Zion United Church was established in 1925 with the union of Zion Presbyterian Church (founded 1892) and Ashcroft Methodist Church (founded 1897). From 1954 to 1958, the Charge included St. Andrew's United Church (Lillooet, B.C.) and was known as the Ashcroft-Lillooet Pastoral Charge. Congregations which are now closed, but which formerly were part of the Charge, are St. John's (Clinton, B.C., 1925-2011); Spences Bridge (1926-1977); Walhachin (1929-1959); and Cache Creek (1958-1973). Keefers, Savona, and North Bend were also points of the original Ashcroft Pastoral Charge. In 2011, Ashcroft became a single point charge. It had been part of the Kamloops-Okanagan Presbytery until presbyteries were disbanded when church restructured in 2019. Zion United Church disbanded on December 31, 2022.
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.
(日本語版は以下に記載) (Japanese version below)
Yoshinosuke Yoshioka was born in Sasebo, Japan in 1889. He graduated in 1912 from Kwansei Gakuin University at Shizuoka, Japan, and was baptized within the Christian church in 1914. Yoshioka married Hisa Misaki (1890-1975), then a primary school teacher, in Shizuoka, Japan, where they lived until they left for Canada. In 1921, he was ordained in the Methodist Church. He served the Steveston Methodist Church from 1922 to 1925. This was followed by an appointment at the Japanese Mission on Powell Street in Vancouver (1925-1926). He completed theological studies at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto, and earned Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees. In 1929, he was called to the mission at the Japanese United Church in Kelowna, British Columbia, where he served until 1952. He went on to serve in Lethbridge, Alberta, where he died May 26, 1956.
The Yoshiokas had two sons, Edward and James. Edward Yoshioka was born in 1923. He attended Victoria University and Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. Having been ordained in 1947, he served as a United Church of Canada minister in several locations across Canada and as a missionary in Trinidad. He died in 1990. James Yoshioka was born in 1925. He earned a medical doctor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1949; thereafter he practiced medicine in Montreal, Quebec, and Oakville and Toronto, Ontario until he retired.
履歴 :
吉岡芳之助は1889年に佐世保市にて生まれた。1912年に関西学院大学を卒業。1914年に洗礼を受け、キリスト教に改宗。静岡在住時に小学校教員のミサキヒサ (1890年-1975年) と結ばれる。1921年にメソジスト教会より牧師に叙階されると、翌年にカナダに赴任。1925年までスティーブストン (英: Steveston) 日本人メソジスト教会にて仕えた。1925年-1926年パウエルストリートの日本人ミッションに参加した後にトロント大学のエマニュエルカレッジに入学。神学を専攻し、学士号と修士号を習得した。1929年より23年間ケロナ市 (英: Kelowna) 、ブリティッシュコロンビア州の日系人合同教会にて仕える。後にアルバータ州のレスブリッジ市の教会に赴任した。1956年5月26日没。
吉岡家は二人の息子に恵まれた。長男の吉岡エドワード(1923年出)はヴィクトリア大学(英: Victoria University)及びトロント大学のエマニュエルカレッジを卒業し、1947年に牧師として叙階された後、国内のいくつかのカナダ合同教会の牧師として勤めた。また、トリニダードにおいて宣教活動も行った。1990年没。
次男の吉岡ジェームズ(1925出)は1949年に医師の学位を習得。ケベック州のモントリオール、オンタリオ州のオークヴィル市(英:Oakville)とトロント市で引退まで働いた。
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.
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.
Winfield United Church was begun ca. 1907 under the name Wood's Lake Presbyterian Church as part of the Okanagan Centre Mission Field of the Presbyterian Church. With church union in 1925, the name was changed to Winfield United Church. At that time, the congregation became part of Oyama Pastoral Charge. In 1940, Winfield became part of the combined Rutland-Oyama Pastoral Charge, and from 1960 to 1971, it was part of Wood Lake Pastoral Charge, along with St. Paul's United in Okanagan Centre and Oyama United. In 1963, St. Paul's amalgamated with Winfield, followed by Oyama in 1971, making Winfield a single-point charge. The official name "Wood Lake Pastoral Charge" persisted until about 2010, when Kamloops-Okanagan Presbytery approved the name change to Winfield United Church.
