Presbyterian Church in Canada

The Presbyterian Church in Canada (French: Église

Presbyterian Church in
presbytérienne du Canada) is a Presbyterian denomination,
serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church Canada
of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. Église presbytérienne du Canada
According to the Canada 2001 Census 409,830 Canadians identify
themselves as Presbyterian, that is, 1.4 percent of the population.

The Canadian roots of the Presbyterian Church in Canada can be

traced to both Scottish settlers and French Huguenots, and the first
Presbyterian churches formed in the late 16th and early 17th
centuries, following such European Protestant Reformation
theologians as John Calvin and John Knox.

Once the largest Christian denomination in English-speaking

Canada, in 1925 some 70 percent of its congregations joined with
the Methodist Church, Canada and the Congregational Union of
Ontario and Quebec to form the United Church of Canada. The
terms Continuing Presbyterians and Non-Concurring Classification Protestant
Presbyterians were then used by those who did not participate in
Orientation Mainline Calvinist
the merger, until the legal right to use the name "Presbyterian
Church in Canada" was regained in 1939. The Supreme Court of Polity Presbyterian
Canada ruled that although the institutional Presbyterian Church in Associations World
Canada may legally have merged with the Methodist Church, the Communion of
United Church had effectively vacated the name and it remained Reformed
available to the non-concurring Presbyterians. It also was a benefit
Churches ·
to have support from Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir, and
Canadian Council
from Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
of Churches ·
World Council of
Background and roots Churches
Region Canada ·
In 1759, Great Britain gained control of the French colony of New
France, seized during the Seven Years' War. At the Plains of Bermuda
Abraham outside of the walled Citadelle of Quebec, there was a Origin 1875
Scottish Battalion, the 78th Fraser Highlanders, complete with a
Separations 70% of the
Presbyterian chaplain, Reverend Robert MacPherson. This group
Presbyterian
became the roots of St. Andrew's Church in Quebec City.
Church in
In the colony of Nova Scotia the Presbyterians were initially Canada joined
Reformed settlers of Germanic roots, who started St. Andrew's the United
Church in Lunenburg in 1753; they joined Church of Scotland's Church of
Nova Scotia Synod (which had been founded in August 1833) in Canada in 1925
1837. In Truro, Nova Scotia, First United Church (Presbyterian
Congregations 821[1]
until 1925) was founded in 1760 by Scottish settlers. St. James
Presbyterian Church was formed in 1925 by the minority that did Members 79,961
not join the United Church. In Halifax, St. Matthew's dates back to (2019)[1]: 214
1749 as a "Dissenting Protestant Worship House", and adhered to
Presbyterian polity at a later date; the Presbyterian Church of St. Ministers 1,337[1]: 214
David is another 1925 "Minority Group" from within downtown
Official website presbyterian.ca
Halifax congregations including St Matthew's, and celebrated its
(http://Presbyteri
80th Anniversary in 2005, meeting in the former Grafton Street
Methodist (1869) building, acquired in their early days. an.ca/)
(source, Acts and Proceedings
After the departure of the Thirteen American Colonies from British 2007 p 713)
North America, there was an increase in population within the
Canadas, divided in 1791 into Upper Canada (now called Ontario)
and Lower Canada (now called Quebec), including most of the
previously populated areas of the New France colony, and within
the Maritimes, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince
Edward Island.

Some of the early Canadian Presbyterians were United Empire

Loyalists of Scots descent, and others came directly from Scotland,
such as in the 1773 arrival of The Hector in Pictou, Nova Scotia.
Presbyterian Church in Edmonton
Early Clergy represented many strands of reformed theology, and
were educated in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Initial
attempts at forming native Presbyteries were futile. American
influences in the Canadas came first from Dutch Reformed
missionaries from New York State, and later American
Presbyterians from many different Presbyterian groupings.

Congregations were eventually formed in many communities

(initially in townships over towns), and usually after a lengthy
period without any supply from clergy (in the Red River Colony in
Manitoba, it took thirty years); in many cases, family worship Central Presbyterian Church in Galt,
consisted of devotions and catechisms. Ontario

Two events led to the early departure of American support of

Canadian Churches: the War of 1812 (1812–14), and the 1837
Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada; the latter resulted in
political reform, and responsible government; Upper Canada
became Canada West, and Lower Canada became Canada East in
1841, until 1867. In southern Ontario, there was once a Stamford
Presbytery; their last congregation, located near Milton, Ontario
closed in 1951, and Stamford Church in Niagara Falls joined the
PCC in 1936.

