Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
United Church of Canada
Parallel form(s) of name
- Église unie du Canada
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Eglise unie du Canada
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1925-
History
Constituted in 1925, following the passage of federal legislation dealing with church property rights, the United Church of Canada was initially a union of the Congregational Union of Canada, the Methodist Church (Canada), several Presbyterian communicants, and the local union churches of western Canada (formed in anticipation of the creation of the United Church). The Evangelical United Brethren Church, Canada Conference joined with the United Church effective January 1, 1968. The official French name Église unie du Canada was adopted in September 1968.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
The United Church has a council-based administrative structure in which each council (congregational, regional, or denominational) is allocated specific responsibilities. ; the authority of the councils to act independently of the other councils varies depending on the area that is meant to be addressed.
The head of the church is called the Moderator, an elected position (at the General Council) for a term of three years. The responsibilities of the Moderator include: giving leadership to the church, and reaffirm and strengthen people's sense of God; visiting and giving counsel to communities of faith; serving as the primary spokesperson for the United Church; and presiding at meetings of the denominational council.
Until 2019, administration of the church was shared amongst four courts/levels: pastoral charges (which were the primary ministry unit, and were composed of one or more congregations or preaching points); pastoral charges were members of local area presbyteries or districts; presbyteries were gathered into regional conferences; and the General Council (the church's highest legislative court) was elected and met every three years to set overall church direction.
In 2019 the church moved to a three-council model: communities of faith (includes all pastoral charges, congregations, and other groups who gather regularly for worship); regional councils; and a denominational council (still referred to as the General Council).0
The clergy of the United Church are referred to as ministers, and the church provides for both 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).
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Maintained by
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Minimal
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
- Latin
Sources
This authority description of United Church of Canada contains information from VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) [http://viaf.org/viaf/148348068] which is made available under the ODC Attribution License [http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/].