Lois Miriam Freeman was born in 1927 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 Heights United Church was founded as Wilson Road Methodist Church. The church was built in 1910. The membership grew quickly, and a new church was built and dedicated in March 1912. This church was named Wilson Heights Methodist Church. In 1925 the congregation came into church union, and was renamed Wilson Heights United Church. A new church was built and opened in 1958. In 1995 Vancouver-South Presbytery established a three point Collingwood - Fraserview - Wilson Heights United Pastoral Charge, but all three met and worshipped at the Wilson Heights church building. In 1998 the Pastoral Charge name was changed back to Wilson Heights, and it was recognized as a one point Charge. The congregation amalgamated with Oakridge United Church on January 1, 2023.
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.
(日本語版は以下に記載) (Japanese version below)
The Japanese Methodist Mission was established in Vancouver in 1896. It fell within the purview of the Home Missions Board until well after WW II, even though the congregation had become self-supporting by 1936. The congregation's first building was constructed in 1907 or 1908 at the corner of Jackson and Powell Streets. It became known as the Powell Street Church. A gymnasium and social hall were added in the 1920s, for which the congregation raised $12,000. The Woman's Missionary Society (WMS) was involved with the Japanese Mission from very early on. They taught kindergarten and home economics at the Mission, held prayer meetings, and raised funds to add to the voluntary contributions of the congregation and Home Missions. The congregation boasted an excellent Sunday school, Tuxis and Explorers groups, Mission Band, and CGIT. The Rev. Dr. Kosaburo Shimizu served the congregation from 1926 to 1942. He introduced many Christian education opportunities within the congregation, established the Young People's Union, introduced monthly English-speaking worship services, and started a relief department providing food and clothing during the Depression of the 1930s. He also helped the congregation achieve self-supporting status.
Members living in Vancouver's Fairview neighbourhood raised enough money, along with a Home Missions grant, to build a second Japanese Church in 1928 (by then part of The United Church of Canada).The Fairview Mission later became known as the Columbia Street Mission (from 1949 on), which was sold in 1977. From 1942 to 1949, the two buildings were used by First United Church, St. Giles, and the WMS while Japanese Canadian citizens were interned in internment camps. The Powell Street and Columbia Street buildings were held in trust by the Board of Home Missions during the war. In 1953, the Powell St. property was sold. From then on, the Japanese- and English-speaking congregations met in a number of different venues, none of which they owned, beginning with First United Church. In 1958 both Nisei and Issei (Japanese speaking) church members were worshipping in Fairview Church on Columbia. In 1962, they moved to Renfrew United Church. In 1978, the congregation purchased St. Luke's United Church building.
At its general meeting in May 2009, BC Conference made a statement of Recognition and Apology to the Japanese United Church for the sale of the Powell Street church building 56 years earlier. In June of that year, a Service of Reconciliation took place at the Vancouver Japanese United Church. Early in 2017, the English-speaking congregation disbanded.
日本メソジスト伝道ミッションが1896年にバンクーバーに設立されました。第二次世界大戦後まで、ホームミッション委員会の管轄下にありましたが、1936年までには自立していました。会衆の最初の建物は1907年か1908年にジャクソン通りとパウエル通りの角に建てられ、パウエル通り教会として知られるようになりました。1920年代には体育館と社交場が増築され、そのために会衆は12,000ドルを集めました。婦人宣教会（WMS）は、非常に早い時期から日系人宣教に関与し、伝道所で幼稚園と家庭科を教え、祈祷会を開き、教会とホームミッションへの自発的な献金に加えて献金を集めました。教会は優れた日曜学校、タキシス、エクスプローラーズグループ、ミッションバンド、CGITを誇っていました。清水小三郎牧師は1926年から1942年まで牧師として仕え、教会内に多くのキリスト教教育の機会を導入し、青年会を設立し、毎月の英語による礼拝を導入し、1930年代の大恐慌の間、食糧と衣類を提供する救済部門をも開始しました。彼はまた、教会が自立した地位を獲得するのを助けました。
バンクーバーのフェアビュー地区に住む会員たちは、ホームミッションの助成金と合わせて、1928年に2つ目の日系人教会（当時はカナダ合同教会の一部）を建てるのに十分な資金を集めました。フェアビュー・ミッションはその後、コロンビア・ストリート・ミッション（1949年以降）として知られるようになりましたが、1977年に売却されました。1942年から1949年まで、日系カナダ人が収容所に収容されている間、この2つの建物はFirst United Church、セントジャイルズ、WMSによって使用されていました。パウエル通りとコロンビア通りの建物は、戦時中、ホームミッション委員会に信託されていましたが、1953年、その教会は売却されてしまいました。それ以来、日本語を話す信徒と英語を話す信徒は、First United Churchを皮切りに、いくつもの異なる場所で集うようになりました。1958年から、二世（英語）と一世（日本語）の教会員が、コロンビアにあるフェアビュー教会で礼拝していましたが1962年は、レンフルー合同教会に移り、1978年にはSaint Luke United Churchの建物を購入しました。