In the Maritimes (now the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New

Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), the original Scots
Presbyterians were from two branches of the Secessionist United
Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and prior to their union in 1817 Stamford Church in Niagara Falls
which created the Synod of Nova Scotia, there was the Associate
Presbytery of Truro, erected in 1786, and the Presbytery of Pictou,
erected in 1795. There were still Church of Scotland congregations and ministers who remained outside
this group, before its incorporation in New Brunswick on January 30, 1833 (Synod from 1835) and in
Nova Scotia.
 In 1811, Rev. Thomas McCulloch formed the Pictou Academy, the
first educational school to train ministers. Some of its graduates
travelled to Scotland to continue their training. This led McCulloch
to Halifax to teach, where Dalhousie University was eventually
formed; from another academy in West River, Pictou County,
(1848), led also to Halifax as Presbyterian College (Halifax), later
Pine Hill Seminary (United Church), that since 1971, is now part of
the Atlantic School of Theology.

In the Canadas, the United Presbytery of the Canadas was

formed in 1818, as a looser arrangement of clergy supported by
other groups. By 1839 this United Synod (at one time there were
three presbyteries) was absorbed by The Presbyterian Church of
Canada in Connection with the Established Church of
Scotland, erected into a synod by the parent church in 1831,
bolstered with missionaries supplied from the Glasgow Missionary
Society. In 1834, this group also began to receive a number of
United Synod clergy and congregations, which led to the
Rev Bruin Romkes Comingo, 1st
aforementioned union with the Auld Kirk by 1840.
Presbyterian Minister ordained in
Canada, St. Andrew's Presbyterian
In 1831, the United Associate Synod in Scotland (after 1847, the
Church (Lunenburg)
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland) agreed to send
missionaries to the Canadas; three were appointed, and arrived in
1832. On Christmas Day 1834, a Canadian Synod was erected in
the newly incorporated city of Toronto, which also included congregations and at least one minister from
the United Synod of the Canadas. They later started their own Toronto congregation in 1838. and a
Theological College in London, Canada West in 1844.

In Toronto, the United Synod of Canada congregation (formed in the Town of York in 1820), and their
minister Rev. James Harris withdrew in 1834, remaining independent until 1844, when they joined with
Free Church dissenters from the Church of Scotland's St. Andrew's Toronto (formed in 1830) to create
Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto.

The unity in the Church of Scotland Canada Synod following the United Synod merger was short-lived,
but provided the opportunity to establish a Theological College, Queen's College, in Kingston, Canada
West in 1841; Queen's Theological College (United Church) is now part of Queen's University.

In June 1844, the Synod met in Kingston, Ontario, and paralleled the situation that had affected the Scottish
Assembly in 1843, when a large group also withdrew, and formed a Free Church of Scotland Canadian
Synod. By the following September, most of the theological students at Queen's had joined the Free
Church, proceeded to Toronto and founded Knox College; they had merged with the aforementioned
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland college in 1861, which had moved to Toronto from London,
Ontario in 1853.

In the Maritime Provinces, colonies were set up in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island,
and on Cape Breton Island. As in both Upper Canada and Lower Canada, there were various groups
organizing congregations. The effects of the 1843 disruption in the Church of Scotland was felt in Nova
Scotia; the colonial ministers were either invited back to congregations in Scotland, or they sided with the
Free Church in Nova Scotia and elsewhere. The formal structure of the Church of Scotland was affected
there for a decade.
In 1860, a year before a union occurred in the Canadas, the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces
was created by the merger of Free Church and United Presbyterian Church congregations in Nova Scotia,
including Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island, and in 1866, they were joined by their compatriots in
New Brunswick.

In June 1861, the Canada Presbyterian Church was formed with the merger of the Canadian Synods of the
Free Church of Scotland and the United Presbyterian Church. This became the dominant Presbyterian
grouping in the Canadas, growing in cities, towns, villages, and even into the United States, including
Illinois (Chicago, a French community at St. Anne and a Gaelic-speaking congregation in Elmira) and
border cities in Michigan and New York State, as well as into the Canadian Northwest Territories with Rev.
John Black to the Red River Colony at Kildonan, and Rev. James Nisbet to Prince Albert. Robert Jamieson
was sent by the inaugural Synod of the Canada Presbyterian Church from the York Mills and Fisherville
charge near Toronto (The latter Church is now located in Toronto's Black Creek Pioneer Village, adjacent
to a Manse from the oldest 1817 Toronto area congregation located in Richmond Hill) to the British
Columbia colony, where he started congregations in New Westminster, Nanaimo, and in the Fraser Valley.
After 1875, he joined with the Church of Scotland, until the Canadian Pacific Railway reached Burrard's
Inlet (later Vancouver) in 1885, they rejoined (along with other congregations) the Presbyterian Church in
Canada, and a British Columbia Synod was formed later.

