Governance structure of the United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada uses a three-level model of governance, consisting of communities of faith; regional councils; and the General Council.

Governance structure

Communities of faith

There are currently just over 2,000 communities of faith, which are the basic unit of the United Church, consisting of one or more congregations under the spiritual leadership of a minister or ministry team.[1] The community of faith is responsible for their day-to-day operations, including worship, programming, mission, building maintenance and finances, local committee work and projects. The community of faith, is also responsible for searching out and hiring church staff, including ministers, musicians and lay staff; maintenance and upkeep of their property and buildings; deciding when they worship, and how often; policies on candidacy for baptism and marriage (including, but not limited to whether the congregation will allow same-sex marriages to be performed in their building); Christian development and education within the congregation (Sunday School, youth and adult confirmation classes, Bible study, etc.); outreach projects to the community and wider world; and other day-to-day functions. Policy decisions at this level are usually made by a congregational Board or Council which can take one of several forms, as listed in the United Church policy and doctrine handbook, known as The Manual. Certain items, including budgets, major financial expenses, renovations, election of Board members and changes to ministry personnel must be approved at a meeting of the full congregation. Other decisions must be approved by or made with the support of a Regional Council.

Regional councils

Communities of faith are grouped into sixteen regional councils, which are responsible for a variety of tasks, including the care and oversight of the communities of faith within it.

The regional councils draw their membership and leadership from their communities of faith, supported by paid resource staff — each community of faith, depending on its size, elects between 1-4 of its members to serve on the regional council. In addition to these lay members, all ministers, both active and retired, within the area of the regional council are also members of the United Church through the regional council. (This is unlike some other denominations where the clergy's membership resides within a local congregation or community of faith.) If needed, the regional council can also seek out other members of the wider church to sit on committees and task groups in order to better represent the diversity, skill and gifts of the entire United Church.

Regional councils are responsible for a variety of tasks within the wider church, including recognizing, supporting and living in covenantal relationship with ministry students, candidates and other personnel; supporting, servicing and overseeing the work of communities of faith; engaging in local, national and global initiatives and partnerships for mission, ministry, ecumenism and justice; implementing and setting policy; and, along with the General Council, working towards joining the church's "collective hearts, voices, and resources to witness to the gospel and vision of Jesus for a compassionate and just society, both in Canada and around the world."

General Council

General Council has 260 members:

  • the current Moderator (the spiritual head of the church, elected at the first meeting of the current General Council)
  • the immediate past Moderator
  • the General Secretary
  • the leaders of the sixteen regional councils and 204 members elected by the regional councils
  • fifteen members chosen by the National Indigenous Organization
  • the Executive of the General Council

The Executive then elects enough members to bring the total number to 260, choosing members who will ensure diversity in gender, age, racial and cultural identities and sexual expressions.

The term of service on General Council is three years. At the start of their term, all members meet in person to

  • set denominational policy and doctrine;
  • debate and discuss proposals and other work which appropriately comes before the highest council of the church;
  • and elect a new Moderator

Following their first meeting, the members of the General Council then meet annually, either through electronic means or in person, to fulfill corporate legal requirements and for other business as determined by the Executive. Between meetings of the full General Council, an Executive serves to deal with any urgent and emergent matters, although it is possible for the full body of the General Council to be recalled for special or specific purposes.

The General Council is responsible for

  • setting a budget for the church
  • oversight of regional councils
  • dealing with proposals received from regional councils and members of General Council
  • appeals of decisions of the Board of Vocation, decisions from formal hearings held by communities of faith or regional councils
  • theological schools related to the United Church
  • human resource policies within the church
  • the church's archives

The General Council Office consists of the Moderator, the General Secretary and other support staff to the General Council, as well as members of the four permanent committees of the General Council, seven major working units and various other committees and task groups. The General Council Office is under the complete direction of the larger General Council and has a mandate to carry out the work which is given to them by the General Council.[2]