2009年5月、カナダ合同教会のBC Conferenceでは、56年前にパウエル・ストリートの教会堂を売却したことに対し、日系人合同教会に認識と謝罪の声明を発表し、同年6月、バンクーバー日本人合同教会で和解の礼拝が行われました。2017年初め、英語部の会衆は解散しました。
(日本語版は以下に記載) (Japanese version below):
The BC Conference Oriental Committee established a separately incorporated United Church Oriental Missions Society in 1930. The primary role of the Society was to hold, manage, maintain, sell and convey property relating to the missions acquired in trust for The United Church of Canada. By 1935, the Oriental Committee perceived its own role as unnecessary, as most of its former work was now being handled by other Conference committees and courts. The Oriental Missions Society continued to hold annual general meetings, but was dissolved in 1947.
組織歴・履歴 :
1930年にBC総会オリエンタル布教活動委員会は別組織として合同教会オリエンタル人布教会 (英: United Church Oriental Missions Society) を成立させた。布教会の主な役割はカナダ合同教会が入手した様々な不動産の管理及び購買であった。が、1935年ごろには総会内の他会が各々の不動産を管理し始めたため、役割を失っていき、1947年に解散。また、解散されるまで年次会議を開催していた。
Vancouver-Burrard Presbytery was created in 1959, within the bounds of British Columbia Conference, when the former Vancouver Presbytery was divided in two (the other being Vancouver-South Presbytery). Vancouver Presbytery had, itself, been the result of an amalgamation of two presbyteries in 1926: Vancouver East and Vancouver West. With the change in the church's governance model, the presbytery disbanded as of December 31, 2018.
BC Conference introduced the position of presbytery officer in several presbyteries between 1969 and 1973. The aim was to divide up the work of the two Superintendents of Home Missions in the Conference, and to improve communication between the Conference and the presbyteries. The position was conceived of as a resource for the presbytery, providing coordination, consultation and counselling for all levels of the church within the presbytery, as well as serving ecumenical functions at the local level. George Affleck was appointed to the position (originally named Comox-Nanaimo-Victoria Presbytery Officer) in 1973, and served in that capacity until 1976. He was succeeded by Leslie U. Clark (1976-1982) and William L. Howie (1982-1996), after which the position was discontinued. Two separate Conference Ministers for Victoria Presbytery and Comox-Nanaimo Presbytery were introduced in 2008.
The Superintendents were representatives of the national Board of Home Missions and worked in various conferences across Canada. Their duties, in cooperation with the presbyteries, included supervision of all aid-receiving missions and charges, the oversight of an annual fund-raising campaign, and the organization of new pastoral charges and mission fields. The emphasis in British Columbia was on Japanese and Indigenous missions, the coastal marine missions, and hospital work. For the period immediately following church union, British Columbia missions received a large share of all Home Missions grants, and the British Columbia Conference had a correspondingly large staff, with three Superintendents at the time of union. There were severe cutbacks during the depression, and this number was reduced to one by 1939, William Percy Bunt. He served from 1939 until his retirement in 1958, and was succeeded by Robert W. Henderson in 1959, with R.M. Warne serving part-time as a Superintendent as well. Lawrence G. Sieber succeeded Henderson in 1963, and served until the dissolution of the post, together with the Board of Home Missions, in 1972. In 1953 the responsibility for church extension in the metropolitan area was transferred to the Metropolitan Council for Church Extension. In the 1960s and 1970s a number of other administrative changes affecting the Superintendency also took place. In 1969 the new Metropolitan Council for the United Church of Canada in the Lower Mainland assumed responsibility for mission work in that area, and in the same year the first Native Affairs Consultant was appointed, and the first Presbytery Officer was appointed to serve the Kamloops-Okanagan and Kootenay Presbyteries. The Board of Home Missions and the Home Missions Superintendents were succeeded by the Division of Mission in Canada in 1972.
