George Affleck was born in Lanark, Ontario on March 7, 1912. He was educated at the University of Toronto, Emmanuel College, and St. Andrew's University in Scotland. He was ordained in the United Church in 1939 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Union College (Vancouver) in 1969. George Affleck and his wife, Fronia, served United Church congregations in British Columbia, including Skidegate, Kimberley, Vernon, Crescent Beach (Surrey), Powell River, Port Alberni, and Parksville. From 1972 to 1977, he was Presbytery Officer for the Vancouver Island Presbytery. George Affleck died July 15, 2000 at Nanaimo, B.C.

Emily Elizabeth Boggis Anderson was a church organist of The Zion Methodist Church, Bracondale.

Walter Gilray Anderson (1907-2002) was a medical doctor and missionary to India with The United Church of Canada. He was born in Ratlam, India to missionaries Rev. Frederick J. and Mabel Anderson. His early education took place in India. He graduated from The University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928, and a degree in medicine in 1934. While a student, he spent his summers on home mission fields in northern Saskatchewan. In 1937 he was stationed in India as a medical missionary. Following one year of language study, he began as a Staff Doctor at Ratlam Hospital in 1938. From 1941-1946 he served in the Indian Army Medical Service. He was captured and taken prisoner of war in Singapore on February 15, 1942 and was held for 3.5 years in various camps along the Quai River Valley in Burma [Myanmar]. After a furlough in Canada, Anderson returned to Ratlam hospital in 1948. From 1955-1960, he served as Medical Superintendent at Banswara, and from 1960-1976 was at Ratlam Hospital. At the time of his retirement in 1976, Anderson was the last Canadian medical missionary serving in an Indian hospital.

Charles Sinclair Applegath (b. 1881 ) was a Methodist/United Church minister in Ontario. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1909 and served in the Hamilton and Toronto Conferences at: Ryerson Church, Hamilton , 1909-1910; Paisley Memorial Church, Guelph, 1910-1911; Lincoln Ave., Galt, 1911-1914; Islington, Toronto, 1914-1916; Timothy Eaton Church, Toronto, 1916-1917; Chapleau, Ont., 1917-1918, Port Hope, Ont., 1919-1921; and Emerald Street Church, Hamilton, 1922-1925. He was instrumental in creating Hamilton's first United Church, and creating the Canadian Chautauqua Institute on Lake Rosseau, Ontario from 1921-1929.

Jesse H. Arnup, (1881-1965) was a minister and Moderator of the United Church of Canada. He was born in Norfolk County, Ontario in 1881. He graduated from Victoria College in 1909 and received his D.D. from Wesley College, Winnipeg, in 1924. From 1910 to 1912 he was Secretary of the Layman's Missionary Movement of the Methodist Church, Assistant Secretary of Overseas Missions from 1913 to 1925, and Secretary of United Church of Canada Foreign Missions from 1925 to 1952. He served as Moderator from 1944 to 1946.

The Rev. Charles Dod Baldwin, D.D., was a Methodist Church minister. He was born on July 31, 1855 in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland to Robert and Mary Baldwin. He attended school at Lismore College in County Waterford before moving to Dublin. There, while working for a hardware company, he preached and taught Sunday school at the Charleston Road Methodist Church and was involved with the Y.M.C.A.

He moved to Canada in August 1882 and enrolled in the Wesleyan Theological College, Montreal, where he won prizes in theology and the natural sciences. He was ordained in 1887. His time in the ministry was split between the Montreal and Ontario Conferences: Dunham (1882, 1895-1896), Levis and Bourg Louis (1883), Island Brook (1884), Montreal (1885-1886), Hendersonville (1887-1888), Lawrenceville (1889-1891), Cookshire (1893-1894), Lacolle (1897-1899), North Augusta (1901-1902), Mallorytown (1902-1095), Metcalfe (1905-1907), Westmeath (1907-1909), Ashton (1909-1911), St. Paul, Montreal (1911-1913), Westport (1913-1916), Addison (1916-1918), Aultsville (1918-1921), and Sharbot Lake (1921-1922). He retired from the ministry to Kingston in 1922, where he became connected to Sydenham Street United Church. Baldwin was also involved in the governance of the Montreal Conference. He held numerous positions, including: journal secretary (1892-1903, 1919-1921), assistant secretary (1905), secretary (1906, 1920-1921), General Conference statistician (1913-1918), and was elected President of the Montreal Conference in 1922.

