On June 10, 1925 member congregations in the Toronto area held their first worship service as part of the
new United Church of Canada. The denomination
was an amalgam of Canadian Congregationalist,
Methodist, most Presbyterian,
and Prairie Provinces churches which had already federated locally and were loosely formed as the Association
of Local Union Churches. The United
Church instantly became, behind the Roman
Catholics, the second largest Christian
church body in Canada and despite
recent declines in membership
mirroring similar trends for mainline
Protestants in the United States remains
so to this day.
Although the name of the new denomination seems to imply official status
as a State Church, that is not the case. Anglican
Church of Canada, of which Queen
Elizabeth is titular head as Defender of the Faith, and is the third largest denomination in the
country has special status but is
also not a State Church. In Francophone
Quebec the Roman Catholic Church
likewise has special status.
The Canadians accomplished what American
Protestants had often claimed they yearned for but
never did. Instead, American
Protestantism remained mired in
sectarianism and the tendency of
church bodies to schizmatize
over doctrinal, ritual, political, and sectional differences. The Congregationalists
tried valiantly to do the same, but
were rebuffed by most of the largest potential allies, notably the Presbyterians with whom they shared nearly identical theological
roots. Of course they also spurned potential allies like the Universalists and their cousin Unitarians over doctrinal
differences. In the end the
Congregationalists could join only with a faction of
the [Dutch] Reform Church and a few
small sects to form the United
Church of Christ in the 1950’s. Hope
that the creation of the UCC would spur others to join proved fruitless.
The impetus for the amalgamation actually came from the Provinces
outside the Protestant motherland of
Ontario.
Many small towns had
churches from all three of the founding denominations but had trouble finding and keeping highly educated clergy willing to work in the “wilds” for little pay. They also
struggled to maintain separate buildings. It became common for a minister of one denomination to provide pastoral care for the others
when they had no settled ministry. This led to preaching from their pulpits on occasion and eventually to
the creation of local Union churches serving adherents of all
groups. By the turn of the 20th Century the situation was becoming
so common that the Association of Local Union Churches was formed to
provide some moderate level of
support and coordination.
This encouraged talks among the parent
organizations. Talks dragged on for years before an agreement was made between the governing bodies of each
church. Then it had to be ratified by votes of
member congregations. The
Methodists, largest of the groups, and Congregationalists voted overwhelmingly to
participate. But there was a split among Presbyterians. 302 out of 4,509 Presbyterian congregations,
mostly concentrated it the Scots heartland of southern Ontario, voted against
affiliation. Under a freedom of association clause, they
were allowed to go their own way
and set up their own new Presbyterian
Church in Canada.
The next step was untangling the various property issues
resulting from different polities. That required
an Act of Parliament which
was passed in June, 1924 to go into effect a year later.
On Sunday, June 10, 1924 thousands
jammed Mutual Street Arena in Toronto for a gala opening worship. It
must have been quite an
event. Worshipers were handed a 38-page order of service containing the
full text of the liturgy, prayers, hymns, and music. The program
aimed to be inclusive and respectful of
all traditions so hymns and prayers from all were included. Clergy from all joined in leading prayers,
offering greetings, and in the sermon.
The first General Council, the governing
body of the new denomination, selected the Rev. George C. Pidgeon, last Moderator
of the Presbyterian Church as he first Moderator of the United Church. The leader of the Methodists, who had been expected to take the position, withdrew
in hope that Pidgeon could convince the recalcitrant Presbyterians to join the fold.
Structurally, the Methodists gave up their Episcopal structure. What
became of unemployed Bishops is not
clear. The church was organized around localized Presbyteries, but local congregations
had much more autonomy than under the classic Presbyterian model, a nod to the Congregationalists. 85 or so Presbyteries were organized in 18 Conferences which elected members of
the General Council which meets
every three years.
Theologically the United Church has
always been liberal and has grown more so. It offers open communion in memory of the Last Supper. There is
infant baptism, but adults have to
be confirmed as members after making a public confession of faith to the
congregation. Originally that confession was expected to reflect basic Christian tenets, but most congregations now admit wide personal statements and admit non-traditional Christians, theists, agnostics, and in some cases even
atheists. Adults entering the church are baptized.
Not all attending United Church
worship are members. In fact the United
Church now claims about 300,000 members
but over a million “adherents.” Many of these are regular church goers and participate
fully in congregational life but choose for one reason or another not to
formally join—most because of the baptism and profession of faith
requirements. Adherents can’t vote for officers or on ministerial calls, but on all
other congregational issues
are typically included by
a motion at the beginning of annual
congregational meetings to allow voting by, “all who are
present.”
The United Church and the Anglican Church have been in discussions for decades and in
1943 signed a statement permitting mutual ministry, but the Episcopal
structure of Anglicanism and the status of their ministers as priests has prevented formal merger.
Always promoting ecumenicalism, the United Church helped found the Canadian Council of Churches in 1944
and the World Council of Churches in
1946.
In 1988 the General Council voted to allow “all persons, regardless of sexual orientation,
who profess their faith in Jesus Christ are welcome to be or become members of
The United Church of Canada” and that
“all members…are eligible to be
considered for ordered ministry.”
This created a minor
schism. Membership fell nearly 75,000 over the next four years and a number
of congregations left. Despite this, the
United Church has continued its
commitment, which is now widely
supported in the pews.
The church has also had to deal with the heritage of operating government
sanctioned native residential
schools that were designed to assimilate native children into Canadian culture. These had
been inherited from the founding denominations. By the late 40’s the United Church began to close the schools
as assimilation was recognized as
destructive to First Nations
peoples and culture. But the hangover
has lingered for decades, spurred in recent years of accounts of sexual
exploitation at some of the schools.
The United Church has dealt with it repeatedly. It elected a Cree, the Reverend Stan McKay
as Moderator in 1992 and two years later it set up a “Healing Fund” and
later issued a formal apology to the
First Nations. In 2006 the church signed
the Indian Residential Schools
Settlement Agreement, a part of a formal pact between the Government and
the First Nations which had the support of the Church.
The United Church now struggles now with declining membership,
like mainline U.S. Protestants, but still
stands at the forefront of social justice in Canada.
Here’s wishing them a happy birthday!
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