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Egerton Ryerson Young (Jr.) (1869-1962) was a Methodist/United Church minister in Ontario and assistant editor of the Christian Guardian. He was born in Norway House, Manitoba, where his father was a missionary to the Norway House Cree Nation. He attended Victoria College and was ordained in 1896. He served at Zion Church, Toronto, 1896-1897, and was Assistant Editor of the Christian Guardian, 1898-1900. He was then at Copper Cliff, 1901-1902; Port Carling, 1902-1905; Malton, 1906-1908; Chatsworth, 1909-1911; Bracebridge, 1912-1915; Orangeville, 1916-1919; Islington, 1920-1924; Newtonbrook, 1925-1929; Barrie, 1930-1931; and was then superannuated at Toronto, 1932-1961. He was married to Edith Ella Allen.

Peter Wyatt (1943-) is a minister, and former General Council Office staff with The United Church of Canada. He was born in Stratford, Ontario. He received his B.A. in English from Victoria College at the University of Toronto in 1966, his M. Div from Union Theological Seminary (New York) in 1969, and his Th.D. from Victoria University (Toronto School of Theology) in 1983. From 1995-2001 he was the General Secretary, Theology, Faith and Ecumenism at the United Church of Canada General Council office. Following that, from 2001-2008, he was Principal of Emmanuel College, and in 2012 Acting Executive Secretary of Toronto Conference. His pastoral ministry includes a summer mission field at Belmont Lakes Pastoral Charge (1967), Field Education at Riverside Church and East Northport Methodist Church, Long Island (1966-1969), Minister at St. Paul's Pastoral Charge (Alberta, 1969-1974), Whitevale Pastoral Charge (Toronto, 1974-1977), Port Hope United Church (Port Hope, 1977-1984), Trinity-St. Paul's Church (Toronto, 1989-1995), Supply at St. Andrew's U.C. (Brantford, 2009-2010), Knox United (Agincourt, 2011), Rosedale United (Toronto, 2012), Burk's Falls Pastoral Charge (2013-2014), Lynn Valley U.C. (Vancouver, 2015), Trinity St. Paul's (Toronto, 2017), and Trinity United Church (Huntsville, 2020-2021). He has taught various courses in theology at Emmanuel College and other institutions, published many articles, and two books entitled "Jesus Christ and Creation in the Theology of John Calvin" (1996) and "The Page That Fell Out of My Bible ; Sermons Preached at Trinity St-Paul's United Church, 1990-95" (1995). He married Joan (Parsons) Wyatt in 1965 who has taught courses alongside him, co-authored articles and shared ministry.

Horace Cooper Wrinch was born in England on January 6, 1866 and came to Canada on his own at the age of 14. He graduated in 1900 from Trinity Medical College in Toronto. He met Alice Jane Breckon, a nurse and teacher, and they were married in June of 1900.

Dr. Wrinch served the Methodist Church and United Church of Canada in the northern interior of British Columbia, 1900-1936, primarily at the Hazelton Hospital, which he helped to establish in 1904. He was the first qualified physician in the region, and worked closely with Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’ten peoples. Wrinch was ordained by the BC Conference of the Methodist Church in 1910. He also served as a provincial magistrate and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Skeena riding (1924-1933). During his two terms in office, Wrinch was a strong proponent of public health insurance.

Alice Wrinch died at Hazelton in 1922; Horace later married May Hogan, a hospital matron, in 1927. They retired to Toronto in 1936; Dr. Wrinch died on a visit to Vancouver in 1939.

Moderator of the United Church of Canada, 1938-1940

Harold M. Wingfield was born at Wanstead, England on April 12, 1912. He received his schooling in Alberta and was ordained by Alberta Conference of the United Church of Canada in 1941. He served nine pastoral charges in Alberta and B.C., including Fort Saskatchewan, Thorhild, Edson, Queen Charlottee City, Ocean Falls, Halibruton (Nanaimo), Squamish, and Lake Cowichan. He died January 11, 1997 at Cowichan Lake, B.C.