Regional Councils

Name of RegionDescriptionApproximate Number of Communities of Faith in Region
Pacific Mountain Region The majority of British Columbia
Banff, Alberta
Yukon
174
Northern Spirit Region Northeastern British Columbia,including Fort Nelson, Fort St. John and surrounding areas.
Northern Alberta, above and including Highway 13
The Northwest Territories
95
Chinook Winds Region Southern Alberta, excluding Banff 91
Living Skies Region Saskatchewan 172
Prairie to Pine Region Manitoba
All of Northwestern Ontario within the Central Time Zone
144
Canadian Shield Region All of Northwestern Ontario within the Eastern Time Zone
Northeastern Ontario
Manitoulin Island
Abitibi-Témiscamingue Region, Quebec
Algoma District
78
Antler River Watershed Region Southwestern Ontario, including London and Windsor 141
Western Ontario Waterways Region Bruce Peninsula
Huron County
Perth County
Kitchener-Waterloo
Angus, Borden, Owen Sound and surrounding area
138
Horseshoe Falls Region Hamilton
Regional Municipality of Halton, including Oakville
Niagara Region
Norval, Georgetown, Acton
143
Shining Waters Region The majority of the Greater Toronto Area.
Muskoka Region
Other communities north of Toronto, including Barrie and Orillia
160
East Central Ontario Region Southeastern Ontario and Durham Region,
excluding the Ottawa Valley, Brockville and surrounding areas.
146
Eastern Ontario Outaouais Region Ottawa, Ontario and the Ottawa Valley
Southeastern Ontario-Quebec border region including Brockville, Smiths Falls, Prescott and Hawkesbury
133
Nakonha:ka All of Quebec, excluding the Outaouais/Pontiac areas
Abitibi-Témiscamingue Region and the Gaspé Peninsula
Nunavut
76
Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Region Gaspé Peninsula
New Brunswick
Prince Edward Island
116
Region 15 Nova Scotia
Bermuda
139
First Dawn Eastern Edge Region Newfoundland and Labrador 88

Administrative structure of General Council

General CouncilArchives Committee
Audit Committee
General SecretaryModerator
Judicial Committee
Manual Committee
Permanent Committee on Programs for Mission and MinistryPermanent Committee on Ministry & Employment Policies and Services
Aboriginal Ministries CircleExecutive of the General CouncilTheology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee
Permanent Committee on Governance & AgendaPermanent Committee on Finance
Nominations Committee
General Council Office Staff Working Units[3]
Church in MissionIndigenous Ministries and JusticeFinance
PhilanthropyMinistry & EmploymentCommunications
Office of the Moderator
& General Secretary

Previous model of governance (1925-2018)

From 1925–2018, the church used a four-court model of governance, consisting of pastoral charges; presbyteries; conferences and the General Council.