In 1970, BC Conference created the position of Personnel Secretary. Robert W. Henderson filled the position, and at the same time was appointed to the closely-related position of Director of Continuing Education for Union College (later, Vancouver School of Theology). The purpose of these positions was to work closely with the Division of Ministry and Education in recruiting candidates for the ministry, developing systematic personnel procedures, and facilitating opportunities for continuing education of professional personnel.
In 1973, Harvard P. Collins was appointed to the Conference Field Staff, with responsibility for personnel and stewardship. When he resigned in 1978, Eunice M. Williams served for five months in the half-time position of Administrative Secretary, Personnel. With the re-organization of the Conference Staff in 1979, the position of Personnel Secretary was phased out and the Executive Secretary, Arthur M. Anderson, assumed responsibility for personnel. This function remained part of the Executive Secretary's portfolio until 1990, when the position of Conference Personnel Minister was re-established. It remained until the United Church of Canada restructured in 2019, at which point the Office of Vocation assumed the personnel function. The new Regional Council, which replaced BC Conference, continued with the function of supporting clergy education and leadership development.
Individuals who filled the role of Personnel Minister included:
Robert W. Henderson (1970-1973)
Harvard P. Collins (1973-1978)
Eunice M. Williams (1978-1979)
Arthur M. Anderson (1990-1996)
Joan McMurtry (1997-2002)
Treena Duncan (2002-2018)
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.
In the early 1950s with two United Churches in Nelson situated only two blocks apart, it was determined that Trinity United and St. Paul's United Churches should amalgamate. Fairview United joined with St-Paul's Trinity United on July 1, 1995 to become the new Nelson United Church.
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.).
Fairlawn Neighbourhood Centre, located at 28 Fairlawn Avenue in Toronto was formed in 1997 by Fairlawn United Church to provide opportunities for all people within the neighbourhood to “support and celebrate one another, feel valued and nourished, strive towards personal wellness and experience the joy of giving.” The outreach ministry was incorporated in January 1998 during which time oversight moved from Fairlawn United Church to a designated board of directors. The Fairlawn Neighbourhood Centre operated more than 300 programs targeted to preschoolers, youth, adults and seniors. Weekly programming included fitness, creative play, music enrichment, drama, bridge, wellness education and community workshops. Due to a decline in programming interest, the Board of Directors voted to discontinue all programming as of June 30, 2016. Members of the Fairlawn Neighbourhood Centre voted at the annual meeting in September 2016 to dissolve the corporation.
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.
The Sunnyside United Church congregation was established in 1949; a church was built in 1951. The congregation was part of Strawberry Hill Pastoral Charge from 1951 to 1956, then formed a pastoral charge with Sullivan United until 1958 when it became a separate charge. From 1969 until 1989 it was part of the White Rock Pastoral Charge. In 1989 it became a single-point pastoral charge once more, until July 1, 2017, when it amalgamated with Crescent United Church (Surrey, B.C.) and First United Church (White Rock, B.C.) to form Peninsula United Church.
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.
In the early 1860s, Methodist and Presbyterian ministers who were stationed in New Westminster considered the Richmond area to be part of their parish. Methodist missionaries were instrumental in having a small church built on the mainland side of the North Arm of the Fraser River around 1870. This little church became the preaching centre for several Christian denominations. By mid-1887, a small church was built at London's Landing and, like the original church on the North Arm, it became a Union Church, used by all Christian denominations. Methodist services continued in the London's Landing Church until the Steveston Methodist Church was built in 1894. The Presbyterians used the London's Landing Church until 1906 when the South Arm Presbyterian Church was built. The Presbyterians also held services in the Steveston area, beginning around 1890. These services were discontinued around 1912, and some families from Steveston attended the South Arm Church. In 1917 the Presbyterians decided to resume their work at Steveston and acquired an old school building.