The Rev. Robert James Wilson, M.A., D.D., (1872-1941) was a Presbyterian and United Church minister and administrator. He was born on June 14, 1872 near Bond Head, Ontario, to James, a teacher turned farmer, and Agnes Robinson Wilson. He attended Bradford High School before studying at the University of Toronto, where he earned a B.A. in 1900, an M.A. in 1901, and finally a divinity degree from Knox College. In 1914, Knox College would also grant him an honourary Doctor of Divinity. He was ordained in the Presbytery of Westminster, British Columbia in 1903, and was called to serve as the minister for St. Andrew's Church, Vancouver. In 1918, he was called to Chalmers Presbyterian Church in Kingston, Ontario. A prominent supporter of church union, he was appointed in 1923 to take charge of publicity for the union movement, which necessitated a move to Toronto. He served as the Secretary of the Bureau of Literature and Information under the Joint Committee on Church Union and The United Church of Canada, stepping down in 1929. He was then called to serve as the minister at College Street United Church in Toronto, where he eventually retired in 1939. Wilson was also at different times involved with the Social Service Council of Ontario, serving as its president in the mid-1920s, and the St. Christopher Settlement House. Wilson was married to Mary Northway and had four children: John, Isabel, Nancy, and Florence. He died on September 10, 1941 at the age of 69.

Lois Miriam Freeman (1927-2024) was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the daughter of Rev. E.G.D. Freeman. She earned her B.A. and Bachelor of Divinity degrees at the University of Winnipeg. She married Rev. Roy Wilson in 1950. Lois Wilson was ordained in Winnipeg in 1965 and shared team ministries with her husband in Thunder Bay, Kingston and Hamilton before becoming first woman president of the Canadian Council of Churches in 1976. In 1980, she was elected the first woman Moderator of the United Church. From 1983 to 1991 she served as one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches, the first Canadian to do so. She travelled extensively to visit member churches in all continents and was central to initiating the Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women. She was appointed to the Senate in 1998, retiring in 2002. She was Ecumenist in Residence at the Toronto School of Theology from 2006-2009 and is currently Distinguished Minister-in-Residence at the Emmanuel College in the University of Toronto. She has the received the following honours and awards: the Queen’s 25th Anniversary Medal, 1977; The Pearson Peace Medal, 1985; Officer of the Order of Canada, 1984; Order of Ontario, 1991; Companion of the Order of Canada, 2003; Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Award for Christian Unity, 2010; and the Heart and Vision Award, 2011. Wilson passed away in September, 2024.

Terry Whyte was born in Churchill, Manitoba. He was ordained by Bay of Quinte Conference of The United Church of Canada in 1965. He served pastoral charges in Hazelton, B.C. 91965-1966) and the West Coast Mission (1973-1976) on Vancouver Island. He also did government-funded community work in Port Hardy (1967-1969), Sointula (1970-1972), and Port Alberni (from 1977 on). He remained in Port Alberni, participating in the life of St. Andrew's and Alberni Valley United Church until his death.

Rose Wallace was the wife of missionary Edward Wilson Wallace. She died of typhoid fever and pneumonia in Shanghai in 1924.

Edward Wilson Wallace (1880-1941) was a missionary to China, and Chancellor and President of Victoria University. The son of Francis Huston Wallace, Edward Wilson Wallace was born in Cobourg, Ontario, 1880, studied at Victoria University and Columbia University, and was appointed by the Methodist Church to the China mission field in 1906. He managed mission schools, taught at West China Union University, and was appointed General Secretary of the West China Educational Union in 1912 and of the China Church Educational Association in 1921. He served as Chancellor and President of Victoria University from 1929 until his death in 1941.

