United Church of Canada

Beginnings ; built c. 1907) After the formation of national organizations for Canadian Presbyterians in 1875, Methodists in 1884, and Congregationalists in 1906, several conferences were held between these denominations to discuss a united Protestant church within the country. These discussions coincided with the establishment of local churches in the Prairies that served Methodists and Presbyterians alike, many of whom came together to form the General Council of Local Union Churches in 1912. Motivated by a de facto union in the western provinces and the desire to have a national church for English-speaking Canadians, a committee of Congregationalists, Methodists, and Presbyterians produced a document called the Basis of Union in 1908. The document, which outlined the Protestant doctrines and governance structure of the proposed united church, was soon ratified by the national Methodist and Congregationalist organizations. However, not all elements of the churches involved were happy with the idea of uniting under one roof; a substantial number of Presbyterians remained unconvinced of the virtues of church union. The Presbyterian Church held several votes at the congregation level regarding merger with the Methodists and Congregationalists, concluding in a final vote in 1925 in which a third of Presbyterian congregations chose to remain separate from the other denominations as a continuing church. Inauguration To finalize the process of church union, church leaders approached individual provinces and the government of Canada to pass legislation on the transfer of property rights. The resultant bill passed swiftly in Manitoba, but faced a period of opposition in Prince Edward Island and Ontario. With the provision that individual churches could vote to remain outside the union, the federal United Church of Canada Act passed, June 27, 1924, and was effective June 10, 1925. On the same day, the United Church of Canada was inaugurated at a large worship service at Toronto's Mutual Street Arena. Hymns from all three churches were printed on a 38-page order of service and sung: "All people that on earth do dwell" from the Presbyterians; "O for a thousand tongues to sing" by the Methodist leader Charles Wesley; "O God of Bethel" from the Congregationalists; and "When I survey the wondrous cross" by the nonconformist hymn-writer Isaac Watts. The ecumenical tone of the new church was set at its first General Council. The former Methodist General Superintendent, Samuel Dwight Chown, was considered by the General Council to be the leading candidate to become the United Church's first Moderator because of his denomination's overwhelming support for union. However, in a surprise move, Chown stepped aside in favour of George C. Pidgeon, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church and principal spokesperson for the uniting Presbyterians, in hopes of preventing partisanship from emerging between the union's two largest denominations. After its 1925 incorporation, the United Church became Canada's largest Protestant denomination; its early activities included the running of hospitals, services for immigrants to Canada, international missions, and residential schools for the assimilation of Indigenous children. 1930s In 1930, just as mergers of the congregations, colleges and administrative offices of the various denominations were completed and the United Church Hymnary was published, Canada was hit by the Great Depression. Although membership remained stable, attendance and givings fell. In the face of overwhelming unemployment, some in the church, both clergy and laity, called for a radical Christian socialist alternative such as the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order. Other more conservative members felt drawn to the message of the Oxford Group that focussed on the wealthier members of society. but it was still a contentious issue in Canada, and it was not until 1936 that the Reverend Lydia Emelie Gruchy of the Saskatchewan Conference became the first woman in the United Church to be ordained However, there were already rumblings of discontent in the church: that same year, Pierre Berton wrote The Comfortable Pew, a bestseller that was highly critical of Canadian churches, and a United Church Commission on Ministry in the 20th Century was appointed in response to growing frustration from congregations, presbyteries, and ministers about the role of ministry. In some cases, entire congregations split, with a sizeable faction—sometimes led by the minister—leaving to form an independent church. Some of those opposed to the gay ordination issue chose to stay in the church, and formed the Community of Concern, a voice of conservatism within the church. This was followed in 1998 by an apology made by the church to former students of United Church Indian Residential Schools. At the 35th General Council in 1994, commissioners voted to have General Councils every three years rather than every two years. In 1996, the Committee on Archives and History compiled the "Guide to family history research in the archival repositories of the United Church of Canada". In 1997, the Reverend Bill Phipps was elected Moderator at the 36th General Council. Controversy again descended on the church when later the same year, Phipps stated in an interview that "I don't believe Jesus was God" and that he did not believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead. 2000s In the new century, membership and givings both continued to drop, and in 2001 the General Council offices were reorganized as a cost-cutting measure. 2010s In 2012, the 41st General Council elected Gary Paterson as the first openly gay Moderator. The commissioners also voted to invite First Nations peoples to become signatories to the Basis of Union. (In 1925, several aboriginal congregations of the original founding churches were automatically made part of the new United Church although the congregations had not been asked to participate in church Union negotiations, and had not been asked to sign the Basis of Union document.) In addition, the original church crest (adopted in 1944 with French added in 1980) was modified by changing the background colours of the four quadrants of the crest, as well as adding the Mohawk phrase ("All my relations") to the crest's perimeter. This was the church's first boycott since an anti-apartheid boycott against South Africa in the 1980s. According to the report, the authors consulted with Canadian-based Palestinian organizations, as well as "Jewish rabbis, individuals and organizations" including protests of the decision by several Canadian Jewish groups. In 2015, at the 42nd General Council, delegates voted in favour of several "denomination-changing" proposals, including a reorganization from a four-court structure to a three-council structure; elimination of "settlement", the practice of telling newly ordained ministers where they would first serve; reorganization of the process of finding and training ministers; and a new funding model. These changes were subsequently approved by the wider church, and ratified at the 43rd General Council in July 2018. In response to this internal decision, the offices of the General Council released a statement saying, "This [decision] doesn't alter in any way the belief of the United Church of Canada in God, a God most fully revealed to us as Christians in and through Jesus Christ. Our church's statements of faith over the years have all been grounded in this understanding." A survey of 1,353 "United Church ministry personnel" published by the Vancouver Sun found that "a majority of the respondents (almost 95%) affirmed a belief in God, with a large number (almost 80%) affirming a belief in a supernatural, theistic God". 2020s In May 2022, Kindred Works, a real estate company, was started in association with the United Church. Kindred Works operates as the asset manager for the United Property Resource Corporation, which is owned by the United Church and tasked with getting positive social utility from church property. Kindred Works aims to renovate existing United Church properties by adding rental units sufficient to house 34,000 people over 15 years. One-third of the new company's projects are planned as below-market rental properties partially financed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. All projects will have KPMB Architects as lead designers. At it launch, it had eight projects in progress, four of which, including the St. Luke's United Church are in Toronto, with twenty projected to be started by the end of the year. ==Involvement in the Canadian Indian residential school system==