At the time of church union in 1925, the Presbyterian and Methodist churches united to form Steveston United Church, using the former Methodist building for all services, including Sunday school. From 1925 until 1962, Steveston United Church was part of the South Arm-Steveston Pastoral Charge, after which they became separate single-point charges. Steveston United amalgamated with the neighbouring Japanese United Church in 1953, and the combined congregation assumed the name Steveston United Church. The combined congregation rehabilitated the former Japanese United property in 1954; it was used for kindergarten, Sunday school and mid-week activities. When the Steveston Community Centre was built two years later, community demand for use of the church hall greatly diminished, and the old mission church was demolished. That property was leased as a parking lot and finally sold in 1971. In 1978, the congregation built and dedicated a new church building to replace its 1894 structure.
(日本語版は以下に記載) (Japanese version below)
In 1895 or 1896, a Christian missionary in Vancouver, Matsutaro Okamoto, led the effort to build a small mission building for Japanese fishermen. A plot of land was secured on the grounds of the Phoenix Cannery (between present-day Chatham and Moncton Streets at No. 1 Road). However, just as the mission building was completed, a typhoid epidemic broke out and the building was used primarily as a mission hospital. Mr. Okamoto and others served as volunteer nurses and provided additional spiritual nurture through morning and evening prayers and at Sunday meetings. In 1897, the Methodist Church General Board of Missions took on responsibility for Japanese missions in B.C.
By 1900, the Church transferred full responsibility for hospital operations to the recently established Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society, which had already been carrying the financial burden of the hospital. The Benevolent Society built a new Japanese Fishermen’s Hospital separate from the mission building; the hospital operated until 1942. During the intervening decades, the Methodist mission continued providing spiritual care at the hospital, and the minister who served the mission generally also served as hospital superintendent.
In 1904, the Benevolent Society demolished the old mission building and built a new one, where Sunday worship, Sunday school, and primary education in Japanese took place. The mission also began offering night school classes in English by 1911. When the Methodist Church of Canada amalgamated with Presbyterian and Congregational churches in 1925, the mission became a congregation within The United Church of Canada. That same year, and at the behest of the Benevolent Society, the United Church Woman’s Missionary Society (WMS) began teaching English in the Society’s newly constructed Japanese kindergarten building.
In 1942, during Rev. Kyuichi Nomoto’s pastorate, the Japanese Canadian community at Steveston was among the first of the coastal communities to be uprooted and forcibly sent to internment camps in the interior. When the federal government lifted restrictions in 1949, allowing Japanese Canadians to return to the coast, a small number of families gradually returned. Church services resumed in 1951, with Rev. W.R. McWilliams as the primary minister, and WMS worker Hedwig Bartling ministering to children, youth and families and teaching kindergarten at Steveston. The congregation used Steveston United Church’s building on Broadway Street at Second Avenue, and in February 1953, the two congregations formally amalgamated. The combined congregation rehabilitated the former Japanese United property in 1954; it was used for kindergarten, Sunday school and mid-week activities. When the Steveston Community Centre was built two years later, community demand for use of the church hall greatly diminished, and the old mission church was demolished.