Martha P. Wagg (1885-1961) was a Diaconal Minister with The United Church of Canada. She was born in Burin, Newfoundland in 1885. She taught school for ten years in Newfoundland before attending the Methodist National Training School, receiving a diploma in 1917. That year, she was appointed to the Methodist Mission Board. From 1917-1920 she was at the school home in Wahstao, Alberta, then the All People's Mission in Sault Ste. Marie from 1922-1925, and the United Mission in Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1926-1932. She retired in 1932 and died in 1961.

The first interdenominational ministerial association in Vancouver was established in 1888. Besides providing fellowship for ministers from most Christian denominations, the association soon became active as a moral watchdog and lobby group in the city of Vancouver and surrounding area. The group's concerns included evangelism, prohibition, labour and unemployment, health and sanitation, the peace movements and war efforts, and religious instruction in public schools.

Sharilynn Upsdell worked as Staff Associate at Westbank United Church and also served as the Kamloops-Okanagan Presbytery Youth Minister for eleven years before pursuing Diaconal Ministry in 1998. She was commissioned in Salmon Arm in 2003 and settled to Grace United Church (Lax Kw'alaams, B.C.) Upsdell later worked for ten years as chaplain at Good Samaritan seniors care facilities in Vernon and Kelowna. She retired in 2021.

George Milledge Tuttle (1915-) was a United Church minister, administrator and Moderator. He was born at Medicine Hat, Alberta, the son of Methodist minister Aubrey Stephen Tuttle. He obtained a doctorate in theology from Victoria University. He had several mission fields, a pastorate in Sangudo, Alberta and a term as assistant minister in Toronto. As well, he served as National Director of Youth Work, Professor at Union College, Vancouver, 1951-1966, and Principal of St. Stephen's College, Edmonton, 1966-1979. He was President of British Columbia Conference in 1963, on the Executive of General Council in 1974 and served as Moderator from 1977 to his retirement in 1980.

Aubrey Stephen Tuttle (1874-1949) was a Methodist/United Church minister, educator and Moderator of the United Church. He was born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, graduated from Mount Allison University and entered the ministry of the Methodist Church in 1897. He served churches in Western Canada. He married Mary Anna (Mollie) Johnson in 1910. In 1919, he was appointed Principal of Alberta College, South. Later, he was Principal of St. Stephen's College. He served as Moderator of The United Church of Canada from 1940 to 1942.

Dr. Henry Warren Treffry (1891-1978) was born in Howard City, Michigan. He was ordained in The United Church of Canada by Saskatchewan Conference in 1927. During his time as minister he served in many places throughout Saskatchewan: Turtleford (1927), Shamrock (1928-1929), Admiral-Cadillac (1930-1933), Griffin (1934-1935), Shortoaks (1936-1937), Tantallon (1938-1940) and in Ontario: Hilton (1942-1944), Thorndale (1945-1947), Cairngerm (1948-1955), Oakdale (1956-1960), Strathroy (1961-1967), London (1968-1976). He died in May, 1978.

Mardi Tindal, a layperson, was an administrator and a Moderator of The United Church of Canada (2009-2012). She was born in 1952 and grew up in Victoria Square, Ontario (now part of Markham). She graduated from York University with a B.A. psychology and holds an M.A. in educational psychology from the University of Toronto. She worked as a consultant on leadership and program development and Coordinator of recreational ministries and youth resources with the Division of Mission in Canada at the General Council Office. She also served as Communication and Stewardship officer at Hamilton Conference, director of Camp Big Canoe and was executive director of Five Oaks Centre before becoming Moderator. From the 1980s to the 1990 she was co-host, producer and writer of Spirit Connection. Mardi Tindal served as Moderator from 2009-2012. She is married to Douglas Tindal.

Moderator of the United Church of Canada, 1956-1958

Margaret Luella Thibaudeau was a deaconness with The Methodist Church of Canada. She graduated from the Methodist Deaconess Home and Training School in 1906, and worked for a time at Wesley Methodist Church (Hamilton, Ont.).

