Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, respectively. However, modern Unitarian Universalists see themselves as a separate religion with its own beliefs and affinities. They define themselves as non-creedal, and draw wisdom from various religions and philosophies, including humanism, pantheism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, and Earth-centered spirituality. Thus, the UUA is a syncretistic religious group with liberal leanings.
Presbyterianpolity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and presbyteries and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Responsibility for conduct of church services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.
The United Church of Canada is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada.
The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member congregations in 37 countries, and the fellowship has a specific outreach to members of the LGBTQ community.
Peter B. Short is an ordained minister and was the 38th Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2003 until 2006. He was elected Moderator at the denomination's meeting of the 38th General Council in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
The Moderator of the United Church of Canada is the most senior elected official within the United Church of Canada. He or she may be a lay person or a member of the Order of Ministry and is elected to a three-year term by commissioners attending the church's triannual General Council. The current Moderator is Carmen Lansdowne, who was elected to the office at the 44th General Council in July 2022, and installed on August 7, 2022.
James Endicott was a Canadian church leader, missionary and administrator.
George Campbell Pidgeon was a Christian minister, first in the Presbyterian Church in Canada and then in the United Church of Canada, as well as the last Moderator of the Presbyterian Church before amalgamation and the first Moderator of the newly formed United Church of Canada. He was a strong proponent of the proposed union of churches and later in life championed ecumenism.
William Frederick Allen Phipps was a Canadian ordained minister of the United Church of Canada, lawyer and social activist. He served as the 36th Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 1997 to 2000, and engendered controversy for expressing support for gay ordination and not believing in a physical Resurrection of Jesus.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to the Canada 2021 Census 301,400 Canadians identify themselves as Presbyterian, that is, 0.8 percent of the population.
The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states that a Moderator may be a "Presbyterian minister presiding over an ecclesiastical body".
David W. Giuliano was the 39th Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2006 to 2009.
Mardi Tindal was the 40th Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2009–2012, only the fourth layperson to take the post since the church was formed in 1925.
Gary J. Paterson was the Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2012 to 2015. He was the first openly gay person to take the post since the church was formed in 1925 and the first in the world to lead a major Christian denomination.
The United Church of Canada uses a three-level model of governance, consisting of communities of faith; regional councils; and the General Council.
Jordan Cantwell was the Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2015 to 2018. She was ordained as a minister of the United Church in 2010, and was elected to the position of Moderator at the 42nd General Council of the church in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 2015.
Edmund H. Oliver (1882–1935) was a Canadian Presbyterian and United Church of Canada minister, chaplain and educator. He played an integral role in the founding of St. Andrew's College, Saskatoon in 1912 – then known as the Presbyterian Theological College – and served as its first president. He was elected to the position of Moderator of the United Church of Canada by the 4th General Council at their meeting in London, Ontario in 1930.
Peter Bryce was a Canadian Methodist and United Church of Canada minister. He was elected as Moderator of the United Church of Canada at their 7th General Council in Ottawa, Ontario in 1936.
Richard Bott is a minister of the United Church of Canada who served as the 43rd Moderator of that church from 2018 to 2022.
