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87 (more or less) Things about the United Church worth
knowing as we celebrate our 87th Birthday!!!
One of the
commentaries for this week’s readings begins with the observation: In various ways, the lectionary passages
today remind us that it is God that ultimately determines our value as human
beings. When we place too much importance upon inheritance through family, or
social status, we diminish the value of the most essential part of our identity
– our identity as God’s children. (WPOG, June 10 2012)
The commentary ends with the question of
where our loyalty lies – with the institution, or with our relationship with
God?
Today, as we mark our 87th
Anniversary as the United Church of Canada, it is a very relevant, and very
timely question. In recent months, the National Post has once again placed the
United Church firmly in its sites and has published several highly critical
articles about our stance on everything from the Divinity of Jesus through to
our approach to the Israeli-Palestinian relationship … and from within we have
witnessed pages and pages and pages of scathing letters to the editor in the
Observer, and comments on internet forums like Wonder Café and Facebook about
things we say and do as the United Church … one letter I read this past week in
the Observer noted that we’ve shifted in recent years from being a collective
denomination to being more and more congregational.
In short, we’ve forgotten much of what
makes us unique and special as the United Church … we’ve forgotten the heritage
and history that has set us apart and motivated our faith journey … we’ve
forgotten who we are.
SO, in honour of the 87th
Anniversary of the United Church of Canada, and from these reading that
challenge us to consider our spiritual loyalties, and what brings us together
as the family of God, I’m going to attempt to share 87 things about the United
Church of Canada you may not know, you may have forgotten, or we may have
simply over looked …
The
United Church of Canada formally came into being on June 10th 1925,
in a service held in the Mutual Street Arena in downtown Toronto. Participants witnessed
the coming together of the Methodist, the Congregationalist and the majority of
the Presbyterian Churches, with leaders from each denomination leading them
through a service that was celebrated with a 38 page long bulletin.
In
1968, the fourth partner of Church Union, the Ontario based Canada Conference
of the Evangelical United Brethren joined, bringing with them over 10 000 new
members (including me), 58 congregations, 40 clergy (including Reverend Don
Pletch) and 2 Church camps.
Today
the United Church of Canada consists of four Church courts that govern the
affairs of the Church. They are the national General Council, the provincial
Conferences, the regional Presbyteries and the local Congregations or Pastoral
Charges.
The
United Church consists of 13 Conferences, 85 Presbyteries, 3196 Congregations
and 2223 Pastoral Charges.
We
are 525 000 members strong with 2.8 million adherents, and 402 689 households
under pastoral care.
We ARE
the largest Protestant Denomination in Canada.
Together
we have 2188 weekly Sunday School classes that offer lessons, and fellowship to
64 586 children across Canada.
Each
week an average of 174 000 people join in our worship services that are led by
3719 ordained ministers, 287 Diaconal Ministers and 275 Lay Pastoral Ministers.
In 2010 celebrated 9733 Baptisms and 7837 marriages.
Together
in 2010 the 257,799 identifiable givers raised $29,766,401 for the Mission and
Service fund, which is included in the total of $393,753,521 contributed for
all purposes within the life and ministry of this United Church of ours.
In
our 87 year history we have had 40 Moderators – the elected figurehead of our
Church. The first was the Rev. George C Pidgeon, and the current is Mardi
Tyndall.
Along
the way, our Moderators have achieved some notable firsts:
In
1968, Dr Robert McLure became the first lay person elected Moderator of the
United Church.
In
1974 The Reverend Wilbur Howard who in 1941 became the first Black minister to
be ordained in The United Church of Canda, became the first black Moderator of
the United Church, and in 1988, The Reverend Sang Chul Lee was our first
moderator of Asian descent.
The
Reverend Stan McKay was elected Moderator in 1992 becoming the first First
Nations person to hold that office – Stan was part of the circle at my service
of ordination on June 6th 1993 in Windsor Ontario.
In
1980, The Reverend Lois Wilson became our first Female Moderator, and a couple
of years later Anne Squire became our first Female Lay member to serve as
moderator. To date, only four non-ordained persons have held office of
Moderator – Bob McClure, and three women: Anne Squire, Marion Best and Mardi
Tyndal.
Along
the way there are many other notable first for the United Church of Canada.
In
1935, we became the first Canadian Denomination to ordain women when Lydia
Gruchy became a Reverend through ordination.
In
the 1940’s the United Church of Canada was for a time the ONLY Church that
spoke out against the forced relocation and seizure of assets of Japanese
Canadians during World War II. Many Japanese speaking congregations in BC were
destroyed by the actions of our Government. In the mid-1990’s I spent a ferry
ride from Vancouver to Nanaimo chatting with a Japanse family who were
returning from Hamilton for the very first time to see the city they had been
removed from in 1941 … they shared, it was a United Church in the interior of
BC, and a United Church in Hamilton that gave them the hope and strength to
carry on after losing everything so abruptly. The 80+ year old parents had both
been born in Canada.
In
the 1950’s against the popular opinion of the day, the United Church supported
a Baptist preacher and politican named Tommy Douglas in his quest for Universal
Medicare for ALL Canadians.
In 1988 we became the first Church to formally
apologize to the First Nations people of Canada for our collective role in
dismissing and denigrating their indigenous spiritual traditions. In many
cases, the First Nations invited the early missionaries like Thomas Crosby to
come into their community and share the Gospel, only to find themselves at odds
with the greater Church and its views of their traditional ways.
As a
result of the apology offered by our Moderator Robert Smith in 1986, the United
Church of Canada formed the All Circle Native Conference that brought together
First Nations Pastoral Charges.