Rev. Thomas M. Talbot (1856-1926) was born in Guelph. He entered ministry with the Methodist Church in Canada in the Toronto Conference in 1887, and was ordained in 1891. He earned a B.D. and a B.A. in Manitoba. After his graduation in Arts, he pursued a course in Philosophy in Boston University, eventually earning a Doctor of Philosophy. He was elected Chaplain of the Grand Council of Manitoba, and Superintendent of the Social Purity Department of the Royal Templars of Temperance. He published books and wrote manuscripts on philosophy, such as “A Compendium of the Christian Religion”, “Psychology of Mental Faculties”, “Categorical Theory” and a voluminous manuscript “Philosophical Theories”. Upon retirement he lived in Winnipeg, and died in 1926.

Jean Gillespie was born in Parry Sound in 1900. She attended Normal School and the Methodist National Training School. In 1925, she was appointed to Japan as a missionary and in 1931, resigned to be married to Alfred Stone. After being widowed in Japan in 1954, Jean Stone returned to Canada and served as Secretary to St. Luke's United Church in Toronto. She died in 1987.

Alfred Stone (1902-1954) was a United Church missionary to Japan. He was born in Highgate, Ontario, attended Victoria University and was ordained in 1926. He married Jean Gillespie in 1931. Rev. Stone died in Japan in 1954 as a result of a ferry boat accident.

Joseph Wilmot Stewart (1887-1974) was a Methodist, then United Church minister. He was born in Glammis Township. After teaching school at Stroud for a time, he attended Victoria University, earning a B.A. in 1914. He then studied theology at Victoria College and received his B.D. in 1915. That same year he was ordained in Hamilton. He served charges at Drew (Guelph, 1915-1918); Delhi (Haldimand-Norfolk, 1918-1921); Hickson (Oxford, 1921-1926), Malahide (Elgin, 1926-1928); Turin (Kent, 1928-1929); Merritton (Niagara, 1929-1936); Drayton (Guelph, 1936-1941); Lucknow (Bruce, 1941-1949); Trafalgar (Halton, 1949-1954); Lakeview (1954-1957). He retired in 1957 and in 1958 became retired supply at Burnhamthorpe United Church in Mississauga where he remained until his death in 1974. He was married to Myrtle Cochrane (b. 1889-d. 1951) then Violet Forman (b. 1894-d. 1962) and had three children. For 33 years, he operated Stewart's Dining Hall at the Canadian National Exhibition during his holidays.

Rev. Dr. John Thomas Stephens (1883-1957) was a minister with the Methodist Church (Canada), then the United Church of Canada) who spent most of his career working with home missions. After union, he worked in Saskatchewan: Biggar (1925), Calder (Ukrainian, 1926-1930), Regina (Settlement House, 1931-1933), and Alberta: Edmonton (All Peoples Mission, 1934-1951), he was retired ministry in Edmonton (1952), North Burnaby (1953-1955), and White Rock (1956-1957). He was one of the organizational leaders of All People's Mission in Edmonton, and was involved with the opening of the Bissell Institute. He died in August, 1957.

Lilian Steed (nee Marsh) (1916-2008) was married to Rev. Harold Steed. The Steeds were Missionaries to Angola for 10 years.

Harold Tilney Hill Steed (1918-2012) was a Missionary in Angola for 10 years, along with his wife Lilian Steed.