The Canadian Presbyterian Church started a second theological college, The Presbyterian College,
Montreal in 1867 (charter granted 1865). Both Knox College and The Presbyterian College, Montreal
remained with the Presbyterian Church in Canada after Church Union in 1925.

In 1867, the Church of Scotland's bodies in the Maritimes merged to become the Synod of the Presbyterian
Church of the Maritime Provinces of British North America.

In 1869, the Canada Presbyterian Church added another level to its growing Church structure—its Annual
Synod became a General Assembly, and four smaller, regional synods were formed: Montreal, serving both
Quebec and Eastern Ontario; Toronto; Hamilton; and London, with a few congregations in the USA.

The first Moderator of the CPC's General Assembly, Rev. William Ormiston, then of Central C.P.C. in
Hamilton, Ontario, sent out letters at the end of his term (he was moving to serve a Dutch Reformed
Church in New York City), for these groups to hold a conference of all strands of Presbyterianism in the
new Dominion of Canada. This conference was held in Montreal in September 1870, and led these four
groups to produce a basis of union, which in June 1874 saw both the Canada Presbyterian Church's
General Assembly and Church of Scotland Canada Synod meet in Ottawa, where the proceedings and final
preparations and delegations met in the nearby Knox (CPC) and St. Andrew's (Church of Scotland)
congregations.

The Presbyterian Church in Canada 1875–1925

General Assembly Presbyterian Church of Canada in 1917

On June 15, 1875, the four Canadian Presbyterian churches:

The Canada Presbyterian Church (June 1861);

 The Presbyterian Church of Canada in Connection
with the Established Church of Scotland (1831);
The Synod of the Presbyterian Church of the
Maritime Provinces of British North America (1867);
and
The Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces
(1866),

representing many of the parallel events and controversies within

the Church of Scotland joined to form The Presbyterian Church
in Canada, in Montreal's Victoria Hall. First Presbyterian Church of
Vancouver, Picnic in North
Although there were a number of Church of Scotland Vancouver July 1891 featuring
congregations, mainly from the Maritimes, as well as St. Andrew's Vancouver Mayor T.S. Baxter
Montreal, and a few others in Glengarry County Ontario, that
resisted this union, many of these eventually entered the PCC in the
early 20th century. In 1918 the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal was created with the merger
of this prime congregation, the last so affiliated in Canada with the Church of Scotland; in 1932 they
moved onto Sherbrooke Street, and celebrated their bicentenary in 2002.

As a united group, the PCC consolidated and grew all across Canada in both the established areas, and
expanded into newly settled parts.

The Synod of the Maritime Provinces (renamed Atlantic in the 1960s) comprised the
former domain of the two "Lower Provinces" groups. Their Synod meetings are known as
"The Little Assembly".
The Synod of Montreal and Ottawa replaced the CPC's Montreal Synod; this name was
changed in the 1950s to Quebec and Eastern Ontario.
The Synod of Toronto and Kingston took in the former CPC Toronto Synod, as well as
adding the CPC Kingston Presbytery from Montreal. This Synod later added northeastern
Ontario, and the name was altered in 2005 to: The Synod of Central, Northeastern
Ontario, and Bermuda.
The Synod of Hamilton and London merged two CPC Synods into one, London and
Hamilton. It was renamed the Synod of Southwestern Ontario in 1997.

Manitoba, established as a province in 1870, had been settled in The Red River-Selkirk Settlement, and had
established a congregation in Kildonan in 1818; they waited 30 years for a minister, John Black, supplied
from the Free Church in Canada, after he served as a missionary to the French in Canada East near
Montreal. He was later joined by Rev. James Nisbet formerly of Oakville, Canada West, who then
established a territorial outpost in Prince Albert (now Saskatchewan) Northwest Territories. James
Robertson, a minister from Oxford County, Ontario was first called (1873) to a congregation in Winnipeg,
and in 1881 was appointed as missions superintendent, where he provided leadership and growth to new
settlers, student ministers, ordained missionaries, and congregations. Manitoba College started in Kildonan
in 1871, received support from both Canadian churches prior to 1875, and at the 1883 General Assembly,
their moderator, Rev. Dr. John Mark King (from St. James Square Church in Toronto) was called to
become their first principal. With the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada,
development and settlement of the Western Canada began, from Manitoba, and by 1905, the provinces of
Saskatchewan and Alberta were formed.

