CHAP. 100.
An Act incorporating The United Church of Canada.
WHEREAS The Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Methodist Church and The Congregational Churches of Canada have by their petition represented that, believing the promotion of Christian unity to be in accordance with the Divine Will, they recognize the obligation to seek and promote union with other churches adhering to the same fundamental principles of the Christian faith, and that having the right to unite with one another without loss of their identity upon terms which they find to be consistent with such principles, they have adopted a Basis of Union which is set forth in Schedule A to this Act and have agreed to unite and form one body or denomination of Christians under the name of "The United Church of Canada;" and have prayed that it may be enacted as hereinafter set forth; and whereas it is expedient to grant the prayer of the said petition: Therefore His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:-
4. (a) The union of the said Churches, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Methodist Church and The Congregational Churches, shall become effective upon the day upon which this Act comes into force and the said Churches as so united are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic under the name of "The United Church of Canada, hereinafter called "The United Church;"
(b) The several corporations referred to in subsections (e), (f) and (g) of section three hereof are hereby merged in The United Church and the congregations referred to in subsection (a) of said section three are hereby admitted to and declared to be congregations of The United Church;
(c) Notwithstanding anything in this 'Act contained, members of any non-concurring congregation hereinafter mentioned shall be deemed not to have become, by virtue of the said union or of this Act, members of The United Church;
(d) Any minister of the negotiating churches may within six months after the coming into force of this Act notify the Clerk or Secretary of the General Council, in writing, of his intention not to become a minister of The United Church and in such event he shall be deemed not to have become, by virtue of the said union or of this Act, a minister of The United Church;
(e) Any member of the negotiating Churches may, within six months after the coming into force of this Act, notify in writing the Clerk of Session, or Recording Steward of the Quarterly Official Board, or the Secretary as the case may be, of the congregation of which he is a member, of his intention not to become a member of the United Church, and in such event he shall cease to be a member of such congregation and shall be deemed not to have become, by virtue of the said Union, or of this Act, a member of the United Church.
5. Save as hereinafter provided, all property, real and personal, belonging to or held in trust for or to the use of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Methodist Church and The Congregational Churches, or belonging to or held in trust for or to the use of any Corporation, Board, Committee or other body, whether incorporated or un-incorporated, created by or under the government or control of, or in connection with, any of the said churches, shall from and after the coming into force of this Act be vested in The United Church, to be held, used and administered, subject to the provisions of this Act, in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Basis of Union.
6. Subject to the provisions of section eight hereof, all property, real and personal, belonging to or held by or in trust for or to the use of any congregation of any of the negotiating churches, shall, from and after the coming into force of this Act be held, used and administered for the benefit of the same congregation as a part of The United Church in the manner and upon the trusts and subject to the terms and provisions set forth in Schedule B to this Act, and all property, real and personal, thereafter acquired for or belonging to or held by or in trust for or to use of any congregation of The United Church shall be held, used and administered for the benefit of the said congregation as a part of The United Church upon the said trusts and subject to the said terms and provisions. Provided that any property, real or personal, held at the time of the coming into force of this Act or thereafter acquired by devise, bequest, transfer or gift, in trust for any special use of any congregation, shall be held, used and administered in accordance with the special trusts so declared in respect thereof, not being contrary to law or to any by-law, rule or regulation of The United Church, and that in the event of failure or partial failure of any of the said trusts, the said property, in the absence of any express provision for such event, may be held, used, administered or disposed of as may be provided by any by-law, rule or regulation made from time to time by The United Church, but subject always to such laws of any Province of Canada as may be applicable thereto.
7. In any deed, conveyance or transfer to trustees upon the trusts set forth in said Schedule B the form of words contained in Column One of said Schedule B and distinguished by any number therein, shall have the same effect as if it contained the form of words in Column Two of said Schedule B, distinguished by the same number as is annexed to the form of words used in such deed, conveyance or transfer, but it shall not be necessary in any such deed, conveyance or transfer to insert any such number.