Dr. Anne Squire (nee Park) (1921-2017) was Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 1986 to 1988. Squire was born in Amherstburg, Ontario to Methodist mother and Anglican father. She taught public school (1939-1945), church school (1945-1980) and served as a director at Camp Bitobi for twelve years. She received her B.A. (hons) (1974), and M.A. in Religion (1975) from Carleton University. She went on to teach Religious Studies and Women’s Studies at the University of Carleton with the Lay School of Theology from 1975-1982. Aside from working in education, she held many different positions throughout her career. She was a curriculum writer for the United Church from 1962-1975 and was the was chair of Project : Ministry (Division of Mission in Canada) from 1977-1980. She provided leadership at Queen’s Theological College on the Board of Managers from 1980-1985, was Chairperson of the Ontario Conference for Women (1979-1980), Secretary of the United Church Division of Ministry Personnel and Education (1982-1985), Chair of the Interchurch/Interfaith Committee (1988-1992), and chairperson at Emmanuel United Church in 1982. She was Moderator of The United Church from 1986-1988, the first lay woman leader to hold the position. She received many honourary degrees and accolades for her work: Doctor of Divinity degrees from McGill University (1980), Queen’s University (1985), an Honourary Legum Doctorate from Carleton University (1988) for her work in University and Educational Services. She was also recipient of the Senate Medal from Carleton in 1972. A staunch feminist, Squire was known for her women’s rights activism and teaching feminist theology. She was also known for her study and report on the Sexuality of Ordination Debate which drove the vote for inclusivity. Squire married William in 1943 and had three children: Frances, Laura and Margaret. She died in 2017.

John Clark Spencer was a Methodist minister who came to British Columbia in 1888. He was stationed at Steveston, Lax Kw'alaams (then Port Simpson), Kishpiox (1895); Koksilah (1895-1896); Victoria (1896-1897); Bella Coola (1899-1907); Skidegate (1907-1914); Lax Kw'alaams (1914-1924); and Bella Bella (1924 until his death in 1928). Spencer undertook medical studies in 1897 and obtained his medical degree from the University of California in 1899.

Robert Frederick ("Bob") Smith was born in Montreal in 1934. After receiving his B.A. from the University of Alberta in 1956, he earned a diploma in Theology at St. Stephen’s College (1958), a B.D. from the University of Alberta (1964), and a Th.D. at Boston University School of Theology (1973). He was ordained by the Alberta Conference of the United Church in 1958, and married Margaret Ellen Maguire that year. After ordination, he served in pastoral ministry at St. Luke's, Fort St. John, British Columbia (1958-1961); Trinity, Edmonton (1961-1965); Memorial Congregational Church of Atlantic, Quincy, Massachusetts (1965-1968); Richmond Hill (1968-1974); Eglinton, Toronto (1974-1982); Shaughnessy Heights, Vancouver (1982-1993); and First, Vancouver (1993-1998).

Throughout his ministry, Smith has served on numerous committees, including the Doctrinal Commission; General Commission on Church Union; Committee on Union and Joint Mission; Co-Chair of Roman Catholic-United Church Dialogue; the Committee on Theology and Faith; the Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee, and the Division of Mission in Canada's Advisory Group on Residential Schools.

Smith has also served as head of several church courts: as chair of York Presbytery (1972-1974) and Toronto Area Presbytery (1977-1979); President of Toronto Conference (1981-1982); and as Moderator of the United Church of Canada (1984-1986). As Moderator, he made the Apology to First Nations Peoples on behalf of the Church in 1986.

Benjamin Slight (1798-1858) was a Wesleyan Methodist missionary to Upper Canada. Born in England, he was sent to Canada as a missionary by the Wesleyan Missionary Committee in London, England in 1834, and was ordained for missionary work in Hamilton in 1835. He began his mission work in western Upper Canada at Amherstburg, where he ministered to settlers, Indigenous people and a colony of formerly enslaved Americans. He next served at the Credit Mission, near York and later worked in different parts of Eastern and Western Canada until his death. He was married to Elizabeth Slight (d. 1871).

The Rev. Robert K. Shorten was a United Church of Canada minister and administrator. He was born on June 11, 1927 to the Rev. Arthur F. and Myrtie (née Slack) Shorten in Carp, Ontario. He attended elementary school in Osgoode (1932-1935) and Harrowsmith (1935-1940), and high school in Sydenham (1940-1945). He enrolled at Queen's University in 1945 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1948 with a focus on English, history, and philosophy. He then attended Queen's Theological College, earning a Bachelor of Divinity in 1951, followed by a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1952.