  • Pastoral charges referred to one or more congregations or preaching points.
  • These were gathered into 88 regional presbyteries, 2 districts and one synod that covered all parts of Canada and Bermuda. The number of pastoral charges and presbyteries varied over time; in 2017, there were approximately 3000 pastoral charges gathered into 91 presbyteries.
  • Presbyteries were gathered into thirteen Conferences, which were regional. The exception to the regional model was the All Native Circle Conference, representing congregations that identified with Aboriginal groups across Canada.
Name of ConferenceRegions CoveredNames of PresbyteriesRegions Covered
All Native Circle Conference[4] First Nations congregations across much of Canada including:
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Quebec
All Tribes PresbyteryFirst Nations in Alberta
Great Lakes Waterways PresbyteryFirst Nations in Ontario and Quebec
Keewatin PresbyteryFirst Nations in Northern Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario
Plains PresbyteryFirst Nations in the Prairies
British Columbia Conference[5] British Columbia Cariboo PresbyteryCentral and Interior British Columbia
Comox-Nanaimo PresbyteryNorthern Vancouver Island
Fraser PresbyterySouthwestern BC mainland
Kamloops-Okanagan PresbyterySouth-Central BC and the Okanogan Valley
Kootenay PresbyterySoutheastern BC mainland
Prince Rupert PresbyteryNorthwestern BC mainland
Vancouver-Burrard PresbyteryCity of North Vancouver, Northern area of Vancouver, Pemberton, Squamish, West Vancouver, Whistler
Vancouver South PresbyteryLadner, Richmond, Tsawwassen First Nation, Southern Vancouver
Victoria PresbyterySouthern Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, Victoria
Westminster PresbyteryBurnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Moody
Alberta Northwest Conference[6] Alberta
Yukon
Northwest Territories
Northeastern British Columbia
Calgary PresbyteryCalgary
Coronation PresbyteryEast-Central Alberta including Drumheller, Camrose
Edmonton PresbyteryEdmonton
Foothills PresbyterySouth-Central Alberta including Banff
Northern Lights PresbyteryNorthwestern Alberta, Northeastern BC, Yukon, Northwest Territories
Red Deer PresbyteryRed Deer and Central Alberta
Saint Paul PresbyteryNorth-Central Alberta
South Alberta PresbyterySouthern Alberta
Yellowhead PresbyteryNortheastern Alberta
Saskatchewan Conference[7] Saskatchewan Chinook PresbyterySouthwestern Saskatchewan
Good Spirit PresbyteryEastern Saskatchewan
Prairie Pine PresbyteryWestern Saskatchewan
River Bend PresbyterySaskatoon and Central Saskatchewan
Tamarack PresbyteryNorthern Saskatchewan including Prince Albert
Twin Valleys PresbyterySoutheastern Saskatchewan including Qu'Appelle
Wascana PresbyteryThe city of Regina and surrounding areas
Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario[8] Manitoba
Northwestern Ontario
Assiniboine PresbyterySouthwestern Manitoba including Brandon
Agassiz PresbyterySouthern Manitoba
Cambrian PresbyteryNorthwestern Ontario including Marathon, Red Lake, Thunder Bay
Northland PresbyteryNorthwestern and Western Manitoba
Selkirk PresbyterySoutheastern Manitoba
Winnipeg PresbyteryThe city of Winnipeg
Manitou Conference[9] Northeastern Ontario
Manitoulin Island
Abitibi-Témiscamingue Region, Quebec
North Bay PresbyteryThe city of North Bay and surrounding area
Spirit Dancing PresbyteryAbitibi-Témiscamingue, Cochrance, Kapuskasing, Timiskaming, Timmins and surrounding areas
Sudbury PresbyteryElliot Lake, Manitoulin Island, Sudbury and surrounding areas
London Conference[10] Southwestern Ontario
Algoma District
Algoma PresbyteryThe Algoma District and the Eastern coast of Lake Superior including Sault Sainte-Marie, Manitouwadge, Wawa
Elgin PresbyteryElgin County
Essex PresbyteryEssex County including the city of Windsor
Huron-Perth PresbyteryHuron County and Perth County
Kent PresbyteryChatham-Kent
Lambton PresbyteryLambton County
Middlesex PresbyteryMiddlesex County
Oxford PresbyteryOxford County
Hamilton Conference[11] Bruce Peninsula
Hamilton
Niagara Region
Kitchener-Waterloo
Bruce PresbyteryBruce Peninsula
Erie PresbyteryBrant County, Haldimand County, Norfolk County
Halton PresbyteryRegional Municipality of Halton including Oakville
Hamilton PresbyteryThe city of Hamilton
Niagara PresbyteryThe Niagara Region
Waterloo PresbyteryCambridge, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo and surrounding areas
Toronto Conference[12] The Greater Toronto Area
Muskoka Region
Living Waters PresbyteryMuskoka Region and communities north of Toronto including Barrie
Northern Waters PresbyteryAngus, Borden, Durham, Owen Sound and surrounding areas
South West PresbyterySouthwestern region of the Greater Toronto Area
Toronto Southeast PresbyterySoutheastern region of the Greater Toronto Area
Bay of Quinte Conference[13] Southeastern Ontario Four Rivers Presbytery Brockville, Smiths Falls, Perth and surrounding areas
Four Winds PresbyteryBath, Harrowsmith, Kingston, Wolfe Island and surrounding areas
