Knox-St. Paul’s is a part of The United Church of Canada. As a part of the church, We follow a governing system that contains three main levels of authority: Community of Faith (local level), Regional Council (regional level), and the General Council (national level).
Community of Faith
Knox-St. Paul’s is known as a community of faith. We gather to explore our faith and to worship and serve God. We are a recognized community of faith within the United Church by the regional council in the area by a covenantal relationship between the two bodies. While communities of faith take on many forms, Knox-St. Paul’s is a congregational community of faith which contains its own governing body which focuses on decisions that effect our local congregation such as budgets, facilities, and general projects. Knox-St. Paul’s is a member of the local Regional Council which itself has its own governing body which also makes decisions for a wider scale.
Additionally, Knox-St. Paul’s has a number of teams which hold different responsibilities within the church to help run the day-to-day operations and projects that we engage in. Click here to learn more.
Regional Council
A regional council is an administrative grouping of communities of faith in a localized area. Laypeople and ministers meet to oversee the work of the church within each region. There are 16 regional councils in The United Church of Canada.
Knox St. Paul’s is a part of the Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council. This regional council consists of 133 pastoral charges and more than 200 communities of faith.
Geographically speaking, our Regional Council is large, extending as far north as Chelsea in Quebec and as far west to include areas above, but not including, Kingston. The Southern and Eastern borders run along the Ontario border with New York State on the St. Lawrence River and the Ontario-Quebec border running until Hawkesbury before heading North into Quebec.
Our Regional Council is diverse, mixing with larger city centers like Ottawa, Cornwall, and Brockville, alongside smaller rural towns like Ingleside, Alexandria, and Long Sault. In addition to our English speaking members, the council also serves a number of Francophone speakers in addition to a Chinese United Church in Ottawa.
Click here to visit the EOORC website.
General Council
The General Council is the decision-making body for the United Church as both a denomination and a legal corporation on a national scale. Ministry personnel and lay commissioners are elected by the regional councils and meet every three years to set church policy. A General Council Executive (GCE) and Sub-Executive (GCSE) govern between meetings of the council. Within the General Council lies the Executive. They are the decision-making body for the United Church between meetings of the General Council. There are 18 voting members, including the Moderator (who acts like a chairperson of sorts), the immediate predecessor of the Moderator, General Secretary, and one member of the National Indigenous Council.
Click here to visit the 44th General Council’s website.