Baldwin was known to be proficient in pen and ink illuminations. He married Catherine Elizabeth Teskey in 1889; she predeceased him in February 1947. Baldwin died on January 29, 1949 at the age of 94.

Rev. George Nash Ball (1917-2008) was an ordained minister of The United Church of Canada. He was born near Jordan, Ontario. He attended primary school in Grimsby and Vineland Station, and high school in Beamsville before attending McMaster University; receiving a B.A. in 1940. He then earned a diploma at Emmanuel College (University of Toronto) in 1943; an M.A. from Yale University in 1946 and a Bachelor of Divinity from Emmanuel College in 1959. He was received as a candidate for ministry in 1940 at Vineland United Church in Niagara Presbytery and was ordained in 1943 at Ryerson United Church, Hamilton. He married his partner Gertrude in 1943, and served at Manitowaning (Sudbury Presbytery) from 1943-1945. He did Overseas Mission work in Chengdu, West China from 1945-1949. He then returned to Canada where he remained for his career, serving at Hagersville (Haldimand-Norfolk Presbytery, 1949-1950); Niagara on the Lake (Niagara Presbytery, 1950-1958); Tara-Arkwright (Bruce Presbytery, 1958-1963); Ripley (Bruce Presbytery, 1963-1973); and Milverton (Huron-Perth Presbytery, 1973-1980). Ball died in 2008.

Rev. Dr. Hedwig Dorothea Henriette Bartling was born in Germany. As a young child, she emigrated with her family from Germany to Canada, settling in Saskatchewan, just a year before the First World War. In 1933, she was engaged by the Woman's Missionary Society (W.M.S.) of The United Church of Canada to work among the Ukrainian people in northern Alberta. In 1942, she went to Lethbridge to work among the Japanese Canadians who were interned. After the war, Bartling worked first at the Chinese Christian Community Centre in Victoria, B.C. (1950-1951), followed by several years at Steveston United Church in Richmond, helping build the integrated Caucasian-Japanese congregation (1952-1956). Following three years at Queens Avenue United Church in New Westminster (1960-1962), and studies at Union College, she was ordained. Hedwig Bartling died in 1993.

Harvey W. Becking (1896-1934) was a missionary to China with the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the United Church of Canada. He was born in Bruce County, Ontario in 1896. After returning from overseas, where he served with the Canadian Forces, he was appointed as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in April, 1921. That same year, he married Clementine Isabel Macpherson and the couple were designated to the South China mission. Mr. Becking was appointed Principal of the Boys' Boarding School at Kongmoon and held that position until his withdrawal from the mission field in November, 1934. After resigning from the mission field in 1936, he was a teacher at Long Branch, Ontario.

Lenore Pearl Beecham (1928-2021) was overseas personnel with The United Church of Canada. She was born and spend much of her childhood in Toronto, attending Rawlinson Public School and Vaughan Road Collegiate. She trained and worked as a teacher, then enrolled in Toronto Bible College [Tyndale College] where she met her future life partner, Walter Beecham. After graduating in 1955 she enrolled at The United Church of Canada's Centre for Christian Studies (majoring in Christian Education and Pastoral Care) and graduated as a Deaconess. The couple were sent by The United Church of Canada to South Korea in 1958 where they worked together from 1959-1981 in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea. After retiring from the mission field, having completed her Bachelor of Arts through Maryland University extension program, she went back to the University of Toronto and earned her Master's of Divinity at Emmanuel College, Victoria University. In 1983, at the age of 55, she became an ordained minister in The United Church of Canada. For For a period of time, she served as an assistant minister of the Korean Central Church in Toronto. In 1983, Lenore became the interim Minister at St. James United Church. During her term there, she held early morning Bible Studies at 7 a.m., which evolved into a group called “Morning Meds”. This group met every Thursday
morning, and continued for almost 40 years in neighbouring churches, nurturing lifelong friendships. When Lenore accepted a call to Richview United Church, she broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman lead minister in a Metro Toronto congregation. She served there for 8 years from 1984 until her retirement in 1992. In 1984, her book Song of the Soul: In Celebration of Korea was published. Upon retirement in 1992, she and Walter returned to St. James United Church in Etobicoke, and quickly became involved in the life of the congregation, its many committees and groups. Lenore passed away in 2021.