The Synod of Manitoba and the Northwest was formed in 1884, when the Presbytery of
Manitoba (with synodical powers) was divided into three presbyteries.
 The Synod of British Columbia was erected in 1890, including congregations in present-
day Alberta.

In 1905, when the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed, separate synods for each were
created:

The Synod of Manitoba was the new name, although Manitoba and Northwestern
Ontario is the present name, noting the Presbytery of Superior (from 1884), comprising
remaining congregations in Thunder Bay and Greenstone (formerly Geraldton); recently,
congregations were closed in both Fort Frances and Atikokan.
The Synod of Saskatchewan covers the bounds of the province.
The Synod of Alberta (and the Northwest was added in 1990).

With the deaths of King (1899) and Robertson (1901), their respective successors led in the cause of
Church Union with other Protestant bodies, including Anglicans and Baptists, which culminated in the
formation of the United Church of Canada with an almost unanimous grouping of the Methodist and
Congregationalist Churches in Canada, on June 10, 1925.

1925 and since

Following years of debate, and postponement over World War I, voting on Canadian Church Union took
place in the late months of 1924, and into 1925.

On June 9, 1925, the group consisting of those Presbyterian congregations, and a number of minority
groups which did not concur with Church Union into the United Church of Canada, met for prayer just
before midnight in Knox Presbyterian Church (Toronto); not too far from the then-College Street
Presbyterian Church, where the final sederunt of the 1925 General Assembly had concluded earlier in the
day. Some 79 dissenting commissioners, and others equally concerned about the future of their church, had
come to resume the General Assembly of the "continuing" Presbyterian Church that night. They were led
by Rev. Dr. David George McQueen, a former moderator (1912) and longtime minister (1887–1930) of
First Church (1881) in Edmonton, Alberta, who presided as moderator, and constituted the group into the
"continuing" General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. After adjourning early in the hours
of June 10, they later reconvened as the General Assembly, and also met with others (including women's
missionary groups) into a congress at St. Andrew's Church (Toronto); these two key Toronto congregations
provided much of the input and support for the Presbyterian Church Association, in this fight against
Church Union. Walter George Brown, another leading campaigner against union, was elected moderator in
1931.

The "continuing Presbyterians" title remained until 1939. The United Church of Canada Act expressly
stipulated that the "Presbyterian Church of Canada" had ceased to exist, but the continuing Presbyterians
continued to use the name and the act was amended in 1939 to recognize their right to do so.[2] M. H.
Ogilvie notes that

The continuing Presbyterians after 1925 had never doubted their right to be and to be called
Presbyterians, regardless of the doctrine of Parliamentary Supremacy. Unlike the unionists,
they clung to the inherited marks of Presbyterianism: the subordinate standard of the
Westminster Confession of Faith, the Presbyterian polity of government by church courts and
perhaps a dash of the Covenanting spirit.[2]
About 30 percent of the former Presbyterians remained separate from the United Church at the time of the
divide, although the actual vote remains uncertain.

In Western Canada, the losses, as well as many presbyteries and congregations, and missions, included all
theological colleges:

In Winnipeg, Manitoba College, started in 1871 at Kildonan and moved into Winnipeg in 1874, began its
theological studies with the aforementioned appointment of Dr. King in 1883. It merged with Wesley
College in 1938 to become United College, and is now part of the University of Winnipeg.

In Vancouver, Westminster Hall (1908) was merged in 1927 with Ryerson College (Methodist) and the
Congregational College of British Columbia to create United College, now part of Vancouver School of
Theology (1971), located on the University of British Columbia (UBC) main campus. St. Andrew's Hall,
part of the PCC's presence at UBC since 1956, formally joined with VST in 1984, and in 2006, the
General Assembly approved concurrent programmes with Regent College.

In Edmonton, Alberta, Robertson College (1912) named after the aforementioned missions superintendent,
merged with Alberta (Methodist) College to become St Stephen's College after 1925. It is located on the
University of Alberta campus. In Saskatoon, the Presbyterian College, Saskatoon (1914), became St.
Andrew's College in 1925. It is located on the University of Saskatchewan campus. In 2000 these latter
colleges merged administratively, while remaining in both Saskatoon and Edmonton respectively, and
become known as The College of St. Andrew's and St. Stephen's.

