A Manitoba woman’s crusade against gossiping will get a national audience next week.
Ann Chapman was fed up with gossiping at her church in Brandon and put forth a resolution to end gossiping in her congregation.
"I remember a young woman who was gossiped about in church, and she left the church and never came back," said Chapman.
Chapman said gossip is “social bullying” and wanted her church to take a stand against it, like they have with other “evils of society.” Chapman points to gambling as an example.
The resolution passed and now a United Church national meeting will be discussing the resolution in Ottawa.
In the resolution, the church said gossip can cause people to lose their job, destroy families and hurt relationships.
"Someone said to me, ‘But you can't legislate against gossip.’ And of course you can't. But my idea was to make people aware of what we are doing when we gossip," said Chapman.
The meeting, which occurs every three years, will vote on the resolution. If it passes, Chapman’s initiative will become an official position of the United Church of Canada.
