Check.Church

United Church of Canada

United and uniting churches · 1925 · Canada; Bermuda

The first union of churches in the world to cross historical denominational lines (1925) — Methodist, Presbyterian majority, and Congregationalist, driven by the practical demands of ministry across the Canadian west; the continuing Presbyterian minority is the pattern-case of the union-remainder rule.

United Church of Canada was formed in 1925. United Church of Canada continues today. United Church of Canada's institutional line runs back through Methodism, Church of England, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.

Between the post-apostolic church and United Church of Canada stand 2 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
In 1925
Family
United and uniting churches
Region
Canada; Bermuda

What it was organized out of

On the tree

United Church of Canada and its institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33The church at Pentecost: On divine groundThe church at Pentecost: on divine groundtoday100424431451105415341581170617291925The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchDepartureChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchDepartureThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchDepartureOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismNot gatheredChurch of England (Anglican)Church of EnglandAnglicanCongregationalists (Congregational)CongregationalistsCongregationalPresbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (1789 line) (Reformed and Presbyterian)Presbyterian Church inthe U.S.A. (1789 line)Reformed and PresbyterianMethodism (Methodist)MethodismMethodistUnited Church of Canada (United and uniting churches)United Church of CanadaUnited and uniting churches

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2. Dashed gray boxes mark the institutional line after the apostles, shown as departure; no line of descent is drawn from Pentecost. A verdict appears on a box once its section is published.

Adherents

About 1,600,000 adherents (research-center estimate, as of 1997).

World Christian Database figures run higher than other cross-national series; see the methodology page.

Source: Encyclopedia.com (1997)

Sources

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-31.