Our Roots
The United Church of Canada was formed on June 6, 1925 as a union of:
- The METHODIST CHURCH, originating in the 1700s, based in England on
the "methodical way" in which John Wesley and his friends
conducted their lives, and their zeal and evangelical revival. Methodism
was strongest in Western Canada.
- The CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, established by congregations separated
from the Church of England in the late 1500s, based on their independence,
freedom, and fearless preaching. First in Canada in Halifax in 1750,
thriving in the Maritimes and Ontario.
- The PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, rooted in the early Protestant Reformation,
breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, governing by "presbyteries" and
following the reforming thoughts and theologies of Frenchman John Calvin,
and his Scottish student John Knox. Scottish settlers established Presbyterianism
in Nova Scotia (New Scotland).
The Southminster-Steinhauer congregation of Edmonton Presbytery was
formed by the amalgamation in 1993 of Southminster United Church
(constituted in 1967) and Steinhauer United Church (constituted in
1983).
The Steinhauer name commemorates missionary Henry Bird Steinhauer,
a native trained in the Methodist mission system early in the 19th
century when the Methodists recognized the importance of native leadership
within the native communities. Steinhauer worked for 30 years in the
area that is now Alberta.
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