Bill Phipps

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1942–2022)}} {{other people|William Phipps}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = priest | honorific-prefix = The Very Reverend | name = Bill Phipps | honorific-suffix = | title = 36th Moderator of the United Church of Canada | image = BillPhipps.jpg | alt = | caption = Phipps speaking at an interfaith prayer vigil in 2001 | church = United Church of Canada | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = | elected = August 1997 | appointed = | term = | term_start = | quashed = | term_end = | predecessor = Marion Best | opposed = | successor = Marion Pardy | other_post =  | ordination = 1969 | ordained_by = | consecration = | consecrated_by = | cardinal = | created_cardinal_by = | rank =  | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1942|05|04}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|03|04|1942|05|04}} | death_place = Calgary, Alberta, Canada | buried = | nationality = | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse = | children = | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = | education = | alma_mater = McCormick Theological Seminary | motto = | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = | coat_of_arms_alt =  | other = |module = {{Infobox person | embed = yes | political_party = New Democratic Party }} }}

'''William Frederick Allen Phipps''' (May 4, 1942 – March 4, 2022) was a Canadian ordained minister of the United Church of Canada, lawyer and social activist. He served as the 36th Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 1997 to 2000, and engendered controversy for expressing support for gay ordination and not believing in a physical Resurrection of Jesus.

==Early life and ministry== Phipps was born in Toronto, the son of Cora Stinson and Reginald Phipps.<ref name=obit>{{cite web | url =https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/william-phipps-obituary?pid=201537270 | title =Obituary: William Phipps | publisher =Globe & Mail | access-date =2022-03-05}}</ref> He graduated from Osgoode Law School in 1965, but felt a call to ministry rather than the law, and enrolled at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. During his studies, he worked with community activist Saul Alinsky, and marched with Martin Luther King.<ref name=eisler>{{cite magazine | last =Eisler | first =Dale | title =Phipps, Word for Word | magazine =MacLean's | date =1997-12-15 | url =https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1997/12/15/phipps-word-for-word | access-date =2022-03-05 | archive-date =2022-03-05 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220305181632/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1997/12/15/phipps-word-for-word | url-status =dead }}</ref> After graduation in 1968, Phipps moved to Toronto to article for his law degree<ref name=eisler /> and opened the first Poverty law office in Canada.<ref name=obit /> He was ordained by the United Church of Canada in 1969,<ref name="obit" /> and became the minister first of Thorncliffe United Church, and then Trinity-St. Paul's United Church. During his time in Toronto, he advocated for LGBTQ rights, the poor, and homelessness.<ref name="obit" />

In 1986, he moved to Edmonton, Alberta to work in church administration for seven years. In 1993, he moved to Calgary to become the minister of Scarboro United Church.<ref name="obit" />

==Moderator of the United Church of Canada== ===Controversy=== Phipps was elected to the post of Moderator at the 36th General Council of the United Church in August 1997. Shortly after being installed, Phipps was interviewed by many journalists and newspapers, including the editorial board of the ''Ottawa Citizen''. The subsequent editorial published by the ''Citizen'', which criticized his views on the ordination of gays, economic justice for the poor, and especially his theological views, ignited nation-wide controversy, During the interview, Phipps had questioned the Resurrection of Jesus as a scientific fact, added he was undecided on the question of the afterlife, and "I don't believe Jesus was God."<ref>{{cite book | last = Mansfield | first = Robert N. | title = Everything I Learned About Theology I Did Not Get From Sunday School | publisher = Xulon Press | date = 2003 | pages = 106 | isbn = 1-591603-55-2}}</ref> Although several contemporary theologians and scholars were surprised by the fierce backlash, saying that Phipps' theological views were not considered radical,<ref name=eisler /> the controversy resulted in discussions and debates in United Church congregations across the country.<ref name=eisler /> As the ''Globe & Mail'' noted in his obituary, "Some called him saint; others, a heretic."<ref name=obit /> In an interview with ''Maclean's'', Phipps further explained his views on the Resurrection of Jesus, saying, "There’s no question that Jesus’ followers [...] believed with all their being that Jesus was alive and with them and energizing them to carry forward his ministry. Something very real happened to those people and it has been giving power to the Christian community ever since. But the body that he was crucified with — dying and coming back and walking around the earth and then ascending into heaven in a three-storey universe — that doesn’t make sense. If I have to put it in those terms, it loses its power because it’s not credible to me."<ref name=eisler />

