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United Church celebrates 100 years since historic union

June 20, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The United Church of Canada is celebrating 100 years as a church in 2025.

The church was founded in 1925 with a membership of around 600,000, when the Methodist Church Canada, the Congregational Union of Canada, and 70 per cent of the Presbyterian Church in Canada entered into a union.

Over the years, various other congregations have joined the union to make the United Church the largest Protestant denomination in Canada with 2,451 congregations.

Each of the founding churches had a long history in Canada prior to 1925.

The idea of a church union began early in the 20th century when the main Protestant denominations in Canada were Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational churches. Many small towns and villages across the county had all three churches with the town’s population divided among them.

It was difficult to find clergy to serve all these churches. At times, a minister would serve his congregation but would also perform pastoral care of the other congregations that lacked a minister.

In the prairie provinces, a movement to unite all three major Protestant denominations began, resulting in the Association of Local Union Churches.

This began a slow process of talks that formed the basis of a larger union.

The United Church of Canada was inaugurated at a large worship service at Toronto’s Mutual Street Arena on June 10, 1925.

St. John’s United Church in Alliston held a special joint service with Holy Communion on Sunday, June 8, to celebrate the 100th anniversary.

Ministers and congregations from St. John’s, Trinity Centennial United Church in Rosemont, and Tottenham United Church, attended. 

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