スティーブストン日系人合同教会は1895年(一説では1896年とも)にバンクーバー在住の宣教師に岡本松太郎が日本人の漁師を対象としたミッションを推し進めたことから始まった。教会堂用にフィーニックスキャナリ (英: Phoneix Cannery) (現代のチャザム通り (英: Chatham) とモンクトン通り (英: Moncton Streets)の間)に土地を確保し建設自体は無事に完了したものの、腸チフスが流行を始めたことにより布教活動にではなく病棟として主に使われることとなった。1897年にメソジスト教会ミッション委員会がブリティッシュコロンビア州在住の日系人への布教活動の指揮を執り始めると、病院の管理は成立されたばかりのスティーブストン漁者慈善団体 (英: Japanese Fisherman’s Benevolent Society) に委託された。漁者慈善団体は直ちに新たな病棟を建設し、1942年まで運営を続けた。メソジスト教会の日系人ミッションを担当していた牧師は病院でスピリチュアルケアを提供した他、病院運営の監督者としても派遣されていた。
1904年にスティーブストン漁者慈善団体は最初の教会堂を解体し、新たな教会堂を建設。新教会堂は日曜崇拝のほか、日曜学校と日本語での小学教育が行われた。1911年ごろには英語での夜間学校も提供され始めた。1925年に行われたメソジスト教会、会衆派教会、長老派教会の統合後にも活動は続いた。また、同年に漁者慈悲団体の申請を受けてカナダ夫人宣教師会 (英: Woman’s Missionary Society) は新たに建設された日本人保育園で英語教育を始めた。
1942年にカナダ政府による日系カナダ人の強制収容が始まると、スティーブストンの日系コミュニティはごく初期に移動を強いられることとなる。強制収容命令が解除がされた1949年には数世帯はスティーブストンに帰還し、1951年にはW.R. マクウィリアム (英: W.R. McWilliams) 牧師を主任牧師に礼拝が再開された。カナダ夫人宣教師会のヘッドウィッグ・バートリング (英: Hedwig Bartling)が子供や若者の礼拝、保育園の運営などを担当した。当初、日系カナダ人の会衆はセカンドアヴェニューのブロードウェイ通り(英: Broadway Street at Second Avenue)にあるスティーブストン合同教会で行われていたが、1953年の2月にスティーブストン合同教会に吸収された。1954年には政府に没収されていた教会堂を取り戻すことに成功。旧教会堂はその後保育園や日曜学校などの活動に利用されたものの、2年後のスティーブストンコミュニティセンター (英: Steveston Community Centre)建設に伴い需要が大幅下がり、解体された。
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.
In the early 1950s with two United Churches in Nelson situated only two blocks apart, it was determined that Trinity United and St. Paul's United Churches should amalgamate. Fairview United joined with St-Paul's Trinity United on July 1, 1995 to become the new Nelson United Church.
St. Paul's United Church was located in Kelowna and part of Kamloops-Okanagan Presbytery. It begun by First United Church in 1947 under the name Mission Road United Church. On the occasion of building and dedicating a new church in 1958, the congregation was renamed St. Paul's. In 1961, the congregation became a separate pastoral charge from First United Church. On July 1, 2021, the congregation amalgamated with Rutland United and First United to form Central Okanagan United Church.
St. Giles United Church began its life as Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. A Union Sunday School had been meeting at 7th Avenue and Westminister Road (now Kingsway) as early as 1890. In 1891, a Presbyterian Mission was established at the Temperance Hall on 10th Avenue near Westminister Avenue (now Main Street). The Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Mission was formally organized in February 1892, and their first church was built on property between 7th and 8th Avenues on Westminster Road (Kingsway). Due to the rapid growth of the congregation, a new church was built and dedicated in January of 1910. The congregation voted to enter church union in 1925 and changed their name to St. Giles United Church. In the years following World War II, the southern area of Vancouver grew rapidly and St. Giles United moved to a new neighborhood on 41st Avenue, east of Cambie Street. The new church was dedicated in November 1949. In 1996, St. Giles and South Hill United Churches amalgamated to form St. Giles-South Hill United Church. In 1999, the name of this congregation was changed to Oakridge United Church.
As far back as the 1870s, ministers of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches travelled through Williams Lake and preached. Regular work was not established until 1920, initially under the leadership of Rev. J.H. White. The Rev. Dr. A.D. MacKinnon arrived in the fall of 1921 for a long-term ministry for the Presbyterian Church, serving the people of Williams Lake and the vast surrounding area until 1941. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and manse were built on Oliver Street, Williams Lake, and was officially dedicated in 1922. During church union in 1925, the congregation joined The United Church of Canada and its name changed to St. Andrew’s United Church.
In 1953, St. Andrew’s sold its original buildings and moved to the corner of Cameron Street and Third Avenue. A hall, later to be named MacKinnon Memorial Hall, was built. The congregation intended that a sanctuary would also be erected, but this did not materialize, so the hall served as a sanctuary and Christian Education centre. A manse was built beside the hall, and served the ministry staff until it was sold in 1974 to give the minister opportunity to choose suitable housing.
