100 years of the United Church in photos

Black and white photo of five men and one woman posing. The four men in the back are standing and one man and woman are in the front row sitting. They are all wearing robes.

1936: Lydia Gruchy, front right, of Saskatchewan, becomes the first woman to be ordained in the United Church. Women also served the church as deaconesses, a diaconal ministry of education, pastoral care and social justice. (Image courtesy of UCC Archives)

1944: The United Church adopts its official seal. The creast includes an open Bible represending Congregational churches, a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit and Methodism, and a burning bush emblematic of Presbyterianism. In 2012, the crest would be updated with the colours of the Indigenous medicine wheel and the phrase “All My Relations” in Mohawk. (Crest courtesy of the United Church of Canada)

A black and white photo of three women in sleeveless dresses. One of them is holding a tray of baked goods. She has short hair, earrings and glasses on. A shorter woman stands next to her and helps hold the tray. A woman on the right has brown hair and is wearing pearls, a broach, a ring and a watch and bracelet. On the table in front of them are several trays of baked goods and plates.

1965: The Woman’s Association and Woman’s Missionary Society join to form the United Church Women. Three UCW women prepare trays of squares at Humber Valley United in Toronto in 1965. (Photo courtesy of Broadview files)

1962: The New Curriculum makes its publication debut with a Christian education book for adults. “The Word and the Way” by Donald M. Mathers becomes a runaway best-seller. (Photograph courtesy of Erudit)

Black and white photo of several people posing. The men are dressed in suits and the women are in dresses. There is a front row of six people sitting. The adults are holding babies and one man on the left is in a black robe holding a child.

1965: United Church membership peaks at 1.06 million. These infants at Trinity United in Amherst, N.S., in the 1950s or ’60s were part of a postwar baby boom that swelled Sunday schools. (Photo courtesy of BNS Regional Council & FSLDW Regional Council Archives)

A black and white photo of a Black man with white hair in glasses, short-sleeve button up shirt and a tie. He is wearing a name tag that says Wibur Howard. He is posing in front of a brick wall.

1974: Rev. Wilbur Howard becomes the United Church’s first Black moderator. More racialized moderators would follow. (Image courtesy of Broadview files)

(From left to right) Very Rev. Sang Chul Lee, the first Asian Canadian moderator in 1988; Very Rev. Stan McKay, the first Indigenous moderator in 1922; and Rt. Rev Carmen Lansdowne, the first female Indigenous moderator, in 2022. (Photos from the Broadview files)

Black and white photo of women marching. In the front is a woman in a black skirt, shirt and cardigan. She is wearing a cross and holding a sign that says, "United Church is for choice"

1980: The United Church approves a contraception and abortion policy, affirming a woman’s right to choose. Three years later, Marilyn Perry (front) and other church members rally outside the Regina Court of Queen’s Bench in support of reproductive rights. (Photo courtesy of Broadview files)

A black and white image of an Indigenous woman with curly hair and a ribbon in her hair. She stands before a microphone

1986: Alberta Billy, who first called on the United Church to apologize to Indigenous people, addresses the General Council in Sudbury, Ont., before the church’s formal apology. The church would apologize again in 1998 for the harm caused by residential schools. (Photo from the UCC Archives)

An Indigenous man with braids holds a staff. He is standing next to another Indigenous man who is presenting a framed copy of an apology to a white woman with glasses, short hair and a white shirt, skirt and heels. Behind them are several Indigenous people seated and looking on

1988: The All Native Circle Conference is created. Standing from left: Gladys Taylor, Murray Whetung and Alf Dumont present a framed copy of the 1986 apology to Moderator Anne Squire at the ANCC covenanting service in Victoria. (Photo courtesy of the UCC Archives)

A man in a black suit and red face mask puts a white ribbon over a girl who is kneeling. She is wearing a black cross and white robes. In front of her stands two women in white robes and red face masks. The woman on the right is holding a book.

2022: Churches move their services online in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In September, Michiko Bown-Kai is ordained in a socially distanced ceremony at St. Mark’s United in Cannifton, Ont. (Photo courtesy of Michiko Bown-Kai)