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 the Right Reverend Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, who was elected to the office at the 44th General Council in July 2022,[1] and installed on August 7, 2022.
The Moderator's authority exists by his or her ability to influence the direction of the denomination, rather than any sort of direct power to unilaterally enact changes. Duties of the Moderator include:
giving leadership ("especially in spiritual things, quickening in the hearts of the people a sense of God as revealed in Christ, and heartening and strengthening the whole United Church")[2]
visiting pastoral charges across the country, "giving sympathetic guidance and counsel giving sympathetic guidance and counsel, and reporting to the General Council and its executive".[2]
being the primary spokesperson and representative for the United Church[2]
presiding at the meetings of the United Church's highest court, the triannual General Council, and chairing meetings of the General Council's Executive and Sub-Executive.[2]
History of the officeedit
When the United Church of Canada was founded in 1925, General Councils were biennial, giving each moderator a two-year term of office. (The first exception was the first moderator, George C. Pidgeon, who only served for one year. The second was the 43rd moderator, Richard Bott, who had his term extended to four years when the 44th General Council was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]) At the 1994 General Council, the commissioners voted to make General Councils triennial, thus increasing the moderator's term to three years.[4]
Although most moderators have been ordained ministers, this is not a requirement of office, and to date, four moderators have been lay persons. If the moderator is ordained, he or she is styled the "Right Reverend" while in office, and the "Very Reverend" afterwards.
^. The United Church of Canada. March 3, 2010. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
^(PDF). The United Church of Canada. United Church of Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
December 11, 2023
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Moderator of the United Church of Canada news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Moderator of the United Church of Canada news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 the Right Reverend Dr Carmen Lansdowne who was elected to the office at the 44th General Council in July 2022 1 and installed on August 7 2022 Contents 1 Role 2 History of the office 3 Current and past Moderators 4 ReferencesRole editThe Moderator s authority exists by his or her ability to influence the direction of the denomination rather than any sort of direct power to unilaterally enact changes Duties of the Moderator include giving leadership especially in spiritual things quickening in the hearts of the people a sense of God as revealed in Christ and heartening and strengthening the whole United Church 2 visiting pastoral charges across the country giving sympathetic guidance and counsel giving sympathetic guidance and counsel and reporting to the General Council and its executive 2 being the primary spokesperson and representative for the United Church 2 presiding at the meetings of the United Church s highest court the triannual General Council and chairing meetings of the General Council s Executive and Sub Executive 2 History of the office editWhen the United Church of Canada was founded in 1925 General Councils were biennial giving each moderator a two year term of office The first exception was the first moderator George C Pidgeon who only served for one year The second was the 43rd moderator Richard Bott who had his term extended to four years when the 44th General Council was postponed by one year due to the COVID 19 pandemic 3 At the 1994 General Council the commissioners voted to make General Councils triennial thus increasing the moderator s term to three years 4 Although most moderators have been ordained ministers this is not a requirement of office and to date four moderators have been lay persons If the moderator is ordained he or she is styled the Right Reverend while in office and the Very Reverend afterwards Current and past Moderators editTerm Individual General Council Location2022 to Present Carmen Lansdowne 44th Vancouver BC2018 2022 Richard Bott 43rd Oshawa ON2015 2018 Jordan Cantwell 42nd Corner Brook NL2012 2015 Gary Paterson 41st Ottawa ON2009 2012 Mardi Tindal 40th Kelowna BC2006 2009 David Giuliano 39th Thunder Bay ON2003 2006 Peter Short 38th Wolfville NS2000 2003 Marion Pardy 37th Toronto ON1997 2000 Bill Phipps 36th Camrose AB1994 1997 Marion Best 35th Fergus ON1992 1994 Stan McKay 34th Fredericton NB1990 1992 Walter H Farquharson 33rd London ON1988 1990 Sang Chul Lee 32nd Victoria BC1986 1988 Anne M Squire 31st Sudbury ON1984 1986 Robert F Smith 30th Morden MB1982 1984 W Clarke MacDonald 29th Montreal QC1980 1982 Lois M Wilson 28th Halifax NS1977 1980 George M Tuttle 27th Calgary AB1974 1977 Wilbur K Howard 26th Guelph ON1972 1974 Bruce McLeod 25th Saskatoon SK1971 1972 Arthur B B Moore 24th Niagara Falls ON1968 1971 Robert Baird McClure 23rd Kingston ON1966 1968 Wilfred C Lockhart 22nd Waterloo ON1964 1966 Ernest M Howse 21st St John s NL1962 1964 James R Mutchmor 20th London ON1960 1962 Hugh A McLeod 19th Edmonton AB1958 1960 Angus J MacQueen 18th Ottawa ON1956 1958 James S Thomson 17th Windsor ON1954 1956 George Dorey 16th Sackville NB1952 1954 Alexander A Scott 15th Hamilton ON1950 1952 Clarence M Nicholson 14th Toronto ON1948 1950 Willard E Brewing 13th Vancouver BC1946 1948 Thomas W Jones 12th Montreal QC1944 1946 Jesse H Arnup 11th London ON1942 1944 John R P Scalter 10th Belleville ON1940 1942 Aubrey S Tuttle 9th Winnipeg MB1938 1940 John W Woodside 8th Toronto ON1936 1938 Peter Bryce 7th Ottawa ON1934 1936 Richard Roberts 6th Kingston ON1932 1934 T Albert Moore 5th Hamilton ON1930 1932 Edmund H Oliver 4th London ON1928 1930 William T Gunn 3rd Winnipeg MB1926 1928 James Endicott 2nd Montreal QC1925 1926 George C Pidgeon 1st Toronto ONSource 5 References edit United Church elects Carmen Lansdowne as 1st Indigenous woman to lead a religious denomination in Canada Retrieved July 25 2022 a b c d The Manual PDF United Church of Canada 2013 Archived from the original PDF on May 11 2013 Retrieved August 17 2012 General Council 44 Has Been Postponed Overview Historical Timeline The United Church of Canada March 3 2010 Archived from the original on November 29 2010 Retrieved March 10 2010 Record of Proceedings of the 42nd General Council 2015 PDF The United Church of Canada United Church of Canada Archived from the original PDF on February 2 2017 Retrieved January 21 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Moderator of the United Church of Canada amp oldid 1178680240, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