8. Any real or personal property belonging to or held by or in trust for or to the use of any congregation, whether a congregation of the negotiating churches or a congregation received into The United Church after the coming into force of this Act, solely for its own benefit, and in which the denomination to which such congregation belongs has no right or interest, reversionary or otherwise, shall not be subject to the provisions of sections five and six hereof or to the control of The United Church, unless and until any such congregation at a meeting thereof regularly called for the purpose shall consent that such provisions shall apply to any such property or a specified part thereof.
9. All trustees acting in any trust for or to the use of any congregation as first referred to in section six hereof shall, notwithstanding any irregularity in their appointment, and notwithstanding that their number shall not correspond with the number named in the deed of conveyance of the property subject to such trusts or any of them, be deemed to be and shall be the trustees of the said properties respectively, and shall henceforth hold the same upon and subject to the trusts set out in Schedule B hereto.
10. (a) If any congregation in connection or communion with any of the negotiating churches shall, at a meeting of the congregation regularly called and held at any time within six months before the coming into force of this Act, or within the time limited by any statute respecting The United Church of Canada passed by the legislature of the Province in which the property of the congregation is situate, before such coming into force, decide by a majority of votes of the persons present at such meeting and entitled to vote thereat not to enter the said Union of the said Churches, then and in such case the property, real and personal, belong to or held in trust for or to the use of such non-concurring congregation shall remain unaffected by this Act, except that any church formed by non-concurring congregations of the respective negotiating Churches into which such congregation enters shall stand in the place of the respective negotiating Churches in respect of any trusts relating to such property, and except that in respect of any such congregation which does not enter any church so formed such property shall be held by the trustees or other trustees elected by the congregation free from any trust or reversion in favour of the respective negotiating Churches and free from any control thereof or connection therewith. In cities having a population of ten thousand people or over, according to the last Dominion census, the voting aforesaid shall not take Place during the months of July or August. The vote herein provided for shall be taken by ballot in such form and manner and at such time within the limit prescribed by this subsection as the congregation may decide: Provided that not less than two weeks shall be allowed for the taking of said vote by ballot as aforesaid. The said meeting may be adjourned for the purpose of said ballot being taken but not for a longer period than thirty days.
(b) The persons entitled to vote under the provisions of the first clause of this section shall be only those persons who are in full membership and whose names are on the roll of the Church at the time of the passing of this Act. In any Province where by an Act of the Legislature respecting The United Church of Canada passed prior to the passing of this Act, a deferent qualification for voting has been prescribed, the qualification for voting under this section shall be as provided in such Act. In every other Province the persons so entitled to vote shall be those who by the constitution of the congregation, if so provided, or by the practice of the Church with which the are connected, are entitled to vote at a meeting of the congregation on matters affecting the disposal of property.
(c) The non-concurring congregations in connection, or in communion with any or all of the negotiating Churches may use, to designate the said congregations, any names other than the names of the negotiating Churches, as set forth in the Preamble of this Act, and nothing in this Act contained shall prevent such congregations from constituting themselves a Presbyterian Church, a Methodist Church, or a Congregational Church, as the case may be, under the respective names so used.
(d) A meeting of the congregation for the Purpose aforesaid may be called by the authority of the Session or Quarterly Board of its own motion and shall be called by the Session or Quarterly Board on requisition to the Session or Quarterly Board in writing of ten members entitled to vote under the provisions of this section in a congregation of one hundred members or less; or twenty-five such members in congregations having over one hundred and not more than five hundred members; and fifty members in congregations over five hundred and not more than one thousand members; and one hundred such members in congregations of over one thousand members. Such meeting shall, be called by public notice read before the congregation at each diet of worship on two successive Lord's Days on which public service is held and such notice shall specify the object of the meeting. Provided further that such meeting shall be held within thirty days of the receipt of the requisition by Clerk of Sessions or Recording Steward of the Quarterly Board, or in the case of any congregation not having a Session or Quarterly Board, by the ordained minister recognized as in charge thereof by Presbytery or District meeting.
