West Hill United now has an executive director instead of a minister

West Hill United in Toronto’s Scarborough neighbourhood is no stranger to new ideas. In 2001, its minister, Rev. Gretta Vosper, made headlines when she declared herself an atheist, leading the way for the church to become a values-based community where everyone is welcome regardless of their faith. And as West Hill celebrated its 75th anniversary this year, it transcended expectations even more by getting rid of a minister altogether.

An executive director now leads the congregation instead of a member of the clergy. Joe Pittenger assumed the position earlier this year after Vosper retired in 2024. Pittenger is a Humanist chaplain who lives in Ohio and holds a master’s in practical theology and an MBA.

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While this new role shares many similarities with that of a traditional minister—such as leading sermons, or what West Hill calls “perspectives,” where the community explores questions and applies them to their lives together — it also incorporates marketing responsibilities. This change is both semantic and practical. By bringing on a secular leader, the congregation hopes to become more appealing to new members, while better reflecting the flat organizational structure of West Hill. Congregant and communications director Aaron Sheedy said having a minister felt too hierarchical.

“How can we be the most inclusive that we can? And that includes not limiting people’s experiences with us to things like, you must believe in God, or you must be able to [be at a] certain income level, or you must be in a country. We’re really breaking all that down. And in order to continue to break that down, the role of minister started to become divisive for us,” he said.

That flat structure is central to how the congregation operates. As Sheedy explains, “you will be hard pressed to find somebody at West Hill who isn’t or hasn’t been a part of leadership in the past.”

West Hill is also hybrid — online and in person — which allows people from all over the world to actively participate in the life of the congregation and even hold board member positions while being overseas. Sheedy estimates that about 100 people are part of West Hill online and in person. The congregation is now split roughly equally between its online members and in-person attendees, with people switching back-and-forth if they live nearby. Even Pittenger himself occasionally tunes in on Sundays over Zoom. This approach aligns with one of his goals to “build teams of people where the community looks after each other’s needs.”

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The rebrand, which includes Pittenger’s hiring and a new logo, also stems from a desire to share West Hill’s vision with as many people as possible. “Right now, we have a loneliness epidemic,” says Pittenger. “People need to connect and wrestle with life’s biggest questions together.” The rebrand, he adds, is also a way “to market our product, because we believe what we do is extremely valuable.”

Looking ahead, West Hill is considering other new additions to its core staff, such as a community care coordinator who will provide pastoral care. While nothing has been finalized, Sheedy and Pittenger say they are open to candidates from non-ministry backgrounds, such as nursing or counselling.

Pittenger says he thinks that society needs more places like West Hill.

“I do think that we need more values-based communities because unfortunately, sometimes doctrine can divide…. And if someone believes in God, I say, incredible, that’s great. Is that helping you live a more loving, truthful, just life? And if somebody doesn’t, I just don’t even say that’s okay. I say, ‘that’s great. Thank you for your honesty, you know? Are you aiming to live a loving, just life?’”

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Evgenia Shestunova is a writer in Toronto.

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