Fonds F1009 - United Church of Canada Hamilton Conference fonds

Conferences in the United Church of Canada are courts of the Church organized as an administrative grouping of Presbyteries in a geographical area. The Conference is 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 include 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.

Hamilton Conference was established in 1925. The inaugural meeting of Hamilton Conference took place at First United Church in Hamilton, Ontario on October 5, 1925. At the time of its formation the Conference encompassed the following Presbyteries: Brant, Bruce, Guelph, Niagara, North Wellington and Wentworth and South Halton. In 1927, Haldimand, Hamilton, Norfolk and Waterloo were added with North Wellington and Wentworth amalgamated into existing Presbyteries. Hamilton Conference disbanded on December 31, 2018 with the reorganization of the United Church court structure. Communities of faith within Hamilton Conference became part of Western Ontario Waterways and Horseshoe Falls Regional Councils.