(e) "Congregation" in this section and the succeeding section means a local church as mentioned in the Basis of Union.
(f ) The Clerk of Session, the Recording Steward of the Quarterly Official Board,. or the Secretary, as the case may be, of any non-concurring congregation shall within one week after taking the vote referred to in subsection (a) of this section certify to the Clerk of the Presbytery, the Secretary of the Annual Conference, or the Secretary of the Congregational Association or Union, as the case may be, the result of the said vote.
11. (a) Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, such non-concurring congregations or any one
or more of them as may be determined shall be entitled to whatever the Commission hereinafter mentioned shall determine to be a fair and equitable share of the property, real and personal, rights, powers, authorities and privileges of or in connection with the respective parent church or churches, that is to say, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, The Methodist Church or The Congregational Churches, as the case may be, vested in The United Church by this Act.
(b) All the equities (if any) of the non-concurring congregations, or any of them, under this section, shall be determined exclusively by a Commission to consist of nine members, of whom three shall be appointed by the non-concurring congregations at a conference of representatives thereof, three by The United Church from its members, and the remaining three by the six members so appointed. The names of such persons shall be submitted to the Chief Justice of Canada, and if he is satisfied after making such inquiry as he deems proper or desirable that they fairly represent the parties so appointing them, their names shall be approved by him in writing, and they shall thereupon be deemed for all purposes to be duly appointed. In case the said six members are unable to agree, or in case of failure or refusal on the part of the non-concurring congregations or of The United Church to appoint the required number of members as aforesaid within twelve months after the coming into force of this Act. the Chief Justice of Canada, upon the application of any interested party, shall appoint sufficient members to complete the Commission of nine members and any appointment so made by him or to fill any vacancy among the members of the Commission, or any order of the Chief Justice on the application of any interested party confirming the appointment of the Commission, shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to review by any Court. If a vacancy occurs in the Commission by reason of death, resignation, incapacity or otherwise, it shall be filled by a member to be appointed as in the case of the original appointment of the member whose office is so vacated, and in case of inability to agree or of failure or refusal to appoint as aforesaid, as the case may be, the Chief Justice of Canada may appoint a member to fill the vacancy and so from time to time as occasion requires.
(c) (i) The conference of representatives of non-concurring congregations shall be held on a date nine months from the date of the coming into force of this Act at St. Andrew's Church on King Street in the City of Toronto, at the hour of half past two o'clock in the afternoon, or at such other time and place as may be fixed by Proclamation of the Governor in Council.
(ii) Each non-concurring congregation shall be entitled to one representative and to one vote, and the three persons to be appointed to the said Commission by the non-concurring congregations shall be appointed in such manner as the said representatives may determine by a majority vote.
(iii) The chairman of the said conference shall certify the names of members of the said Commission who may be chosen at the said conference.
(d) The Commission shall have exclusive power to determine the equities of the non-concurring congregations, or any one or more of them, in, or with respect to, the property, real and personal, belonging to or held in trust for or to the use of the respective parent church or any corporation, board, committee or other body, incorporated or unincorporated, created by or under the government or control of or in connection with such parent church, and all rights, powers, authorities and privileges of or in connection with the parent church, vested by this Act in The United Church as aforesaid, or in or to any part of such property, rights, powers, authorities and privileges, and to makes such orders and give such directions for the conveyance, assignment, transfer or other assurance by The United Church, or by any corporation, board, committee or other body in this Act mentioned. of any such property, rights, powers, authorities, and privileges to the non-concurring congregations or to any one or more of them or to trustees for any such congregations or any one or more of them, in such manner and upon such terms and subject to such charges or conditions as the Commission may deem fair and equitable for the enjoyment and assurance of any such equities so determined.
(e) The Commission shall also have power to make such orders and to give such directions with respect to any of the colleges of or in connection with the parent church in Schedule C of this Act named as it may deem fair and equitable to secure adequate provision for the education and training of students to minister to such non-concurring congregations, and shall have power to declare and order that such non-concurring congregations shall be placed in the position of the parent church as it was immediately prior to the passing of this Act with respect to any one or more of such colleges as the Commission may determine subject to such terms and conditions as the Commission may deem fair and equitable.
