Most people would likely assert that the first qualification of a Christian minister should be a belief in God. It stands to reason that a servant of God should acknowledge Him as the Supreme Being. However, not everyone among the churches agrees with this fundamental expectation. In the case of Gretta Vosper, a minister at West Hill United Church in Toronto, her avowed atheism since 2001, where she rejected the notion of a supernatural, interventionist, divine being, was tolerated by the United Church of Canada for nearly 17 years. Despite her disbelief, the denomination allowed her to maintain her pulpit, even after policy changes in 2015 required clergy to affirm the church's creed, which she dismissed as archaic and meaningless. Vosper also publicly stated that belief in God can motivate harmful actions, a stance that contributed to her being under disciplinary review, though she retained her position. Ultimately, through a confidential settlement in 2018, she was permitted to remain a minister, with the church leadership expressing contentment with this resolution while referencing core values of faith in God and inclusiveness. At West Hill, her congregants, aware of her disbelief in God and His Word even before her public declaration, largely supported her, with many applauding her courage, ensuring her sustained role despite the absence of traditional belief in God within her ministry.

Belief in God centers on trusting that He loves each person who has received His Spirit exactly as He loves Jesus Christ. This conviction arises from Jesus' prayer in John 17:23, where the request that the Father love the disciples "as" He loves the Son establishes equality in degree, extent, and quality of affection. The same love is proved by the Father's willingness to sacrifice His Son while humanity remained without strength and by the subsequent personal calling, granting of repentance, and gift of the Holy Spirit that sheds this love abroad in the heart. Because the Father and Son share identical nature and purpose, the Son likewise loves believers without reservation or competition. This love supplies every need for salvation and character formation, as Romans 8:32 indicates that the greater gift of the Son guarantees the lesser gifts required along the way. Trials test whether this belief remains firm. When iniquity abounds, the love of many grows cold unless anchored in the assurance that God sovereignly and omnisciently arranges circumstances for good. Those who doubt His love during hardship repeat Israel's wilderness pattern of acknowledging God's existence yet refusing to trust His care, resulting in complaint and disloyalty. In contrast, enduring faith that God loves without partiality produces patience, proven character, and hope that does not disappoint. This belief therefore connects directly to the titles and responsibilities given to the called: it supplies the motivation to keep the commandments in both vertical and horizontal dimensions and sustains boldness on the day of judgment, because believers who accept that they are loved as the Son is loved live as He lives in this world.