Walter McKenzie Beecham was overseas personnel with The United Church of Canada. He was ordained in 1958 in Toronto Conference, and in 1959 went to South Korea, along with his wife, Lenore Pearl Beecham. They worked in South Korea from 1959-1981 in partnership with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, living and raising children there during turbulent times. Upon retiring from the overseas field, Walter was a minister at the following places: Cliffcrest (Scarborough) (1985-1986), Woodgreen (Toronto) (1986-1987), Alton-Caledon (Caledon) (1988-1989), Bethesda of Forest Glen (Mississauga) (1989-1990), Home-Huttonville-Norval (Huttonville) (1990-1991), Mayfield (Caledon) (1991-1992), He retired in 1991 but worked as a retired minister at St. John's (Georgetown) from 1991-1994), and Mayfield (Caledon) in 1994. He died in 2001.

Marion Best was born in New Westminster, British Columbia. She received Nurse Training at the Royal Columbian Hospital, then worked there from 1968-1975. In 1977, she and her husband Jack Best received a joint call to the Naramata Centre in British Columbia, where she worked on programs and he worked on public relations and finances. She continued work there until 1987 when she began freelance consulting work with church and community groups, in the healthcare field. For many years, she was on the Executive of the World Council of Churches. She was also President of the British Columbia Conference, and on the United Church’s General Council Executive. A lay-leader, she served as Moderator of the United Church from 1994-1997, and in 1998 began serving as Vice-Moderator of the World Council of Churches. Best was Chair of the sessional committee that produced the 1988 recommendations on opening the ministry to gays and lesbians, in the report Toward a Christian Understanding of Sexual Orientation Lifestyles and Ministry.

Rodney M. Booth was born in Arvida, Quebec. He obtained a Master of Divinity degree from United Theological College (UTC). He was later awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from UTC. Booth was ordained by Montreal-Ottawa Conference in 1957 and served congregations in Nakusp (1957-1959) and East Trail (1960-1966). He became the first Director of Student Affairs at Selkirk College, Castlegar in 1966. The following year, he became Director of Broadcasting for BC Conference, pioneering the church's venture into television. In 1984, he moved to Toronto to serve as Media Director/Executive Producer of United Church Television with the National Division of Communication. Booth was Chairperson of the World Council of Churches' Communicators' Network, and over the years provided resources and media coverage for three Assemblies. He also participated in co-productions of documentaries with the BBC, NBC, and CBC, and earned numerous international awards for his writing and documentaries. Booth retired to Surrey, B.C. in 1999 and continued consulting in the field of broadcasting and communications for several years.

Moderator of the United Church of Canada, 2018 to 2022.

Grant Bracewell was born in Penticton, B.C. After studying at the University of British Columbia and Union College, he was ordained by The United Church of Canada, BC Conference in 1955. He served in pastoral ministry first as a student at Honeymoon Bay, B.C., and post-ordination at Bella Coola, Trinity (Merritt), and Royal Heights (Delta). Having received a testamur in 1955, he completed the thesis requirement for his Bachelor of Divinity degree while in pastoral ministry. In 1967, he earned his Master of Library Science degree and the following year became the first theological librarian at Emmanuel College (University of Toronto) and coordinator of all the libraries of the Toronto Schools of Theology. He retired with his wife, Eleanor, in 1993 to South Surrey, B.C., where both were involved at Crescent United Church.

Bracewell served the United Church in various capacities throughout his life, both in Ontario and B.C. Among his many contributions were: Boys' Work Secretary for the BC Conference Christian Education Committee; chair of the Bella Coola General Hospital Board (1955-1958); chair of Toronto Scarborough Presbytery (1986-1987); chair of the General Council Manual Committee (1980-1986); and chair of the BC Conference Archives and History Committee (1996-2005). He was a member of numerous university and church committees, but most relevant to the archival materials was his work on the Research Committee for the Working Unit on Sexuality, Marriage, and Family (Division of Mission in Canada, 1982). In retirement, Bracewell served on the Board of the Camp Kwomais Society (1994-2004) and volunteered at the BC Conference Archives for 25 years (1993-2018).

Rev. Dr. Willard Brewing was born in Sussex Corners, N.B. He trained for the ministry in the United States and served the Reformed Episcopal Church in Canada as minister and bishop. In 1929, he accepted a call to St. Andrew's - Wesley United Church, Vancouver, where he remained until moving to St. George's United Church, Toronto, in 1938. He was elected as Moderator in 1948 and served until his retirement in 1951. He died in Toronto on August 13, 1960.

Rev. Charles “Charlie” Alfred Bridgman (1882-1978) was a missionary in West China who served there for thirty-five years. He was born in Winona, Ontario on March 20, 1882. He graduated from Victoria College in 1910. In 1912, he was ordained by the Methodist church and was appointed as a missionary in West China. He arrived in West China in 1913 and thereafter specialized in rural work where he ministered and also introduced new types of fruits and vegetables to the region. On June 20, 1917, he married Margaret Jean Modeland, a missionary nurse who specialized in child welfare. They had three children: Christy Jean, Donald Charles, and Elizabeth Ruth. He retired from missionary work in 1948 and returned to his hometown of Winona.

J.G. Brown was born September 6, 1880 in Lakefield, Ontario. He received his university and theological education in Toronto at Victoria College. He was ordained by the Bay of Quinte Conference of the Methodist Church in 1908. After a few years in pastoral work in Ontario, he came to British Columbia in 1912 and ministered at Enderby and Vancouver (including Turner Institute, Ryerson, and Kitsilano Methodist congregations). He was appointed Principal of the newly chartered Ryerson Theological College in 1923. When, in 1927, Ryerson College and Westminster Hall were merged (following church union), Brown became the first Principal of Union College of British Columbia, affiliated with UBC. Under his administration, the main Union College buildings on campus were erected. He had the task of guiding the College through the Depression and then through World War II. Principal Brown also served as President of BC Conference of The United Church of Canada, 1936-1937. After his retirement in 1948, he lived for three years in Oxford, England, until his return to British Columbia, where he assumed the pastorate of the Church of Our Lord in Victoria. J.G. Brown died October 15, 1956.

Muriel Brown (nee Hockey) received a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria College. In 1912 she served as the Assistant Superintendent of the National Training School, Toronto. Then, having been specially trained for educational work, she went to China under the Woman’s Missionary Society in 1913. She carried on the work of the school for evangelists’ wives, and taught in the Canadian School for Missionaries’ Children, where for a time she acted as matron. She also worked for a time teaching English in the refugee University of Nanking in Chengtu. The Browns returned from China in 1942.

Peter Bryce (1877-1950) was a Methodist/United Church minister, administrator and Moderator. He was born in Scotland in 1877. He did mission work in Newfoundland in 1903; in 1906 he moved to Toronto and Victoria University. He was active in Earlscourt and other Sunday School and urban mission work. He later served as Secretary of Missionary and Maintenance (1927-1936), Moderator (1936-1938), and Minister at Metropolitan United Church in Toronto (1938-1950). He died in 1950.

Rev. William Lemuel ("Lem") Burnham was born in Summerberry, Saskatchewan. He moved to Vancouver in 1945 and studied theology (Union College) and social work (University of British Columbia). He was ordained by BC Conference in 1954. From 1955 to 1973, Burnham studied and worked in Hong Kong. He returned to Vancouver in 1974 and served the Chinese United Church until his retirement in 1985.

Bob Burrows was born on September 1, 1934 in Scarboro, Ontario. He graduated from Victoria College (BA, 1956) and Emmanuel College (M.Div, 1959) in Toronto and was ordained by Toronto Conference in 1959. Bob and his wife Joan moved to the British Columbia coast in 1960. He served the United Church Marine Missions as minister and captain of the United Church mission ship, the Thomas Crosby IV, based at Ocean Falls. After two years, the Board of Home Missions transferred him to Alert Bay where he continued mission work to coastal communities with the float plane “George Pringle.” In 1966, Bob was appointed Assistant Superintendent of First United Church in Vancouver; he became Superintendent/Minister in 1968 and continued his ministry there until 1974.

From First United, Bob moved to the public sector to work for the BC Police Commission (1974-1978); the United Way of Greater Vancouver (1978-1980); and the Federal Secretary of State Department as Social Development Officer (1980-1984). He returned to the pastorate and served at Shaughnessy Heights United Church, Vancouver (1984-1986); Wilson Heights, Vancouver (1986-1990); St. David's, West Vancouver (1990-1999); and Capilano, North Vancouver (2000-2003). In 2007, Bob returned to First United Church, initially as a minister at the mission and then as Director of Fund Development (2008-2010). In the wider church, Bob served as President of BC Conference (1989-1990); Chair of the national United Church committee responsible for mission hospitals (1981-1984); and as a member of numerous committees and boards. He has written two books pertaining to United Church history: Healing in the Wilderness (2004), the story of the United Church Mission Hospitals across the country, and Hope Lives Here (2010), the 125-year history of First United Church in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Jordan Cantwell was born in New York in 1967; as a child her parents moved to the Canadian Prairies. She was involved with social justice movements in the 1980s and the United Church of Canada sent her to South Africa in 1993 as an Observer through the World Council of Churches. She officially joined the United Church in the late 1990s, and prior to being ordained worked at The Centre for Christian Studies when it first moved to Winnipeg. She also worked as a staff associate at Augustine United where she served the Oak Table outreach ministry. She earned her Master of Divinity at St. Andrew’s College, and was ordained in 2010. She interned at Delisle-Vanscoy United Church, and served there for seven years before becoming elected as Moderator in 2015. Cantwell’s spouse, Laura Fouhse is a diaconal minister in the United Church. Cantwell served as Moderator from 2015-2018.

Ethelwyn Gordon Chace (1878-1958) was born in St. Catharines, Ontario and was a missionary with the Methodist, then United Church of Canada for 37 years serving mostly new Canadians in boarding schools and school homes in Alberta and Toronto. She received an honour matriculation at the University of Toronto, then graduated from the Ontario College of Education, and the United Church Training School. She was appointed to the Methodist Mission Board in 1907 and served the following places in Alberta; Wahstao (1907-1911, 1917-1918, 1920-1922, 1923-1927), Chipman (1912-1916), Edmonton (1916-1917), Radway (1937-1939) and Toronto: Dufferin Street (1930, 1934-1937), and Church of All Nations (1933-1934). She retired in 1944 and died in Toronto in December, 1958.

William Newton Chantler (1866-1948) was a Methodist/United minister. He was born in West Essa, Ontario, and was educated at Wesley Theological College, Montreal, and was ordained in 1890. He served in Methodist and United Churches in Montreal and Toronto Conferences: Bathurst Street (1925-1926), Dixie (1927-1931), and did retired ministry in Toronto from 1932-1937.

Urina Ruth Churchill was a United Church missionary and deaconess. She was born on April 6, 1900 in Petrolia, Ontario to David and Agnes Churchill. She graduated from the London Normal School in 1919 and taught in rural elementary schools around Petrolia until 1929.

Churchill left teaching to attend the United Church Training School in Toronto, from which she graduated in 1930. Following this, she began a career as a missionary of the United Church's Women's Missionary Society which included commissions in Ontario and Quebec: Church of All Nations (Montreal), 1930-1936, 1956-1959; All People's Church (Sault Ste. Marie), 1937-1940; All People's Church (Kirkland Lake), 1940-1943; St. Columba House (Montreal), 1944-1949; and the Montreal City Mission, 1960-1963.

Churchill received further training and education, completing a second year at the United Church Training School in 1936, and attending the Hartford School of Religious Education, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Religious Education in 1944. She returned to teaching elementary school between 1949 and 1956, when she was living in Petrolia to care for her mother. In 1960 she took a refresher course at Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee.

On June 7, 1962, Churchill was set apart as a deaconess by the Montreal-Ottawa Conference. Under the authority of the Board of Home Missions, she was transferred from Montreal to Winnipeg, where she was a hospital and nursing home visitor from 1963-1967. She moved to Hamilton to work with the Binkley United Church, and formally retired in 1969.

Ruth Churchill died on April 5, 1993 in Beamsville, Ontario at the age of 93.

Dr. Jean Collins (nee Gurd) was born in Montreal 1903 and received her English Degree from McGill University in 1925. She went on to complete her Masters and taught for four years in the English Department. She was an active member of the Church and engaged in the beginnings of the C.G.I.T. movement. After marriage to Dr. Ralph Collins in 1929 she moved to Angola to work with him. They served in Camundongo until 1947 when they were appointed to organize and direct Emmanuel Seminary in Dondi. After their retirement from Angola in 1959 she returned to Ottawa to work at Carleton University. Mrs. Collins was a nominee for Moderator in 1974 and in May 1975 she received an honorary D.D. from United Theological College in Montreal. Dr. Jean Collins died March 29, 1994.

Ralph Collins was born in England, May 8 1892 and died September 30, 1970. He arrived in Canada at age 17 and received his B.A. from McGill in 1923 and his B.D. in 1925 from Congregational College. He would receive an honorary D.D. from the United Theological College in Montreal in 1946. Dr. Collins was ordained in 1925 and arrived in Angola as a missionary in 1926 to take over from Dr. W.H. Sanders. In 1929 he married Miss Jean Gurd in Montreal and she worked alongside him in Angola. They served in Camundongo until 1947 when they were appointed to organize and direct Emmanuel Seminary in Dondi. Dr. Collins returned from Angola in 1958 and held various short positions as Retired Supply in Ottawa including Wesley, Permbroke, Larder Lake, Cardinal, South Mountain, Vars-Nava, Parkdale and Knox United.

Edward Bruce Copland, (1901-1989) was an ordained United Church missionary and administrator. He studied at McGill University, United Theological College (Montreal), and in Edinburgh and in Paris, earning the degrees of M.A. and D.D. He served at the Honan Mission in China during 1922-1926 and 1931-1942. He was the Executive Secretary of the Church of Christ in China from 1942 to 1951, and secretary for missionary personnel for the National Council of Churches of Christ (U.S.A.) during the early 1950s. He taught school in Taiwan from 1929 to 1931, and was appointed Associate General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Formosa in 1957.

Richard T. Courtice (1846-1904) was a Bible Christian, and Methodist minister. He was born at Dumbarton, Township of Pickering in 1846, and became an active member of the Bible Christian Church as a teenager. He was ordained in June, 1869 at Hampton. Before the union of the Bible Christian Church with the Methodist Church of Canada in 1884 he travelled the circuits of Dummer, Manilla, Toronto, Cleveland, Clinton, Lindsay, Cobourg and Welcome. He was also Secretary of Conference. After union his circuits included Bethany, Cannifton, Newtonville, Seymour, Hilton, Demorestville (1901-1902) and Frankford (1902-1904). He was married to Betsy Courtice.

Mary Violet Deeprose was born in Stockdale, Ontario on February 11, 1903. She attended the United Church Training School in Toronto, 1938-1940, and was designated a deaconess by Alberta Conference, August 18, 1941. She was appointed by the Woman’s Missionary Society to the Crosby Girls’ Home in Lax Kw’alaams (then known as Port Simpson), 1940-1944. She left the work due to a family illness. From 1946-1949, she was employed as superintendent of the Mountview Social Service Home (Calgary). She taught in the public school system in Alberta from 1953 until her retirement in 1962. Violet Deeprose died at Drumheller, Alberta on February 22, 1991.