(f) The quorum of the Commission shall be five and its organization, times and places of meeting and procedure shall be such as it may at any time from time to time determine and the decision of a majority of the members present at any meeting shall prevail.
(g) The Commission may retain counsel and engage all such professional or other assistance and may appoint and employ all such officers, stenographers, clerks or servants as it may deem expedient and may dismiss any officer or person so appointed or employed.
(h) The fees, salaries and remuneration of all persons retained, engaged, appointed or employed, and all expenses in connection with the exercise of the powers hereby conferred shall be paid in such manner and out of such funds of The United Church or the non-concurring congregations or both, as the Commission may direct. The compensation (if any) of the Commissioners shall be determined by the General Council of The United Church and the non-concurring congregations prior to their appointment, and in default of such determination, by the Chief Justice of Canada, and shall be paid as aforesaid.
(i) The Commission shall have the powers conferred on commissioners by Part I of the Inquiries Act and such other powers as may be conferred upon it by any Act of the Province of Canada, together with right of access to all property affected by this Act it may find necessary to inspect and the right to call for the production of any books, papers, accounts, correspondence or other writing of any of the parties interested before it and to make abstracts thereof or take extracts therefrom. The Commission shall not be bound by legal rules of evidence but may make such enquiries and may accept such opinions, valuations, reports and statements, written or verbal as it may deem expedient, and the decisions, orders or directions of the Commission shall be final and conclusive and not subject to review by any Court.
(j) The Commission may authorize any one or more of its members to inquire into and report to it upon any question or matter arising in connection with the business of the Commission, and when so authorized, such one or more of its members shall have all the powers of the Commission for the purpose of taking evidence or acquiring the necessary information for the purpose of such report, and upon such report being made to the Commission, it may be adopted as the order of the Commission, or otherwise dealt with as to the Commission seems proper.
(k) The Commission shall proceed with all due diligence in the determination of all matters committed to it by this Act and The United Church and the non-concurring congregations shall in every reasonable way facilitate and expedite the work of the Commission so as to enable it to make its investigation and its determination in respect of the matters aforesaid at the earliest possible date.
(l) Any determination, decision or order made by the Commission may be made a rule, order or decree of the Exchequer Court or any Superior Court of any Province of Canada, and shall be enforced in like manner as any rule, order or degree of such Court. To make such determination, decision or order, a rule, order or decree of any such Court the usual practice and procedure of the Court in such matters may be followed, and a copy of any such determination, decision or order, certified under the hand of the Chairman or Acting Chairman of the Commission, and verified by affidavit or statutory declaration of a witness thereto, shall be sufficient evidence of the due making and validity of any such determination, decision or order.
(m) The powers conferred on the Chief Justice of Canada by this section may be exercised by any Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada designated by him for that purpose and all applications to the said Chief Justice or such Judge in this section mentioned shall be upon such notice and be served upon such parties and in such manner as the Chief Justice or such Judge shall direct.
(n) The provisions of sections thirteen, fourteen and fifteen shall not apply to any college or property allocated to non-concurring congregations under the provisions of this section after the date of such allocation.
(o) The Commission shall make such provisions as it may deem fair and equitable to protect the rights of all claimants on the benevolent funds of the negotiating Churches who do not become ministers or members of The United Church.
12. (a) All property belonging to or held by or in trust for or to the use of any congregation of the negotiating churches henceforth to be held, used and administered for the benefit of the same congregation as a part of The United Church, shall remain liable for the payment or satisfaction of any debts or obligations contracted or incurred in respect thereto to the same extent as it would have been liable had this Act not been passed, but The United Church shall not be or become liable for any of said debts or obligations, and, save as aforesaid, no property of The United Church shall be liable for any debts or obligations contracted or incurred by any congregation in connection or in communion with any of the negotiating churches.