Shorten was ordained in Kingston in 1951, after which he held the pastoral charges of Elmsley-Lombardy (1951), Sept-Îles (1952-1956; where he was a labourer and itinerant minister for a railroad construction project to what is now Schefferville), and Rexdale (1956-1961; where he opened a new congregation). In 1961 he took up the position of assistant secretary of the Board of Home Missions, responsible for co-ordinating summer student programmes and immigration work. He returned to active ministry in 1966 at Division Street United Church in Owen Sound. In 1974 he moved to Richmond Hill United Church. In 1978 he returned to the church's national office, becoming the associate secretary for personnel services, campus ministries, and women in ministry (at varying times) within the Division of Ministry, Personnel, and Education. Finally, in 1985, he became the minister of Parkwoods United Church in Don Mills. Shorten was active in retirement, serving as minister emeritus at Parkwoods United Church, as well as assisting with pastoral care at Wellington Square United and East Plains United in Burlington.

Shorten married Evelyn Ruth Roberts in 1954, with whom he had three daughters: Alison Jane, Margaret Anne, and Mary Elizabeth. Shorten died in Burlington on December 14, 2019.

Peter Short (1948-) was born in Kingston, Ontario. He married his wife, Susan in 1953. He graduated from York University in 1973, Emmanuel College in 1977 and was ordained by the Maritime Conference in 1978. He served at Yellowknife United Church from 1983-1990, Beaconsfield United Church, Montreal 1990-1999, Wilmot, in Fredericton from 1999-2008. Short served as Moderator from 2003-2006. He also served the General Council office as a member of the Executive of the Department of Stewardship Services (1993-1998), chair of the Moderator’s Advisory Committee for the Very Reverend Bill Phipps (1997-2000), Chair of the Business Committee of the Executive of General Council (2000-2002), and Chair of the Agenda and Planning Committee for the 38th General Council. Short retired in 2010.

SHIU Chiu Chung was born in Lin Yuen, Guangdong Province, China (or Lianzhou / Lien Chou in Cantonese). He migrated to Canada in May 1924 as a missionary and a widower, permitted to stay in Canada until May 1925. Shiu married Julia Jang, a resident at the Oriental Home and School in Victoria, B.C., on June 16, 1924 and was thus able to remain in Canada. The couple lived in several cities: Saskatoon (1924-1925), Winnipeg (1925-1928), Hamilton (1928-1930), Montreal (1931-1934), Nanaimo (1934-1940), and New Westminster (1940-1982). Julia died in 1982.

Michael John Victor Shaver (Jack) was born in Fort William, Ontario, in 1918 to the Rev. and Mrs. James M. Shaver. He grew up in the manse next door to All Peoples' Mission in Winnipeg's North End. He attended United College in Winnipeg and, following ordination in 1942, served charges in rural Ontario and Manitoba, then Fort Gary United Church in Winnipeg (1952-1959). In 1959, he moved with his wife, Dorothy, and their children to Vancouver, where he served as the very first university chaplain for the United Church (UBC, 1959-1969). Shaver worked for the Metropolitan Council of the Lower Mainland in the early 1970s, then on the staff of First United Church, where he spent the final ten years of his ministry, retiring in 1982. Shaver received two honorary doctorates; from the University of Winnipeg (1980) and the Vancouver School of Theology (1982).

George was born in Spirit River, Alberta and grew up in Pouce Coupe, B.C. and Berwyn, Alberta. George’s sister, Alleen, married the Rev. Bob McLaren. He followed them to Naramata, B.C. where they were establishing the Christian Leadership Training School (CLTS). George completed grade twelve at Penticton High and then enrolled in the second Winter Session at CLTS. It was there that he experienced a call to ministry in The United Church of Canada.

