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The United Church of Canada () is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada,〔(Religions in Canada, 2001 Census )〕 and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Roman Catholic Church.〔(MSN Encarta Encyclopedia ). Accessed June 10, 2014.〕 The United Church was founded in 1925 as a merger of four Protestant denominations with a total combined membership of about 600,000 members: the Methodist Church of Canada, the Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec, two-thirds of the congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the Association of Local Union Churches, a predominantly prairie-based movement. The Canadian Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church joined the United Church of Canada on 1 January 1968.〔(Don Schweitzer United Church of Canada: a history, Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2011 )〕 Membership peaked in 1964 at 1.1 million,〔 and has declined since that time. From 1991 to 2001, the number of people claiming an affiliation with the United Church decreased by 8%, the third largest decrease in mainstream Christian denominations in Canada.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Religions in Canada ) "The largest decline occurred among Presbyterians, whose numbers fell 36% to about 409,800. Pentecostals recorded the second largest decline, their numbers falling 15% to almost 369,500. The number of United Church adherents declined 8% to over 2.8 million; the number of Anglicans fell 7% to about 2.0 million; and the number reporting Lutheran dropped 5% to 606,600."〕 Church statistics for the beginning of 2014 showed 450,886 members and approximately 2 million adherents.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Top 10 religious denominations, Canada, 2001 )〕 About 139,000 people attend services in 2,172 pastoral charges representing 3,016 congregations on a regular basis.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Statistics )〕 According to the statistics released in May 2013 the United Church in Canada had 2,008,000 adherents, about 5.7% of the total Canadian population.〔(www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/05/religion-in-canada-the-new-numbers )〕 The United Church has a "council-based" structure, where each council (congregational, regional, or denominational) have specific responsibilities. In some areas, each of these councils have sole authority, while in others, approval of other councils is required before action is taken. (For example, a congregation requires Presbytery approval before a minister can be called or appointed to the congregation.) The policies of the church are inclusive and liberal: there are no restrictions of gender, sexual orientation or marital status for a person considering entering the ministry; interfaith marriages are recognized; communion is offered to all Christian adults and children, regardless of denomination or age.〔Kevin N. Flett, After evangelism: the sixties and the United Church of Canada, McGill- University Press, 2011〕 ==Governance and structure== The rules for governance are set out in ''The Manual'', first written in 1925, and updated on a regular basis. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United Church of Canada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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