Hills and Shores PresbyteryBrighton, Campbellford, Cobourg, Trenton and surrounding areas
Kawartha Highlands PresbyteryBeaverton, Haliburton County, Kawartha Lakes
Kente PresbyteryBelleville, Madoc, Prince Edward County
Lakeridge PresbyteryAjax, Oshawa, Whitby and surrounding areas
Shining Waters PresbyteryBancroft, Peterborough and surrounding areas
Upper Valley PresbyteryArnprior, Denbigh, Pembroke, Renfrew and surrounding areas
Synode Montréal et Ottawa Conference[14] Ottawa, Ontario
Most of Quebec
Nunavut
Le Consistoire LaurentienLaurentians, Numerous francophone congregations throughout Quebec
Montréal PresbyteryLaval, The city of Montreal, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and surrounding areas
Ottawa PresbyteryThe city of Ottawa, the Eastern Ottawa Valley and Gatineau, Quebec
Quebec-Sherbrooke PresbyteryWestern, Central and Northern Quebec and the entirety of Nunavut, including the Côte-Nord region, the Eastern Townships, Nord-du-Quebec region and Quebec City
Seaway Valley PresbyterySoutheastern Ontario-Quebec border region including Prescott and Hawkesbury
Maritime Conference[15] Gaspé Peninsula
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Bermuda
Bermuda SynodBermuda
Chignecto PresbyterySoutheastern New Brunswick and Western Nova Scotia including Amherst, Moncton, Sackville, Springhill and surrounding areas
Halifax PresbyteryHalifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Inverness-Guysborough PresbyteryNortheastern mainland of Nova Scotia and western Cape Breton including Guysborough County and Inverness County
Miramichi PresbyteryNorthern and Northeastern New Brunswick, Gaspé Peninsula including Miramichi, Bathurst, Campbellton, and Percé
Prince Edward Island PresbyteryPrince Edward Island
Pictou PresbyteryNorthwestern mainland of Nova Scotia including Pictou County and Antigonish County
Saint John PresbyterySouth-Central New Brunswick and the city of Saint John
South Shore PresbyterySouthern Nova Scotia including the South Shore
Saint Croix PresbyterySouthwestern New Brunswick
Sydney PresbyteryEastern and Industrial Cape Breton including the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Victoria County and Richmond County
Truro PresbyteryCentral Nova Scotia and the Northumberland Shore
Valley PresbyteryThe Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia and Digby County
Woolastook PresbyteryCentral and Western New Brunswick including Fredericton, Edmundston
Newfoundland and Labrador Conference[16] Newfoundland and Labrador Western DistrictWestern Newfoundland and Labrador including Port-aux-Basques, Saint Anthony, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Forteau, Labrador
Eastern DistrictEastern Newfoundland including the Avalon Peninsula and Fortune

References

  1. Charlotte Caron, Eager for Worship: Theologies, practices and perspectives on worship in the United Church of Canada 2000, United Church of Canada
  2. "Congregations and Courts of the United Church". The United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  3. "General Council Office Structure". The United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  4. "Conference Directory: All Native Circle Conference". The United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  5. "BC Conference". BC Conference of The United Church of Canada. BC Conference of the United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  6. "Presbyteries in the Conference". Alberta and Northwest Conference of the United Church of Canada. Alberta and Northwest Conference of the United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  7. "Presbyteries". Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada. Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  8. "Presbyteries". The Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  9. "Who We Are". Manitou Conference. Manitou Conference of the United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  10. "About Us: Presbyteries". London Conference of the United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  11. "Who We Are". Hamilton Conference of the United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  12. "Toronto Conference". Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada. Toronto Conference. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  13. "Presbyteries". Bay of Quinte Conference of the United Church of Canada. Bay of Quinte Conference. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  14. "About Us - Qui sommes-nous". Synode Montreal & Ottawa Conference. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  15. "Directory: Presbyteries". Maritime Conference of the United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  16. "United Church of Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador Conference". Newfoundland and Labrador Conference of the United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
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