(b) Upon the vesting of the property of the negotiating churches or of any corporation, board, committee or other body whether incorporated or unincorporated, created by or under the government or control of or connected with any of the negotiating churches, pursuant to the provisions of section five hereof, The United Church shall become liable for all their respective debts and obligations, provided however, that this subsection shall not be deemed to include or apply to any of the property first mentioned in the next preceding subsection.
13. The provisions of section five hereof shall not apply to any property, real or personal, belonging to or held in trust for or to the use of any college named in Schedule C to this Act, or belonging to or held by or vested in any board of trustees, board of directors, board of governors, regents, or other board or committee or body having the control or management of the property or affairs of any college named in said Schedule C. From and after the coming into force of this section the colleges named in said Schedule C and all such boards, regents or other committees or bodies as aforesaid shall have the same connection with and stand in the same relation to The United Church as they respectively had and stood with and to any of the negotiating churches immediately prior to the passing of this Act, and all rights. powers, authorities and privileges in respect of the said colleges, or any of them, of or vested in any Assembly, Conference, Synod, Presbytery, Council or other governing body of any of the negotiating churches or any officers or board thereof, shall be vested in the General Council of The United Church provided the General Council may declare that the said rights, powers, authorities and privileges, or any of them, shall be vested in a Conference, Presbytery or other governing body of The United Church, or otherwise, as it may deem expedient, and from and after such declaration, such rights, powers, authorities and privileges, or any of them, shall vest in accordance with the terms of such declaration. In all cases where a college corporation consists of the ministers and members, or the members, or any officers of any of the negotiating churches, or of any governing body thereof (whether with or without named persons) such corporation shall, after the coming into force of this section, consist of the ministers and members of The United Church. All rights, powers, authorities and privileges in respect of the said colleges vested in any congregation in connection or in communion with any of the negotiating churches, or in any minister and congregation thereof, shall continue to be held and exercised by the said congregation or by the said minister and congregation in connection with The United Church. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed so as in anywise to repeal, alter, affect or vary any existing legislation relating to any of the said colleges except in so far as may be necessary to. give full force and effect to the provisions of this Act.
14. Notwithstanding anything contained in any Act of the Parliament of Canada, or in any Act, by-law, rule, regulation, declaration or other proceeding of any of the negotiating churches, or of any governing or subordinate court or body of any of them, or in the constitution, by-laws, rules or regulations of or in relation to any of the said colleges, respecting the principles, doctrines or standards to be taught and maintained in any such college, from and after the coming, into force of this section the colleges shall, in respect of the principles, doctrines and religious standards to be taught and maintained therein, be subject to the direction and control of the General Council of The United Church, and the teaching or maintenance hereafter in any of the colleges of the principles, doctrines or religious standards set out in the Basis of Union or hereafter determined or prescribed from time to time by the General Council of The United Church in accordance therewith or at any meeting held pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-one of this Act, shall not be deemed to be a change of adherence on the part of any such college or a change of its principles or doctrines or religious standards or a breach of the provisions of any statute, Act, by-law, rule, regulation, declaration or other. proceeding, or constitution, and shall not be deemed to be a breach of any trust relating to property devised, bequeathed, given to or otherwise acquired by or for the benefit of any such college with respect to the teaching or maintenance of any principles, doctrines or religious standards in any of the said colleges, but shall be deemed to be in compliance with and a performance of any such provisions or trusts.
15. Where, prior to the coming into force of this section any existing trust has been created or declared in any manner whatsoever for any special purpose or object having regard to the teaching, preaching or maintenance of any principles, doctrines or religious standards, or to the support, assistance or maintenance of any congregation or minister or charity, or to the furtherance of any religious, charitable, educational, congregational or social purpose, in connection with any of the negotiating churches, such trust shall continue to exist and to be performed as nearly as may be for the like purposes or objects in connection with The United Church as The United Church may determine, and anything done in pursuance of this Act shall not be deemed to be a breach of any such trust but shall be deemed to be in compliance therewith and a performance thereof, and the entry of any congregation into The United Church shall not be deemed a change of its adherence or principles or doctrines or religious standards within the meaning of any such trust.