After 1925, the "rebuilding" was slowed in the 1930s by the Great Depression, and the Second World War.
The period from 1945 saw expansion from urban growth and immigration, especially from Presbyterian
strongholds such as Scotland and Ireland, as well as Presbyterian and Reformed Church members from the
Netherlands, Hungary, and more recently, Taiwan, Ghana, and Korea, the latter for whom two separate
"Han Ca" Korean Presbyteries (East and West) were established in 1997.

Social issues
As with other mainline denominations in North America, the Presbyterian Church in Canada has been
wrestling with social issues and, especially, with human sexuality. In 1998, the Presbyterian denomination
prohibited gay and lesbian pastors and denied licenses to preach to these ministers; in 2012, however, that
ban was lifted by the assembly.[3] According to the Social Action Handbook, "The Presbyterian Church in
Canada recognizes that homosexual orientation is not a sin."[4] "The Presbyterian Church in Canada has
never limited the roles of its members on the basis of their sexual orientation. These roles include church
school teachers, musicians, youth leaders, ruling elders, teaching elders and members of the Order of
Diaconal Ministries."[5]

In 2014, the Presbyteries of Waterloo-Wellington, Calgary, and East Toronto voted in favor of an overture
asking the Presbyterian Church in Canada to permit the ordination of gay pastors and the blessing of same-
sex marriages.[6] In 2015, the General Assembly heard 6 overtures in favor of same-sex marriage and 15
overtures in opposition to same-sex unions.[7] The moderator, the Rev. Karen Horst, has issued a pastoral
letter calling for gracious and open discussion that listens to both sides of the debate.[8]

At the 2016 General Assembly, the church referred reports on human sexuality to various committees. The
Presbyteries of Calgary-Macleod, East Toronto, and Waterloo-Wellington submitted overtures asking the
denomination to support same-sex unions and partnered gay and lesbian clergy.[4] In 2017, the PCC
created a committee, the "Rainbow Communion," to listen to LGBT members.[9] The church also released
a letter apologising for homophobia.[10] The 2021 General Assembly agreed to adopt two parallel
definitions of marriage, one exclusively heterosexual and one providing for same-gender marriages, leaving
the choice to ministers and church sessions.[11]

Since 1966, the denomination has ordained women as both elders and ministers.[12] By 2014 there were
362 female ministers and 3563 female elders representing 49.9% of the elders within the Church.[13]

Missions and international partnerships

The Presbyterian Church in Canada has also had an international presence; besides congregations in
Newfoundland before that province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1949, St Andrew's in Hamilton,
Bermuda was affiliated with the Maritime churches from 1842 to 1963, when its presbyterial oversight was
transferred to the West Toronto Presbytery, and many congregations have people from many other nations
and cultures that have come to Canada.

Foreign missionaries, or more recently, international partners, share the church's witness around the world.
Before 1875, Atlantic Canada sent John Geddie and the Gordon Brothers (George N. and James D., both
martyred) from Prince Edward Island to the New Hebrides, now called Vanuatu in the South Pacific; John
Morton to Trinidad; and later, partners into neighbouring Demerara, part of present-day Guyana.

In 1871 the Canada Presbyterian Church sent George Leslie MacKay of Zorra Township, Oxford County,
Ontario, to Formosa, which has been maintained to this date in connection with the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan. Fellow Oxford County native Jonathan Goforth initially went to Honan China starting the
Canadian Presbyterian Mission there, Dr. John Buchannan into India, James Scarth Gale (sponsored by the
YMCA) and Robert Grierson went to Korea, Japan saw Caroline Macdonald, "The White Angel of
Tokyo" (YWCA), and after 1927, when Luther Lisgar Young and others partnered with The Korean
Christian Church of Japan.

Some changes occurred after Church Union, as Goforth left Honan, to conclude his Asian Ministry in
Manchuria, the aforementioned L.L. Young went from Korea into Japan. The later Pacific occupation by
Japan, followed by Mao's "cultural revolution" in China, forced temporary and permanent departures from
some Asian fields, including Taiwan, Japan, and Manchuria.