On April 9, 1980, a fire destroyed MacKinnon Memorial Hall. St. Andrew’s worshiped in the Anglican church and then in local school gyms. St. Andrew’s sold the Cameron Street lot in 1981 and purchased a new site in the 600 block of Midnight Drive from B.C. Rail. A new structure, 1000 Huckvale Place, was completed in July 1982.
St. Andrew's United Church was founded in 1895 with the purpose of bringing the Presbyterian faith to the small mining town of Rossland, British Columbia. The first religious services were held on the last Sunday in May 1895, in a partially constructed butcher's shop. The first church was erected in Nickel Plate Flat and opening services were conducted on August 28, 1895. Although originally a Presbyterian church, St. Andrew's would, in 1917, vote to unite with the Rossland Methodist Church (founded 1897). The name and church of St. Andrew's were retained for the new church, however, Methodist ministers continued to lead "union" services from 1918-1925. After this time the church was referred to exclusively as St. Andrew's United Church and United Church services and ministers were used. By the late 1960s, there was a spirit of growing cooperation with the local Anglican congregation, St. George's. Negotiations with St. George's Anglican Church regarding the sharing of services and buildings through a lease ended with a five-year lease being approved by both congregations in 1969. Shared services were held between St. George's and St. Andrew's until 1982, when St. George's terminated the arrangement. Major renovations to the church building were completed by 1985. The church continued to grow into the 1980s, recording a membership growth and budget surplus by 1987. In 2003, St. Andrew's joined with the congregations at Trail, Salmo, and Fruitvale to form the four-point Communities in Faith Pastoral Charge. Salmo United Church disbanded 2016 and the new Beaver Valley Pastoral Charge (based at Fruitvale) left Trail and Rossland congregations in a two-point pastoral charge. The congregation was part of Kootenay Presbytery. In 2018, the congregations amalgamated to form a single congregation, Communities in Faith, overseeing two properties.
St. Andrew's United Church in Fort Langley (in Langley District Municipality) which came into being with church union in 1925 was formerly, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Regular Presbyterian services were first held at Fort Langley in a school house from 1872 until 1885 when St. Andrew's church was built. St. Andrew's was part of the larger Langley field which included Langley Prairie, Murrayville, Glen Valley and other points. In 1921 the field was divided into two fields centred at Fort Langley and Murrayville. The new Fort Langley charge included West Langley. After church union in 1925 St. Andrew's United was the centre of or associated with a number of pastoral charges: Fort Langley Pastoral Charge, which included Sperling, Glen Valley and County Line, from 1925 to 1953; Fort Langley-Milner Pastoral Charge, which included Milner, Sperling and Willoughby, from 1953 to 1962; Fort Langley Pastoral Charge, which included Sperling United and West Langley Memorial United, from 1962 to 1969; Fort Langley-Port Kells Pastoral Charge from 1969 to 1971; Fort Langley-Murrayville Pastoral Charge from 1971 to 1980, which included Sharon United Church in Murrayville and Milner United Church; and the Fort Langley-Milner Pastoral Charge since 1980 when Sharon became a separate charge. On July 1, 1991, the Milner United Church congregation was amalgamated with the St. Andrew's United Church congregation. The Milner property was sold, and the new one-point Pastoral Charge was named St Andrew's -Fort Langley Pastoral Charge, part of Fraser Presbytery. In 2012 St. Andrew's United Church amalgamated with Jubilee United, Langley United, and Sharon United to form the United Churches of Langley.
St. Andrew's Hospital was located in Atlin, British Columbia. In March, 1898 St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Toronto formed a committee to send trained Christian nurses to the Klondike. The following year, Elizabeth Mitchell and Helen Bone of the Women's Home Missionary Society (WHMS) of the Presbyterian Church in Canada were the first missionaries/nurses sent. Medical work was first performed in a primitive cabin and tent. In 1900 a hospital was erected, named St. Andrew's Hospital. The original committee, known as the Atlin Nurses Committee became of the nucleus of the WHMS in 1903. In 1904 an arrangement was made for joint support of the hospital by the WHMS and community. The hospital continued under the Presbyterian Church and after 1925 The United Church of Canada until the year 1929 when it became self-supporting and was taken over entirely by the community. In 1969 the building was bought by the University of Michigan State for a Field Station.
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.