Religion: Union

Church unity is an accomplished fact in Canada. Meeting at Port Arthur, the Presbyterian General Assembly of Canada voted to join the federation which the Methodists and Congregationalists had already accepted. The plan was worked out by the higher bodies of these churches after unity and cooperation had been tried in actual practice in Canadian towns. The new union, therefore, has a basic strength which mere resolutions cannot give. The Congregationalists surrender some, but not much, of the freedom of their individual churches. The Methodists, who in Canada have no bishopric, surrender nothing but a few bits of Anninian theology. The Presbyterians yield somewhat in the power of presbyteries over congregations. All three bodies of the united church gain immensely in strength and prestige, being second only to the Roman Catholic Church, and more than twice outnumbering the semi-official Church of England. The three churches which make up the United Church are all evangelical and Calvinistic in their theology.