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in Canada created and operated residential and daytime institutions of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Under the Canadian Indian Act, the system took Indigenous children from their families, placing them in the legal guardianship of the Church. At its boarding and day schools, the curriculum's purpose was to convert them to "civilized people". Indigenous languages and customs were banned, and many children were not allowed to see their families. After the United Church of Canada's formation in 1925, it took over responsibility for fifteen of these schools, which mistreated and abused Indigenous children, including cases of murder, malnutrition, sub-standard health care and sexual abuse. In 1949, the United Church began to close the schools in its care, The residential school system has resulted in a painful legacy for many Indigenous people and their communities. Of approximately 80,000 students alive as of 2009, about 10 percent attended United Church-run schools. The Church and its predecessors received grants of Indigenous lands to use for the schools and other purposes. It often later sold them for its own profit. In 1986, the first apology for residential schools by any institution in Canada was from the United Church of Canada in Sudbury, Ontario. At the 1986 31st General Council, the United Church of Canada responded to the request of Indigenous peoples that it apologize to them for its part in colonization and adopted the apology. Rev. Bob Smith stated: We imposed our civilization as a condition of accepting the gospel. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result, you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be. We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God's creation healed. In 2005, the church welcomed the Agreement in Principle announced by the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations, which outlined a comprehensive resolution package for former students of Indian Residential Schools; and the following year, the church agreed to sign the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. ==Governance and structure==

