Anthony Gifford grew up in a church family, where faith was constantly present, but curiosity also appeared early. By age eight, Sunday School felt too small for his questions, so he asked to sing with the adult choir instead. Even then, he sensed that faith had to be more than weekly sermons and routines. His search for meaning took him through many branches of Christianity, including Mormonism, as he tried to understand what belief was about.

Anthony became the youngest Elder in the United Church of Canada at twenty-six, yet something still felt missing. Between teaching school and running a cattle ranch with his father, he kept wondering where the more profound truth lived. After his father’s passing, he sold the ranch and entered seminary, not to become a minister, but to find answers. What he discovered there changed everything. For the first time, faith was about questions, dialogue, and discovery. It was alive.

The excitement of the 1970s eventually drew Anthony into ministry. He was ordained and threw himself into the movement of the United Church in Western Canada. But over time, the institution and its evolving spirit began to move in different directions. By the mid-1990s, he had reached burnout and stepped back to recover and rediscover his purpose.

Writing became part of that renewal. Today, Anthony Gifford lives, speaks, and writes to follow the Way of Jesus of Nazareth as closely as he can, honestly, openly, and compassionately. He believes there are many paths to the sacred, each leading toward wholeness and love.

He now lives in Kingston, Ontario, in a shared home with four others, doing what they can each day to live out the values they believe in.