming place for gays and lesbians, helping ensure marriages are legal is within the responsibility of the church and the right thing to do.But the arguments against the pipeline, besides being specious given the small number of accidents for the vast amount of pipe, does not hold bearing as a moral argument for a supposed moral based organization to make..

Past City Poet Laureate Fabu Cater drafted and will read the resolution in the Council Chambers tonight. The resolution is first on the Council agenda at 6:30 pm. Let’s stand in solidarity.. In all cases, “inclusivity” is the operative word. Inclusivity goes beyond numbers. It requires empathy, curiosity, respect and fairness.

April 11 thru April 13 Perform weekend work in the intersection of East Johnson, N. Butler and N. Hamilton Streets. Man Utd lost more ground in the title race following their draw with Everton which saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talk down their title hopes this seasonCome on in and join the club! Get our daily Manchester United email newsletterSign me up!When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights.