Item 1991.117P/200 - [Toronto Conference Executive Committee]

Conferences in the United Church of Canada were courts of the Church organized as an administrative grouping of Presbyteries in a geographical area. The Conference was governed by a body consisting of ministers within its boundaries and an equal number of non-ministerial representatives of Pastoral Charges. Functions of a Conference included the following: determining boundaries and numbers of Presbyteries within its bounds; receiving and disposing of appeals, petitions subject to the usual right to appeal; sustaining pastorate in every Pastoral Charge; examining and ordaining candidates for the Order of Ministry; receiving ministers and deaconesses from other Churches; dealing with matters referred to it by the General Council and selecting equal numbers of members of the Order of Ministry and lay representatives to the General Council.

Toronto Conference held its inaugural service on 1925 September 22 in St. James Square Church, Toronto. In 1925 the Toronto Conference encompassed the following Presbyteries: Algoma, Dufferin and Peel, Grey, Muskoka, North Bay, Simcoe, Toronto Centre, Toronto East and Toronto West. In 1927, Sudbury and Temiskaming Presbyteries were added, followed by the addition of Cochrane Presbytery in 1929. In 1975, North Bay, Sudbury, and Temiskaming joined the newly founded Manitou Conference. In 2009, with the reorganization of Toronto Conference, the number of presbyteries were reduced to four: Living Waters, Northern Waters, South West, and Toronto Southeast. On January 1, 2019, Toronto Conference disbanded and the congregations within its boundaries became part of the following Regional Councils: Shining Waters Regional Council, Western Ontario Waterways Regional Council, Horseshoe Falls Regional Council and East Central Ontario Regional Council.