Since 1954, Nigeria, where Mary Slessor had pioneered a generation before with a Scottish Church, and
whose story was well known in many Canadian congregations, opened the door for PCC service in Africa.
Richard Fee, Moderator of the 130th General Assembly, held in Oshawa Ontario in June 2004, spent his
early ministry in Nigeria, before assuming his Canadian role (1992–2005), first with Presbyterian World
Service and Development, and now as General Secretary, Life and Mission Agency.

Malawi, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Cameroon, Lesotho, and the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius are
other African nations that have also been partnered with the PCC, which also serves in Central America
(Guyana is also included here, having been an offshoot of the Mission to Trinidad started by Nova Scotian
Rev. John Morton in 1865), and more recently, in Eastern Europe, since the 1990s.

Ecumenical relations
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has also been involved with relations between other Christian
Churches. The World Communion of Reformed Churches was formed in 1875 (then known as the Alliance
of the Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System), and was well represented by Canadians, who
hosted the Fifth General Council in Toronto in 1892, as well as in Montreal in 1937 (recognized then as
The Presbyterian Church of Canada), and Ottawa in 1982, when it was known as the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches (name change in 1970 with addition of Congregationalists). The present name of the
group represents another merger in 2010.

The Presbyterian Church in Canada was a charter member of both the Canadian Council of Churches and
the World Council of Churches, in 1944 and 1948, respectively.

There is also "observer status" with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, although several congregations
and individuals are actively involved in this venture.

Since 1939, relations with the United Church of Canada have improved, through involvement in
ecumenical partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally. There are many congregations that will hold
joint services during summer months, as well as other events such as Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,
Women's Day of Prayer, Holy Week services, and in local outreaches, such as food banks, homeless
shelters, and cropshares.

Further details (polity)

At present the Presbyterian Church in Canada has about 1000 congregations across the country. As a result
of early settlement, as well as post WWII urbanization, and resistance to the 1925 church union, Southern
Ontario has the greatest number of congregations, presbyteries and synods (listed above).

The General Assembly, held yearly since 1875 around the first week of June, has recently been held in a
number of centres throughout Southern Ontario and Quebec. The number of delegates or commissioners to
the General Assembly is determined by one-sixth of the ministers on the presbytery roll and an equal
number of elders being commissioned, in rotation from every congregation or pastoral charge. There are
also young adult representatives, selected from every second presbytery on the roll, and student
representatives, representing the theological colleges.

Every decade, there is an attempt to hold the General Assembly in other parts of the Country: On June 5,
2005, First Presbyterian Church in Edmonton, was the location of the Opening of the 131st General
Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada; the 'Reverend Jean Morris, of Calgary, Alberta was
Moderator of the 131st General Assembly in 2005; her father, Rev. Dr. J.J. Harrold Morris was moderator
in 1989, and grew up in the First Congregation. She was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from Vancouver
School of Theology in 2010.

In 1996, Charlottetown PEI was the host, as was Vancouver BC, in both 1957 and 1989, Halifax NS, in
1971, and Calgary in 1948. The Presbytery of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia were gracious hosts in June 2010.

From June 4–9, 2006, the 132nd General Assembly took place in St. Catharines, Ontario, at Brock
University, an alma mater (1982) of the outgoing Moderator. The official nominees for the 2006 Moderator
were two laypeople; voting for Moderator was conducted by all active Ministers (on their Presbytery Roll)
and Representative Elders in their respective Presbyteries. The tally of votes was counted and announced
on April 3, a change from most years, when this is conducted on April 1. The now past Moderator is
Wilma Welsh, an Elder from Guelph, Ontario, a former Mission Partner with the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan, and Staff Associate in the Life and Mission Agency offices in Toronto (Awarded Doctor of
Divinity from Knox College in 2010). Invitations for the 2007 and 2008 General Assemblies were
approved from two Ontario Presbyteries. The 2007 Assembly was held June 3–8 at the University of
Waterloo, with the opening service in nearby Cambridge. Rev. Dr. J. Hans Kouwenberg, Senior Pastor of
Calvin Presbyterian Church in Abbotsford, British Columbia, was Moderator. The 2008 Assembly was
held in Ottawa, the opening service held in Knox Church. The Moderator was Rev. Cheol Soon Park,
then Senior Minister of Toronto Korean Presbyterian Church [1] (http://www.tkpc.org), the first Korean-
Canadian Moderator of the PCC. In 2009, General Assembly was held in Hamilton, Ontario, Rev. Harvey
Self, of Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, Orangeville, Ontario, was Moderator; he was a former Military
Chaplain. In 2010, the General Assembly was held in Sydney, Nova Scotia; the first time ever on Cape
Breton Island. Rev. Dr. Herbert F. Gale, of Guelph, Ontario, Associate Secretary of Planned Giving is the
present Moderator. The 2011 General Assembly will be held in London, Ontario.