George Dorey (1884-1963) was a Methodist/United Church minister, administrator and Moderator of the United Church. The bilingual George Dorey came to Canada from the Channel Islands in 1904 at the invitation of James Woodsworth. Educated at Victoria University (B.A.) and Emmanuel College (B.D.), Dorey entered the ministry of the Methodist Church in Saskatchewan in 1914, subsequently serving as Superintendent of Home Missions for South Saskatchewan, 1929-1936; Associate Secretary of the Board of Home Missions, 1936-1945; Secretary of the Board of Home Missions, 1947-1954; Acting Secretary of General Council, 1954-1955; and Moderator, 1955-1956. Dorey had an interest in social and religious work amongst 'new' Canadians in the West, especially in his capacity as Secretary for Home Missions in Saskatchewan. He was concerned that Protestant churches were not doing enough to bring the ethnic groups (Germans, especially the Mennonites, Ukrainians, Austrians and others) into the Canadian mosaic, although he expressed reservations about the idea of assimilation. In detailing his thoughts on home mission work he made use of data from the social surveys done in the 1910s to examine the religious, social and educational accomplishments and needs of new Canadian settlement in Western Canada. Following his retirement, Dorey served as President of the Canadian Council of Churches.

John Douse (1801-1886) was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and administrator. Born in Hull, England, Douse migrated to Canada as a missionary to Indigenous peoples in 1834. He was received on trial and ordained in 1834-1835 at Grand River. He served some of Ontario's largest and most prestigious Wesleyan Methodist charges, including the St. Clair Mission (Sarnia Township) for five years. He was also a Chairman of Districts and a long-time treasurer of the Superannuated Ministers' Fund.

George Edgar was born on August 24, 1854 on Gabriola Island. He was of Scottish and Tsimshian parentage. He grew up in Lax Kw’alaams (Port Simpson), and served the Hudson's Bay Company on its coastal steamers. In 1877, he responded to the Methodist Church's appeal for a teacher at Kitamaat and began his long association with the coastal mission work headed up by the Rev. Thomas Crosby. From Kitamaat, Edgar's mission work took him to Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City) and Gitlakdamix (New Aiyansh) on the Nass River, Gold Harbour on Haida Gwaii; Hagwilget and Kitsegucla on the Skeena River; and Hartley Bay and Klemtu on the coast. He was ordained in 1909 by BC Conference of the Methodist Church, in consideration of his years of service. Edgar died on November 7, 1931.

James Gareth Endicott (1898-1993) was a United Church minister and missionary to China. The son of James Endicott, he was born in China. He studied at Victoria College, where he was a student leader in the Student Volunteer Movement, the Student Christian Movement, and the Student Council. He was a missionary in China, starting in 1925. He resigned his ministry in 1946. In 1952 he was censured by The United Church of Canada for supporting the Chinese revolution and for accusing the United States of using germ warfare in Korea. He was Chairman of the Canadian Peace Congress from 1948 to 1971, and a member of the World Council of Peace. He was awarded the International Peace Prize by the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and he received an official apology from the United Church in 1982.

James Evans was a teacher, Methodist minister and missionary, linguist, and author. He was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, England, the son of James Evans, ship’s captain, and Mary–. He married Mary Blithe Smith in 1822, and they had two daughters, one of whom died in childhood. He died in Kelby, England.

Evans went to school in Lincolnshire, England. In 1822 he followed his parents to Lower Canada. He found employment as a teacher near L’Original, Upper Canada. About three years later he and his wife moved to Augusta Township on the St Lawrence River, where he converted to Methodism. He accepted an appointment to the Rice Lake School for Indian children [Alderville Residential School] in 1828. Ordained in 1833, he was appointed to the St Clair Mission (near Port Sarnia) in 1834. In 1838, the Canada Conference sent him on a tour of the north shore of Lake Superior. In 1839 he met Governor George Simpson of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who in January 1840 agreed to support Methodist missionaries, named by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in Britain, in its territory. Evans, who since his return to Upper Canada had been serving as minister at Guelph, was appointed to Norway House, Manitoba, in April of that year. However, his concerns for the Indigenous peoples, and his location at a main transfer point of the HBC brought him into conflict with company policy and practice, culminating in accusations of sexual misconduct and a request for his removal by Simpson in 1845. The Wesleyan Society invited him back to England, where he was tried before Methodist church authorities. He was acquitted of sexual improprieties. Evans died suddenly of a heart attack following a missionary rally in Lincolnshire in November 1846. In 1955 his remains were brought from England and reburied at Norway House.