In the summer of 1952 George was serving as Boy’s Work Assistant for BC Conference. This included being Director at Cultus Lake Camp. There he met Mary Anne McWilliams who was the life guard and swimming instructor. They were married in 1953.

George graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Arts and from Union College with a Bachelor of Divinity. In 1957 he was ordained as a minister of the United Church. He and Anne worked together as partners serving congregations B.C. at Lillooet and Pemberton, Oliver, Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls followed by West Burnaby, Shaughnessy Heights, Collingwood and Dunbar Heights.

He served as a commissioner to seven General Councils and a member of the General Council Executive as well as being elected President of BC Conference. George chaired and was a member of a wide range of Presbytery, Conference and National committees. However, his primary focus was the daily life of a congregational minister.

Edwin James Searcy (Ed) was born to the Rev. George and Anne Searcy at Penticton, BC in 1954. He studied Arts at the University of British Columbia, graduating with an honours degree in history. His first year of studies for the Master of Divinity degree was at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California as a student at the Pacific School of Religion. He completed the degree at the Vancouver School of Theology (VST) and was ordained by BC Conference in 1980. As a pastor, he served Minnedosa-Rapid City Wider Area Parish in Manitoba (1980-1981); Crescent United Church, Surrey (1981-1989); South Arm United Church, Richmond (1989-1995); and University Hill Congregation, Vancouver (1995-2015). Searcy also served BC Conference throughout the 1990s as chair of the Land Claims Campaign (1990-1994) and then of the Indian Residential School Task Force (1995-2000). From 1998 to 2002, he completed the Doctor of Ministry degree at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He was granted an honorary doctorate by VST in 2015.

A focus throughout Ed Searcy's pastoral ministry was his work in adult faith formation through Bible study and small group discussion. Beyond the congregation, he lectured for several decades at various centres of learning, including VST, Naramata Centre, and the Centre for Clergy Care and Congregational Health (Toronto). His many written contributions to books and journals (1986-2015) have largely come from his perspective as a pastor doing biblical and missional theology. Searcy has served on the Editorial Board of Touchstone theological journal (1993-2010). In 2011, he created "Holy Scribbler," a blog on gospel, church, and living with multiple myeloma.

Rev. William Scott (1886-1979) was a missionary to Korea with The Presbyterian Church in Canada, then United Church of Canada. He was born in Lanark, Scotland and moved to Canada in 1906 after responding to an appeal for ministerial candidates from the Presbyterian Church in Canada. After doing some mission work in Brandon, Manitoba, he attended Queen's University, receiving a B.A. in 1911. He later received an M.A. in Political Science from Queens, working on it during a furlough in 1921. He attended the Theological Seminary at Westminster Hall, Vancouver, graduating as an ordained minister in 1914. That same year, he and his wife, Kate Scott (McKee) travelled to Korea. After some time doing evangelistic work, in 1921 Scott was appointed Principal of Eunjin Academy in Yongchung. In 1925, he was appointed principal of the Yung-saing High School in Hamheung. In 1926 Scott became the Chairman of the Canadian Mission Board in Korea. He was repatriated to Canada in 1942 along with other missionaries in Korea, and during his time in Canada worked as a minister at Burford, Bethel and Fairfield United Churches in Ontario. The Scotts returned to Korea in 1946. In 1953 he and others helped to found the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea. Scott retired in 1956, and died in Brantford, Ontario in 1979.

