Rev. David Wren was a Methodist and a United Church minister in Ontario in the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in Huron County in 1879. He was a graduate of Victoria University, and was ordained in 1908. Rev. Wren served at Maidstone, Ethel, Brussels, Mount Forest, Elm Street and Metropolitan in Toronto, Midland, Trinity, Peterborough, Picton, and Central in Stratford. He died in 1965.
George Coulson Workman (1848-1936) was a Methodist minister, editor and controversial theologian. He was born in Grafton, Ontario and ordained as a Methodist minister in 1876. He was assistant editor of The Christian Guardian, 1876-1878; professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis at Victoria University, 1882-1884; post-graduate student at Leipzig University, 1884-1889. Back in Toronto, his public lecture on "Messianic Prophecy" in 1890 led to a great controversy about the method of Biblical interpretation. He resigned from Victoria the next year. He spent the rest of his life in study, writing, and supply preaching, except for a period of teaching at Wesleyan Theological College in Montreal, 1904-1908, when he again became embroiled in controversy about his liberal views. He moved back to Toronto in 1910.
Thomas Woolsey (1819-1894) was a Methodist missionary. He was born in England, and moved to Canada in 1852. He continued Robert Rundle's work at Edmonton House, Hudson's Bay Territory, 1855-1864. He promoted missions in Britain, 1865-1866. He married Sarah Wolverson, and served circuits and missions to the Aboriginal People in Quebec and Ontario, 1866-1884. He retired to Toronto in 1884.
Wooler - Stockdale Pastoral Charge was formed in 1931, and was originally known as Wooler Pastoral Charge; it included Wooler, Stockdale and Mount Zion Church in Murray Township. It disbanded when Wooler and Stockdale separated to form separate charges on January 1, 2007.
Roland Woodward was Chair of the Keepers of the Athabasca Watershed Society. He died in December, 2012.
Woodville Pastoral Charge was formed in 1925, formerly Methodist; it included Woodville, Hartley and Peniel
Dr. Harold F. Woodsworth was born in Portage la Prairie in 1883 and was a missionary in Japan for over 30 years. He received his B.A. from Victoria College in 1907. In the fall of 1908 he went to Japan as a missionary with the Y.M.C.A, teaching in the English department at a Japanese Government School in Nagasaki, then Kagoshima. In 1910 became a missionary under the Methodist Church, and returned to Canada for post-graduate work. In 1911, he married Miss Ada Frances Chown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Chown of Kingston. They returned to Japan together, first to a language school in Tokyo, then to Kobe, where Mr. Woodsworth became a professor of English at Kwansei Gakuin University, later becoming Dean of the Literature Department, and Dean of Theology of the University for a number of years. He was ordained during a furlough in 1918, during which time he also took his M.A. at Columbia University, New York. In 1936 he was honoured with a Doctor of Divinity from Victoria College. He died in 1939. H.F. Woodsworth's brother was C.C.F. leader J.S. Woodsworth. Their father, James Woodsworth, was a former Superintendent of Home Missions for the Methodist Church of Canada.
Dr. Harold F. Woodsworth was born in Portage la Prairie in 1883 and was a missionary in Japan for over 30 years. He received his B.A. from Victoria College in 1907. In the fall of 1908 he went to Japan as a missionary with the Y.M.C.A, teaching in the English department at a Japanese Government School in Nagasaki, then Kagoshima. In 1910 became a missionary under the Methodist Church, and returned to Canada for post-graduate work. In 1911, he married Miss Ada Frances Chown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Chown of Kingston. They returned to Japan together, first to a language school in Tokyo, then to Kobe, where Mr. Woodsworth became a professor of English at Kwansei Gakuin University, later becoming Dean of the Literature Department, and Dean of Theology of the University for a number of years. He was ordained during a furlough in 1918, during which time he also took his M.A. at Columbia University, New York. In 1936 he was honoured with a Doctor of Divinity from Victoria College. He died in 1939. H.F. Woodsworth's brother was C.C.F. leader J.S. Woodsworth. Their father, James Woodsworth, was a former Superintendent of Home Missions for the Methodist Church of Canada.
Ava (Chown) Woodsworth (1885-1956) was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario. She was a graduate of Whitby Ladies College and Queen’s University (1909). Mrs. Woodsworth taught English and the Bible in Japan. She was active on the National Council of the YWCA and the Dominion Board of the United Church Women's Missionary Society.
The Woodsworths had two sons, Kenneth, and David, and two daughters, Mary and Sylvia.