In
1998, the United Church was the first Church to apologize for its role in the
system of Residential Schools and the excesses, abuse and missteps that were
part of that experience for many young aboriginal people across Canada. We have
been a staunch supporter of the process of Truth and Reconciliation across
Canada, and the work to address the legacy of Residential Schools in a positive
way.
Along
the way, The United Church has been a publishing force to be reckoned with. In
1829, Egerton Ryerson founded a weekly publication called The Christian
Guardian. In 1925, along with publications from the other partner Churches, the
Guardian merged to become The New Outlook, which in 1939 was renamed “The
United Church Observer.” The Observer, now an independent publication, remains
the print media voice of the United Church, and is the oldest continuously
published magazine in North American and the second oldest English publication
in the world.
We’ve
also published our share of resources, books and publications. In 1930, the
Blue Hymnary was first published. In 1970’s the Red Hymn Book was published in
partnership with the Anglican Church of Canada. And in 1996, the burgundy
Voices United was published. Along the way, we’ve used a myriad of other hymn
books and music resources from Songs of the Gospel to Songs of a Gospel People.
The
United Church has also published thousands of cookbooks, newsletters, and of
course the 1960’s New Curriculum. In addition to the original Methodist based
Ryerson Publishing, we’ve also been part of the United Church Publishing House
and the BC based Wood Lake Books. United Church writers, artists, and musicans
have contributed much to the fabric of our nation and our church.
Some
notable United Church people include:
Politicans
Lloyd Axworthy, Roy McMurtry, Jack Layton, John Crosbie and Lester B. Pearson.
Ontario Premiers Frank Miller, Mitch Hepburn and Bill Davis. BC Premiers WAC
and Bill Bennett. Writer Margaret Laurence. Actor Adam Beach. Skater Karen
Magnusson. Singer Gordon Lightfoot. Toronto Star journalist Gregory Clark. Activist
and politican Nellie McClung, and according to some our own Agnes McPhail. The
first female justice to serve on the Supreme Court of Canada Bertha Wilson. And
writer, philosopher and teacher Northrup Frye.
We
also have had a number of clergy who have sat in the House of Commons and
various provincial legislatures over the years. They include the legendary
parliamentarian Stanley Knowles, Bill Blaikie, David MacDonald, and
Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert.
And
service to the greater good is not limited to politics. In addition to being
one of the founding members of the World Council of Churches in 1948, we had
Marion Best, former moderator serve as a Vice Moderator of that body beginning
in 1998.
We
are also an intergral part of the Canadian Council of Churches since its
founding. The Reverend Gallagher served as General Secretary from 1944 to 1964.
Two other clergy, Floyd Honey and Bob Mills have also served in that capacity,
and The Reverend Karen Hamilton sits in that chair currently.
We’ve
also had seven clergy members of the United Church serve the Canadian Council
of Churches as President since 1944 including Lois Wilson, James Christie, ABB
Moore and Bruce McLeod.
Over
the years special appeals for assistance and help have raised money and awareness
about issues facing our sisters and brothers around the world.
In
2004 the Beads of Hope campaign concluded with 2.4 million dollars having been
raised in the fight against HIV/AIDS in sub-sahara Africa – over double what
was targeted.
In
2005, 1.5 million dollars was raised by the United Church alone in response to
the Tsunami of December 26th 2004 that ravaged south east Asia.
And
in 2010 we raised over 3 million dollars to help in the Earthquake relief for
Haiti.
We’ve
also been very good at addressing needs within our own nation.
In
1962, the National UCW was formed and has continued to be a formidable force in
raising money, awareness and involvement in a vast myriad of issues across
Canada.
We
have three communities on the West Coast – Hazelton, Bella Bella and Bella
Coola that are offered health care through United Church sponsored and run
Health Centres and Hospitals that have been operating for well over a century,
and continue to serve the people by providing necessary medical and health
services.
We
have 11 Theological Schools across Canada, 4 Universities, and 4 Education
Centres.
We
provide support to 66 United Church Camps from coast to coast, and supply
chaplaincy to our Military, our Universities and our Hospitals and care
facilities.
We
have a number of inner city missions ranging from Stella Burry in St Johns’ to
Brunswick Street in Halifax, Fred Victor in Toronto and First United in
Vancouver who offer a wide range of service, support and ministry to people
truly living at risk on the margins of our society. These ministries take
seriously the call to action that arises from taking seriously the call to care
for ‘one of the least of these my brethren …”
We
also supply housing, care for seniors, and in some cases like McLure United in
Winnipeg have recreated our worship space within highrise apartments that
provide much needed housing in downtown neighbourhoods.
Our
outreach also has included coast mission boats, airplanes, dog sleds and snow
mobiles …
The
litany of who we are, what we do, and how we share and live and most
importantly – CELEBRATE our faith could go on.
There
have been books written about who we are as a Church, and what we do … but at
the end of the day, the United Church of Canada has for the last 87 years
remained people like you and I trying to share our faith.
I
like to quote a beef farmer from eastern Ontario who was often invited through
the 1980’s and early 90’s to speak at various Church Courts about the farming
crisis he was very much a part of. Stan would ALWAYS say – “I don’t know why
you keep asking me. I’m just a farmer …” but then he would end by saying “We’re
just God’s people doing the best we can to make a difference in the world
living out our faith.”
After
87 years, that’s the heart of who we are and what we are about: just God’s
people doing the best we can to make a difference in the world living our
faith!!!
AMEN to that!!
May it be so – thanks
be to God … Let us pray …
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