Thank you Diana, for sharing this beautiful piece on your Dad. My sister, Rev. D’thea Webster, was a lesbian whom I had the great honour and privilege of marrying to her beloved wife, Maureen O’Neill. D’thea felt a strong sense of calling to Ministry several decades before she was Ordained in 2012. She withdrew from the candidacy program…
Thank you Diana, for sharing this beautiful piece on your Dad. My sister, Rev. D’thea Webster, was a lesbian whom I had the great honour and privilege of marrying to her beloved wife, Maureen O’Neill. D’thea felt a strong sense of calling to Ministry several decades before she was Ordained in 2012. She withdrew from the candidacy programme in our United Church of Canada because she knew that the small congregations she would serve as a rural Minister would not accept Maureen as her life’s partner (in those early years they had entered a life partnership covenant - before gay marriage was legal in Ontario.) After Ordination they were accepted as married and D’thea had seven years of successful effective pastoral relationships serving in Toronto and Northbrook Ontario. They were killed in a car crash (on there way to a grandchild’s birthday) on November 10, 2019. At the time D’thea was serving on the Executive Council of East Central Ontario Region of our United Church of Canada. We deeply grieve the loss of D’thea and Maureen, and are profoundly grateful for the gift that was their life and ministry with us.
Thank you Diana, for sharing this beautiful piece on your Dad. My sister, Rev. D’thea Webster, was a lesbian whom I had the great honour and privilege of marrying to her beloved wife, Maureen O’Neill. D’thea felt a strong sense of calling to Ministry several decades before she was Ordained in 2012. She withdrew from the candidacy programme in our United Church of Canada because she knew that the small congregations she would serve as a rural Minister would not accept Maureen as her life’s partner (in those early years they had entered a life partnership covenant - before gay marriage was legal in Ontario.) After Ordination they were accepted as married and D’thea had seven years of successful effective pastoral relationships serving in Toronto and Northbrook Ontario. They were killed in a car crash (on there way to a grandchild’s birthday) on November 10, 2019. At the time D’thea was serving on the Executive Council of East Central Ontario Region of our United Church of Canada. We deeply grieve the loss of D’thea and Maureen, and are profoundly grateful for the gift that was their life and ministry with us.
What a loving memory. Thank you.