Moderator of the United Church of Canada, 1952-1954

Moderator of the United Church of Canada, 1942-1944

Joyce Sasse (b. 1940) was a United Church rural minister and an overseas missionary. She was adopted and raised on a farm-ranch in Milk River, Alberta. Sasse felt the call to rural ministry at a young age when she noticed a disconnect between the local ministers and the rural community. To become a minister she studied theology at the University of Saskatchewan and focused on rural issues and historical initiatives like the credit union movement. As a result she earned a Bachelor of Arts (1962), Bachelor of Theology (1965), Bachelor of Divinity (1968) and Master of Divinity (1987). She was ordained as a United Church minister in 1965. To broaden her experience she served as a missionary in Korea working on community development from 1967-1971. Upon her return to Canada she served as Executive Director of the YWCA. From 1974 to 1978 she worked as Saddle Bag minister in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan as part of the Division of Mission’s experimental project on rural ministry. From her ordination to her retirement in 1998, Sasse served at the following charges: Morse/Chaplain (1965-1967), Moose Jaw (1974-1978), Tugaske (1978-1986), Rockford (1986-01989), and Pincher Creek (1989-1996). To further rural ministry during her career, Sasse worked with the International Rural Church Association, helped found the Canadian Rural Church Network and contributed significantly to the Centre for Rural Community Leadership and Ministry (CiRCLe-M). Upon retirement in 1998, Sasse continued to support rural ministry through speaking engagements and publications. More recently she has been working on the Annora Brown Art and Life Legacy Project.

Nora Sanders (19??-) graduated with a degree in History from Western University in 1977. She was Deputy Minister of Justice in Nunavut before becoming the General Secretary of the General Council, a position she held from 2006-2021.

The Rev. Dr. Francis (Frank) Edwin Runnalls was born on November 9, 1895, and was raised a Presbyterian in the farming community of Mt. Brydges, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in 1917, and from Knox Theological College (Toronto) in 1921 with a Bachelor of Divinity. After ordination, he was sent to the railway towns of McBride and Lucerne, BC. He married Nellie Oliver, Sunday school teacher and daughter of Premier John Oliver, in Victoria, 1923. Runnalls also served the Church at Grand Forks (1923-1926), during which time he joined the newly formed United Church of Canada; Riverview (1926-1932) and Cedar Cottage (1932-1941) in Vancouver; Knox in Prince George (1941-1946); Armstrong (1946-1953); South Arm-Steveston in Richmond (1953-1962); and Steveston (1962-1964).

Frank Runnalls held several offices in the wider church, including Secretary then Chair of Vancouver Presbytery, Chair of Kamloops-Okanagan Presbytery, and President of BC Conference. He received an honorary doctorate from Union College in 1952. Always keen on history, he also served informally as Conference Archivist in the mid- to late 1960s. His published works include It's God's Country (1974) and Memoirs and Reflections (1999). He retired in 1964 to the White Rock/Surrey area. Frank Runnalls died on June 2, 1990.

Rev. Douglas H. Ross (1929-2021) was born in Wainwright, AB and grew up in Belleville, ON. He was educated at Queen’s University and later earned a Master of Theology (1972) and a PhD in theology (1982) from St. Paul University. He began student ministry outside Perth, ON in 1953 and was ordained in 1957 where he served as a pastor in Schefferville, QC (1957-1960), Bells Corner United Church (1960-1974), and Wesley-Knox United Church (1974-1984). At the national level Ross was a member of the Overview Committee, National Forum for Staff Priorities, Task Force on Administrative Review, and both the executive and sub-executive of the General Council. He also served on the Executive of the London Conference first as President of the London Conference (1979-1980) and then as Executive Secretary (1984-1992) which he held until his retirement. Douglas continued to be active in the community and was involved with several interim ministries before returning to Wesley-Knox in 2000 as Minister of Visitation and Minister Emeritus until 2019. Douglas was married to Hellen Ross.

Richard Roberts (1874-1945) was a Presbyterian/United Church minister and Moderator of the United Church. He was born in Wales, where he also studied. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1897, and ministered in England until he resigned as a result of his pacifist views in 1915. He ministered in Brooklyn, New York, 1917-1921; and in Toronto and Montreal, 1922-1938. He was Moderator of the United Church, 1934-1936. He lectured briefly in Halifax before moving back to the United States in 1940.