Four months after the controversy started, the United Church's General Council executive issued a statement of support for Phipps.<ref name=eisler />

===Apology for residential schools=== In October 1998, speaking on behalf of the United Church, Phipps apologized on behalf of the United Church to Canada's indigenous First Nations for abuse in church-run residential schools earlier in the century, saying in part, "To those individuals who were physically, sexually, and mentally abused as students of the Indian Residential Schools in which The United Church of Canada was involved, I offer you our most sincere apology. You did nothing wrong. You were and are the victims of evil acts that cannot under any circumstances be justified or excused."<ref>{{cite web|title=Apology to Former Students of United Church Indian Residential Schools, and to Their Families and Communities (1998) |work=United Church Social Policy Positions |publisher=United Church of Canada |date=October 1998 |url=http://www.united-church.ca/beliefs/policies/1998/a623 |accessdate=2015-08-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811203529/http://www.united-church.ca/beliefs/policies/1998/a623 |archivedate=2015-08-11 }}</ref>

===Other initiatives=== Phipps travelled across Canada to speak to people in an initiative called "Faith and the Economy".<ref>{{cite web | url =https://united-church.ca/news/mourning-death-very-reverend-bill-phipps | title =Mourning the death of The Very Reverend Bill Phipps | date =2022-03-05 | website =united-church.ca | publisher =United Church of Canada | access-date =2022-03-05}}</ref> He also co-authored ''Bearing Faithful Witness: United Church–Jewish Relations Today'' with Rev. Clint Mooney, about the church's relationship with Judaism.<ref name=obit />

==Later life and death== Following his time as moderator, Phipps returned to ministry at Scarboro United in Calgary. In 2000, he co-founded Faith and the Common Good with Rev. Ted Reeve, an interfaith group dedicated to working together on projects for the common good. Their main initiative became known as "Greening Sacred Spaces."

Phipps continued to be a community organizer, hospital chaplain and adult educator.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rev. Bill Phipps | website = Consortium for Peace Studies | publisher = University of Calgary | url = https://www.ucalgary.ca/peacestudies/bill | accessdate = 2015-08-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150904041406/http://www.ucalgary.ca/peacestudies/bill | archive-date = 2015-09-04 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In 2002, Phipps was the New Democratic Party candidate in the Calgary Southwest by-election contested by newly elected Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper. Phipps challenged Harper's conservative economic and social views. During the campaign, Harper commented that he "despise[d]" Phipps,<ref>{{cite news | last = Simpson | first = Jeffrey | title = He makes Harper think uncharitable thoughts | newspaper = Globe and Mail | location = Toronto | date = 2002-05-07 | url =https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/he-makes-harper-think-uncharitable-thoughts/article754500/ | accessdate = 2015-08-24}}</ref> and declined to participate in debates with him. In the election, Phipps came in second with just over 20 per cent of the vote.

In 2005, Phipps was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal.<ref>{{cite web | work = The Alberta Gazette | title=Centennial Medal Recipients|publisher = Government of Alberta | date = 2006-05-15 | url = http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/gazette/2006/pdf/09_May15_Part1.pdf | accessdate = 2015-08-24}}</ref>

Phipps retired from ministry in 2007, but stayed actively involved with community projects. He died on March 4, 2022, at the age of 79.<ref>{{cite news |title=William Frederick "Bill" Phipps |url=https://mhfh.com/tribute/details/35832/William-Phipps/obituary.html#tribute-start |access-date=9 March 2022 |publisher=McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306075340/https://mhfh.com/tribute/details/35832/William-Phipps/obituary.html#tribute-start |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Electoral record=== {{2002 Canadian federal by-elections/Calgary Southwest}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-rel}} {{succession box | before=Marion Best | title=Moderator of the United Church of Canada | years=1997–2000 | after=Marion Pardy }} {{s-end}} {{United Church of Canada}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Bill}} Category:1942 births Category:2022 deaths Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Clergy from Toronto Category:Canadian activists Category:Lawyers in Ontario Category:Ministers of the United Church of Canada Category:Moderators of the United Church of Canada Category:New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons