Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Gary J. Paterson (1949-) was born in Whitehorse Yukon, and as an ‘army brat’ lived in Toronto and Germany before his family settled in Vancouver, British Columbia. He earned a B.A. in English Literature at the University of British Columbia and an M.A. in English from Queen’s University before becoming a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia. He then studied theology at Andover Theological School in Boston and the Vancouver School of Theology. He was ordained in 1977. He was a minister at Marpole United Church in Vancouver from 1979-1981. He served as minister in Vancouver-Burrard Presbytery from 1982-1989, First United in Vancouver from 1989-1993, Ryerson in Vancouver from 1993-2005, and St. Andrew’s-Wesley, Vancouver from 2005-2011. Paterson served as Moderator of the United Church from 2012-2015, and was the first openly gay person to do so. His spouse, Tim Stevenson, a Vancouver City Councillor is the first openly gay male to be ordained by the United Church.