The United Church of Canada: A History

Chapter Four - A Golden Age: The United Church of Canada, 1946–1960

77 Chapter Four A Golden Age: The United Church of Canada, 1946–1960 John H. Young Moderators 1946–48 T.W. Jones 1948–50 Willard Brewing 1950–52 Clarence M. Nicholson 1952–54 A.A. Scott 1954–56 George Dorey 1956–58 James S. Thomson 1958–60 Angus J. MacQueen 1960–62 Hugh A. McLeod Secretaries of the United Church of Canada 1938–53 Gordon A. Sisco 1954 V.T. Mooney (Acting Secretary) 1955–71 Ernest E. Long Presidents of the Woman’s Association 1946–48 Mary J. Maddocks 1948–49 Zella Inglehart 1949–51 Almina Fallis 1951–53 Viola Halpenny 1953–55 Myrtle Sturtridge 1955–57 J. Thomason Kinsman 1957–59 Lillian Rose 1959–60 Eileen MacKinnon Presidents of the Woman’s Missionary Society 1946–49 Mrs. A. Roger (Stella E.) Self 1949–52 Mrs. James Laughland 1952–57 Lillian McKillop 1957–59 Dorothy E. Long 1959–60 Reba Patterson Key Reports, Statements, and Actions of General Council 1945 “Crusade for Christ and His Kingdom” launched 1946 Commission on Christian Marriage and the Christian Home 1949 Curriculum review begins that leads to the “New Curriculum” 1952 United Church urges Canadian Government to recognize the People’s Republic of China 1956–58 Mission to the Nation 1960 Commission on Christian Marriage and Divorce Demography 1951 Number of persons under pastoral care: 2,002,553 UCC membership: 2,867,271 Population of Canada: 14,009,4291 On June 10, 1959, the Right Reverend Angus MacQueen, moderator of the United Church, dedicated “United Church House,” the church’s new headquarters building at 85 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto. The United Church Observer’s report captured the confidence of the United Church as the 1950s drew to a close. It noted that for the 20 percent of Canada’s population affiliated with the United Church, the new building stood “as a sort of symbol of their church’s strength, growth and future.”2 Even more telling was the magazine ’s description of the building and its location: “The United Church of Canada’s new headquarters building in Toronto’s swank northend business area is a stark contrast to the old, grimy Wesley Buildings on run-down Queen Street. It is ultra-modern, bright and air-conditioned.”3 The United Church, like much of Canada, had focused on the rapidly expanding suburbs of Canada’s cities during the late 1940s and the 1950s. The United Church had grown and prospered as the country had done. Moving the denominational headquarters from the inner city to suburbia fit symbolically with so much that marked these years. 78 J O H N H . Y O U N G T H E G O L D E N A G E : 1 9 4 6 – 1 9 6 0 79 If The United Church of Canada had a “golden era,” surely this was it. Sunday school enrolment, church membership, mid-week groups (for children , youth, men, and women), candidates for ministry, new congregations, new church buildings, and financial support all showed steady increases during this period, a pattern of growth unmatched in the history of the denomination. Further, the church was a respected institution and its leaders had a degree of public status. Small signs suggested that the future might be less rosy, but for all of that it was still a golden era. The Era in Canada Canada prospered in the fifteen years following the Second World War. Europe was being rebuilt and the population was increasing at home, which provided an almost insatiable market for Canadian farms and resourcebased industries. Governments and various institutions, including the churches, undertook to address potential problems inherent in the transition from wartime production to peacetime economy. The “social safety net” that developed during this time arose partly from this concern. By the late 1940s, a strong sense of optimism had become prevalent in Canadian society. Canada’s enhanced place on the international stage in the aftermath of the Second World War also aided this feeling of well-being. While anxiety about the nuclear threat increased and the Soviet Union changed from being an ally to “the enemy” during these years, the general optimism of the age was never really shaken. Domestically,immigration and the postwar baby boom increased Canada’s population from 11.5 million in 1941 to over 18 million in 1961. The baby boom cohort alone required the construction of new schools, church halls, and recreational...