The rules for governance are set out in The Manual, first written in 1925, and updated on a regular basis. Crest Adopted in 1944, the crest of the United Church takes the shape of the vesica piscis, an early Christian symbol that evoked an upended fish (the initials of the phrase "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour"; in (), ichthys, meaning "fish"). The crest features Saint Andrew's Cross, whose namesake is the patron saint of Scotland. Within three of the four quadrants are symbols of the founding churches: Presbyterianism (the Burning Bush), Methodism (the dove), and Congregationalism (the open Bible). In the bottom quadrant, the alpha and omega represents the ever-living God (Revelation 1:8). The motto Ut omnes unum sint recalls Christ’s prayer in John 17:21: "That all may be one". In 2012, the Mohawk phrase ("All my relations") was added to the perimeter, and the background colours of the four quadrants of the crest were changed to reflect the colours of an Indigenous medicine wheel. Moderator The voice and face of the church is the Moderator, who is elected to a three-year term at each General Council. The duties of the Moderator include: • giving leadership to the church; "quickening in the hearts of the people a sense of God as revealed in Christ, and heartening and strengthening the whole United Church". • visiting communities of faith across the country; "giving sympathetic guidance and counsel in all its affairs". • communities of faith, which will include all pastoral charges, congregations, and other groups who gather regularly for worship. • regional councils, of which there will be 16. • denominational council, which will continue to be referred to as the General Council. Ministry The clergy of the United Church are called "ministers". There are two "streams", ordered ministry and lay ministry. Ordered ministry includes ordained ministers and diaconal ministers. Lay ministry refers to licensed lay worship leaders, designated lay ministers (DLM), sacraments elders and congregational designated ministers (CDM). There are no restrictions on gender, sexual orientation, age, or marital status for any branches of ministry. ==Beliefs and practices==

Bible The United Church believes that the Bible is central to the Christian faith and was written by people who were inspired by God. The church also believes that the circumstances under which the books of the Bible were written were of a particular place and time, and some things cannot be reconciled with our lives today, such as slavery and the condemnation of homosexuality. The United Church of Canada uses the historical-critical method of interpreting the bible. Sacraments The two sacraments of the United Church are Communion and Baptism. Interfaith relations The church believes that there are many paths to God. The United Church's path is through Jesus Christ, but the church also recognizes that Christians' understanding of this is limited by an incomplete comprehension of God; their belief is that the Holy Spirit is also at work through other non-Christian faiths. ==Membership==

A full member is one who has been baptised, either as infant, child, youth or adult, and has made a public profession of faith before the congregation. In order to become a full member, a person goes through a process called "confirmation". This is offered to adults (starting at around age 13) and usually involves a series of classes about the beliefs of the United Church. Following this, the candidate makes a public profession of faith before the congregation, thereby "confirming" the statements made by his or her parents during baptism. If the person is unbaptised, the minister baptises the person before the profession of faith. The new member's name is then entered on the official Roll of Members for that congregation. Benefits of membership Only members can be a part of a congregation's board or council, and only members can vote at congregational meetings, although members can vote to extend voting privileges to adherents. Transfer of membership and removal from rolls Although confirmation takes place at the congregational level, the person is a member of the entire United Church of Canada, not just one congregation; therefore membership can be transferred freely from congregation to congregation. A congregation may remove members from its roll for non-attendance. (The Manual suggests an absence of three years, but the congregation is free to set its own period of time) ==Music==

The United Church has issued five hymn books: • Hymnary (1930) • The Hymn Book (jointly with the Anglican Church of Canada) in 1971. • Voices United (1996) is the current hymnal, with over 300,000 copies in print. ==Criticism from outside the church==

A. C. Forrest, the editor of the United Church Observer in the 1960s and 1970s (and by extension the United Church itself) came under strong attack from the Canadian Jewish community for frequent editorial espousal of Palestinian rights in Israel, on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; many within the United Church were also uncomfortable with Forrest's position, though ultimately the church adjudged a plurality of opinion on this (and other matters) as consistent with United Church open-mindedness. The National Post has published several articles critical of the United Church of Canada. (August 19, 2009: "United Church is blind to true suffering"; August 14, 2009: "United Church's uncertain future") An article by Charles Lewis, published on May 14, 2011, set out what Lewis sees as the issues that beset the United Church: the church's "big tent" approach to believers, accepting even atheists as members; and lack of doctrinal orthodoxy. ==References==