There are congregations, missions, and preaching points in each Canadian province, as well as the
aforementioned St Andrew's Church in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Communication
Communication has been an important role in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Before 1875, every
group had some sort of journal for communication, as well as active contributions in the mainstream press.

In January 1876, the Presbyterian Record, a merger of the Church of Scotland's The Presbyterian (since
1848), and the Canada Presbyterian Church's Record (and its predecessors in the United Presbyterian and
Free Church), began operations that continue monthly until 2016 when the Presbyterian Record was
replaced by The Presbyterian Connection, a quarterly newspaper, and PCConnect a monthly e-
newsletter.

There is also Glad Tidings, the publication of the Women's Missionary Society (formerly WMS Western
Division) publishing since 1925, and the Presbyterian Message, from the Atlantic Missionary Society
(formerly W.M.S. Eastern Division); and Presbyterian History, Newsletter of the Committee of History,
has published regularly since 1957.

Channels, a regular print publication from 1983 to 2007, is from the Renewal Fellowship Within the
Presbyterian Church in Canada.

See also
Protestantism in Canada
Christianity in Canada
Religion in Canada

References
1. 2020 Records and Statistics (https://presbyterian.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020-Records-and-
Statistics.pdf) (PDF) (Report). Toronto, Ontario: The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
2. Ogilvie, M. H. (1986). "Freedom of Religion: A Canadian Cautionary Tale" (https://digitalcom
mons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1883&context=o
hlj). Osgoode Hall Law Journal. 24 (1): 187. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
3. Wardle, Connie. " 'The Will of Christ' " (http://presbyterianrecord.ca/2014/10/01/the-will-of-chr
ist-2/). presbyterianrecord.ca. Presbyterian Record. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
4. "General Assembly 2016" (http://presbyterian.ca/ga2016/). presbyterian.ca. Retrieved
2016-11-21.
5. "Presbytery overture to PCC regarding sexual orientation and inclusiveness – Varsity Acres
Presbyterian Church" (http://vapc.ca/index.php/presbytery-overture-to-pcc-regarding-sexual-
orientation-and-inclusiveness/). vapc.ca. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
 6. Wardle, Connie. "More Presbyterians Approve Overtures on Homosexuality" (http://presbyter
ianrecord.ca/2014/12/01/more-presbyteries-approve-overtures-on-homosexuality/).
presbyterianrecord.ca. Presbyterian Record. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
7. "Overtures RE: Human Sexuality to the 2015 General Assembly" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20161003181609/https://psaltdotinfo.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/overtures-re-human-sex
uality-to-the-2015-assembly.pdf) (PDF). psaltdotinfo.files.wordpress.com. Presbyterian
Church in Canada. Archived from the original (https://psaltdotinfo.files.wordpress.com/2015/
12/overtures-re-human-sexuality-to-the-2015-assembly.pdf) (PDF) on October 3, 2016.
Retrieved April 17, 2016.
8. Horst, Karen. "Pastoral Letter" (http://presbyterian.ca/wp-content/uploads/Moderators_pastor
al_letter.pdf) (PDF). presbyterian.ca. Presbyterian Church in Canada. Retrieved April 18,
2016.
9. "Rainbow Communion: Special LGBTQI Listening Committee | The Presbyterian Church in
Canada" (http://presbyterian.ca/listening/). presbyterian.ca. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
10. "Presbyterian Church in Canada Issues 'Letter of Repentance' to LGBT Community" (https://
www.christianpost.com/news/presbyterian-church-canada-issues-letter-repentance-lgbt-com
munity-219764/). Retrieved 2018-03-01.
11. "Presbyterian Church in Canada opens up to LGBTQ+ marriage | Saltwire" (https://www.salt
wire.com/atlantic-canada/news/local/presbyterian-church-in-canada-opens-up-to-lgbtq-marri
age-100604973/).
12. "Ordination of Women" (http://www.presbyterianarchives.ca/FA38.pdf) (PDF).
presbyterianarchives.ca. Presbyterian Church in Canada. 1988. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
13. "Female Firsts" (https://presbyterianarchives.ca/2016/07/20/female-firsts/). The Presbyterian
Church in Canada Archives. Retrieved 21 May 2020.

