Rev. Anthony Williams is watching what’s happening in Trump’s America and fears his grandchildren will be made to sit “at the back of the bus.” Williams, who is Black, is one of 21 American ministers who have recently made inquiries to The United Church of Canada about transferring to Canada — a spike the denomination says is unprecedented.
Since Donald Trump took office for the second time in January, the number of inquiries that The United Church of Canada has received from American clergy in the United Church of Christ looking to relocate has significantly increased. From 2016 to 2024, there were 12 submissions of interest. In the first few months of 2025, there have already been 21.
The inquiring clergy are hoping to transfer from the United Church of Christ in the U.S. to The United Church of Canada through a mutual recognition agreement between the denominations. It allows clergy to serve in the United Church through their credentials in their home denomination.
The United Church of Canada holds this agreement with the United Church of Christ in the U.S., the Disciples of Christ in the U.S. and Canada, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea.
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Sarah Bruer, the United Church program coordinator for admission and recruitment, guides clergy through this process and says that the ministers recently inquiring about relocation to Canada do not come from a particular demographic or region in the U.S., but what unites them is a general feeling of vulnerability.
“Given the current reality in America, a lot of them don’t, or express that they don’t feel as safe as they used to and they want to move to Canada,” she says.
Williams, who is an ordained United Church of Christ minister and the director of King International Ministry in Chicago, a social justice ministry that addresses violence as a public health crisis, says he might have to make the choice to relocate to Canada not just for himself, but also for his family.
“I had to look at the future as it relates to my children and my grandchildren in terms of possibly providing another opportunity for them in a great country like Canada who has been a friend and a partner with America for many years,” he says. “I can’t allow my grandson to be on the back of the bus in America.” He also said he thinks that now, “no one is safe,” but that these problems did not start with Trump.
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“He was able to address those prejudices in a lot of people. They were already there. All Trump did was just pull back the covers,” he says. “America’s problem is that it has become oversaturated with violence, and it is now being injected into the veins of American institutions.”
Yet, Williams remains optimistic. “People are beginning to recognize the importance of their citizenship, because in America, the reason why we have a Donald Trump, is because people took their citizenship for granted,” he says.
Williams doesn’t take the decision to move lightly. “I think that this opportunity to go to Canada, whether I go or not, allows me to have a relationship and a bond with the denomination in Canada,” he says.
Williams and his wife are considering Montreal. And if it all goes well, the rest of their family might follow them. “I just thank God there’s an option on the table to take,” he says.
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Evgenia Shestunova is an intern at Broadview.
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