During his career Evans studied several Indigenous languages. In the past he was accredited with developing a syllabary for the Ojibwa (1836) and Cree (1840) languages, which he used for teaching, translating and writing. The history of the development of Cree syllabics has been studied, and the prevailing narrative is the syllabics are ultimately the result of collaboration between numerous Indigenous people and James Evans (Harp, S. (2023 March 9) Origins of Cree Syllabics. Library and Archives Canada Blog). Evans did translate and print portions of the New Testament, hymns and other material. He published his book Speller and Interpreter, in Indian and English, for the use of the mission schools, and such as may desire to obtain a knowledge of the Ojibway tongue in 1837.

Robert Andrew Faris was born in Vancouver, BC on December 25, 1923 to Kathleen "Kitty" (nee Litch) and Andrew Faris. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, met and married Celia Eileen Brown in London, England, and settled in Vancouver where Bob worked as a traveling hardware salesman for 19 years. Faris entered the ministry in his 40s. Ordained by BC Conference in 1967, his charges included Hazelton (1967-1970); First United, Victoria (1970-1973); Central Mainland Marine Mission (1973-1978); Bella Bella (1978-1983); and Sunnyside United Church, White Rock (1983-1990). He continued as Minister Emeritus at Sunnyside, and served with Celia as caretaker at Camp Kwomais in White Rock until retirement in 1993. Bob spent his retirement with Celia in Victoria, where he died in 2001.

Walter Henry Farquharson (1936-) was born in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. He received a B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1957, and received a B.D. in 1961 and a D.D. in 1975 from St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon. He married Joan Casswell in Saskatchewan in 1958 and was ordained by Saskatchewan Conference in 1960. From 1960-1961, he was an assistant at Morningside Parish in Edinburgh, and from 1961-1976 as minister at Saltcoats in Bredenbury Pastoral Charge. In 1966 when Saltcoats had a crisis in their school he took up the challenge of teaching. He was appointed Principal of Saltcoats Junior High, completed his diploma in Education and taught at the Yorkton School Unit over seven years. Walter Farquharson served as Moderator from 1990-1992. Farquharson was also involved in many committees, he chaired Yorkton Presbytery, was President of the Saskatchewan Conference, Senate at St. Andrew’s College, Board of Directors at the Prairie Christian Training Centre. He was a prolific writer of hymns, publishing over 60.

Barnabas Courtland Freeman was born in Frontenac County, Ontario, in July, 1869. He went to Saskatchewan as a missionary in 1891, was ordained by the Manitoba and Northwest Conference of the Methodist Church in 1892, and was married to Ida Lawson of Frontenac County the same year. In 1893, he travelled west to British Columbia, serving among the Indigenous peoples at Skidegate, Lax Kw’alaams (Port Simpson), Port Essington, and Cape Mudge. In 1910 he ventured south to serve pastorates in Cumberland, Revelstoke, Port Coquitlam, and Vancouver. He was elected President of B.C. Conference in 1920. Freeman died at Cape Mudge in 1935. Throughout most of his career, he wrote poetry, short stories and essays. His poetry was published in The New Outlook, The Christian Guardian, and other church periodicals.

David William Giuliano (1960-) was born in Jerseyville, Ontario and raised in Windsor, Ontario. He married his wife, Pearl E. Ryall in 1979. He earned a B.A. from the University of Guelph in 1982, and following that, worked at the University as a Human Rights Commissioner, Conference Co-Ordinator and Residence Manager. He earned a Master of Divinity in 1986, and a Master of Theology in 1987 from Queen’s University. He was ordained by London Conference in 1987 and began work as a minister at St. John’s United Church in Marathon, where he remained until he was elected to serve as Moderator of the United Church from 2006-2009. Aside from pastoral duties, Giuliano served the church as Chairperson of the Pastoral Relations Committee and Outreach and Social Action Committee for Cambrian Presbytery, and a member of the Presbytery Planning Committee and Youth Event Planning Committee for Cambrian Presbytery, the Local Justice Concerns and Ordination Interview Committees for MNO Conference, and the National Learning on the Way.

Moderator of the United Church of Canada, 1928-1930