Further reading
Bailey, T. Melville, The Covenant in Canada, 1975.
Bailey, T. Melville, Wee Kirks and Stately Steeples: History of the Presbytery of Hamilton,
Ontario, 1990.
Bailey, T. Melville, and Palmer, William K., Schissler, J. Phillip, and Campbell C. Glenn, The
Presbytery of Hamilton, 1837–1967.
Clifford, N. Keith, The Resistance to Church Union, 1982.
Congram, John D., This Presbyterian Church of Ours, 1995.
Dickson, James A. R. Ebenezer: A History Of The Central Presbyterian Church, Galt,
Ontario ; With Brief Sketches Of Some Of Its Members Nabu Press; August 1, 2010
Fraser, Brian J., Church, College, and Clergy: A History of Theological Education at Knox
College 1844–1994, 1995.
Fraser, Brian J. The Social Uplifters: Presbyterian Progressives and the Social Gospel in
Canada 1875-1915 (Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1988)
Gregg, William, History of the Presbyterian Church in the Dominion of Canada, from the
Earliest Days until 1834, 1885; General Books LLC, January 30, 2012
Gregg, William, Short History of the Presbyterian Church in the Dominion of Canada, 1892.
Klempa, William J (ed)., The Burning Bush and a Few Acres of Snow; The Presbyterian
Contribution to Canadian Life and Culture, 1994.
Markell, H. Keith, The History of Presbyterian College, Montreal 1865–1986, 1986.
MacBeth, R. G., The Burning Bush in Canada, 1927.
MacKinnon, Archibald, History of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton, 1975.
 MacMillan, Donald N., The Kirk in Glengarry. A History of the Presbytery of Glengarry, 1787–
1984.
McNab, John, They Went Forth. 1933, revised 1955.
McNab, John, and MacKenzie, F. Scott, Our Heritage and Our Faith, 1950. (McNab, Our
Priceless Heritage, MacKenzie, The Essence of Our Faith—75th Anniversary of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada.
McNeill, John T., The Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1925.
Moir, John S., Early Presbyterianism in Canada, essays by John S. Moir, edited by Paul
Laverdure, 2003.
Moir, John S., Enduring Witness. 1st Edition 1975 2nd Edition, 1987. 3rd Edition, 2003.
Parker, Stuart C., Yet Not Consumed: A Short Account of the History and Antecedents of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1947.
Scott, Ephraim, Church Union and the Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1928.
Smith, Neil G., Farris, Allen L., Markell, H. Keith (editors), A Short History of the Presbyterian
Church in Canada; Centennial Committee (Canada's), Committee on Church History, 1967.
Stanley, Laurie C.C., The Well-Watered Garden: The Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton,
1798–1860, 1983.
Stanley-Blackwell, Laurie C.C., Tokens of Grace: Cape Breton's Open-air Communion
Tradition, 2006.
Twentieth Century Fund, Historic Sketches of the Pioneer Work and the Missionary,
Educational and Benevolent Agencies of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1903.
The Presbyterian Record (inc) Periodical. Specific Sources--[Rev. Stephen Hayes][2] (http://
www.standrewsquebec.ca/en/minister.html), Article, October 2004, p 27. Barry Cahill, letter,
December 2004. p 6.
Canadian Society of Presbyterian History, various papers 1975–2004.
Called to Witness, biographical sketches in four volumes: Volume 1, 1977, Volume 2, 1980,
(Edited by W. Stanford Reid) Volume 3, 1991, Volume 4, 1999. (Edited by John S. Moir).
Enkindled by the Word: Essays on Presbyterianism in Canada (Centennial Committee of the
PCC), 1966.
Gifts and Graces: Profiles of Presbyterian Women, Volume 1 1999, Volume 2, 2002. (Edited
by John S. Moir)

External links
Presbyterian Church in Canada denominational website (http://presbyterian.ca/)
* "Canada's Lead in Church Unity," The Literary Digest, July 4, 1925 (https://babel.hathitrust.
org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030081130&view=1up&seq=53) - includes description of
Presbyterian resistance at the time of the formation of the United Church of Canada

Synod websites
Central, Northeastern Ontario & Bermuda (http://www.cnob.org/)
Atlantic Provinces (http://www.pccatlantic.ca)
Quebec and Eastern Ontario (http://www.presbyterian.ca/qeosynod/)
Alberta and the Northwest (http://www.synodabnw.ca)

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