The United Church of Canada
Welcome to The United Church of Canada, a church with a rich, progressive, and continuing history of welcoming all in the name of Christ.
For 100 years, the Church has nurtured communities —from ordaining women to working to advance Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ inclusion and continue to prioritize Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples including a formal apology in 1986 for the Church’s role in colonization and residential schools. We acknowledge our mistakes and remain committed to moving forward together in truth, healing, respect, and partnership.
Join us and find out more about our history, organization, beliefs, and the ground-breaking decisions that continue to shape the United Church.
1. The Year 1925
The United Church of Canada came together in 1925, through a union of Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and other Christian churches – one of the first ecumenical unions in the world to bring together major Christian denominations into one body.
This year, 2025, is the Centennial year of the United Church, with many celebration events and initiatives taking place.
Read more about 100 Years, 100 Tables! Read More
2. Gender Equity and Human Sexuality
Lydia Gruchy made history in 1936 as the first woman ordained in the United Church of Canada—and the first ever ordained woman in Canadian Protestantism—opening the door to gender equality in ministry. Find More
Building on that legacy, the church took a bold stand in 1988 by adopting the “Membership, Ministry and Human Sexuality” statement, affirming that “all persons, regardless of sexual orientation… are welcome to be or become members… and eligible for ordered ministry”.
Today, the United Church remains one of the only major denominations in Canada with a long-standing commitment to inclusivity, accompanying Two‑Spirit and LGBTQ+ leaders and members’ spiritual journey, and counting over 310 officially Affirming congregations nationwide. Visit AFFIRM UNITED
The United Church of Canada
3. An Anti-Racist, Intercultural Church
The United Church is committed to becoming an anti-racist church through a continuous struggle against racism.
“As Christians, we must root out fear, and commit to … practices that help us to ground our actions … in love.” — former Moderator Jordan Cantwell
Find out more about this commitment by watching a short video.
4. What We Believe: A Song of Faith (2006)
United Church faith communities welcome people from all backgrounds and orientations—wherever you are in your faith journey.
From time to time, the United Church produces statements of faith that articulate our theology in the language of the time. A New Creed is a well-loved statement of faith used in many United Church congregations. Our most recent faith statement, A Song of Faith seeks to provide a verbal picture of what the United Church understands its faith to be in an early 21st-century context.
Grateful for God’s loving action, we cannot keep from singing...
God is Holy Mystery,
beyond complete knowledge,
above perfect description.
Yet,
in love,
the one eternal God seeks relationship.
So God creates the universe
and with it the possibility of being and relating.
God tends the universe,
mending the broken and reconciling the estranged.
God enlivens the universe,
guiding all things toward harmony with their Source.
Grateful for God’s loving action,
We cannot keep from singing.
With the Church through the ages,
we speak of God as one and triune:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We also speak of God as
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer
God, Christ, and Spirit
Mother, Friend, and Comforter
Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,
and in other ways that speak faithfully of
the One on whom our hearts rely,
the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.
We witness to Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love….