16. The United Church shall have capacity to take and hold all such property, real and personal, and all such rights, authorities, privileges and benefits as it may acquire without Canada, and subject to the laws of the province, colony or country in which such property may be situate, have the right to call for and receive conveyances, transfers or other appropriate assurances of all property, real or personal, situate without Canada, held by or in trust for any of the negotiating churches or any governing or subordinate body thereof, or any Corporation, Board, Committee, or other body, whether incorporated or unincorporated, created by or under the government or control of or in connection any of the negotiating churches.
17. (a) The United Church may, by resolution of the General Council, establish boards or committees of its members to hold, manage deal with, dispose of or otherwise administer any of its property, funds, trusts, interests, institutions and religious or charitable schemes now or hereafter owned. founded or established, define and prescribe the constitution, powers, duties, officers and quorum of any such board or committee, and delegate to any of them such powers as it may deem expedient.
(b) Whenever it is deemed expedient to establish as a body corporate any board, committee or other body for any of the purposes of The United Church, The United Church may establish by resolution of the General Council or may authorize and empower any Conference to establish by resolution of such Conference, any such boards, committees or other bodies, including city mission boards and church extension boards, in accordance with the by-laws, rules and regulations of The United Church in that behalf, and if any such resolution declares such board, committee or other body to be a body corporate, then, upon the filing of the certificate or certificates in this section hereinafter mentioned, the same shall be and become a body corporate with such membership, organization, powers, rights and duties, not contrary to law or inconsistent with this Act, as may be defined from time to time by the General Council, or such Conference, as the case may be, including the acquiring, holding, administering and disposing of all property real or personal, (but when established by resolution of a Conference then only within the bounds of such Conference), which may be devised, bequeathed, granted or conveyed to any such board, committee or governing body, for the purposes of The United Church, and the borrowing of any money necessary in the opinion of such board, committee or body for the purposes thereof, and the mortgaging, hypothecating, or pledging of so much of the real or personal property held by any such board, committee or body as may be necessary to secure any amount so borrowed. In each case such board, committee or other body is established by resolution of the General Council, the General Council shall file a certified copy of such resolution under the hand of its presiding officer and its secretary or clerk with the Secretary of State for Canada, and in case such board, committee or other body is established by resolution of any Conference, such Conference shall file a certified copy of such resolution under the hand. of its presiding officer and its secretary or clerk with the Provincial Secretary of the Province in which the said conference is situate, or, where the bounds of such conference lie within more than one Province, then with the Provincial Secretary of each of such Provinces. A certificate under The official seal of the General Council, or of the Conference by which any such board, committee or body is established. as the case may be, signed by its secretary or clerk, shall be sufficient evidence in all Courts of the establishment of such board. committee or body and of its constitution and powers.
18. The United Church shall have power-
(a) To acquire by purchase, lease, gift, devise or bequest any real or personal property, or any estate or interest therein, either absolutely or in trust, and, subject to the provisions of sections five and seven of this Act, to sell, transfer, exchange, mortgage, hypothecate, lease or otherwise dispose of the same or any part thereof, and apply the proceeds of any such property for its purposes, provided that no land at any time acquired by the United Church and not required for its actual use and occupation or by way of security for the payment of any loan, debt or guarantee, shall be held by it or by any trustee on its behalf for a longer period than ten years after it shall have ceased to be so required, but this proviso shall not be deemed in anywise to vary or otherwise affect any trust relating to such property.
(b) To give, grant, convey, lease or otherwise alienate any property, real or personal,. to any other church or religious body or organization or to any trustees, board, committee or governing body thereof, as it may deem expedient, in pursuance of any agreement or understanding with such church or religious body or organization for the purpose of cooperation in the prosecution of religious work.
(c) To lend money upon the security of real estate and to invest and re-invest any of its funds and moneys in any debentures of municipal or public-school corporations or public-school districts, Dominion or Provincial debentures, bonds, stock or other Dominion or Provincial securities, or in any security the payment of which is guaranteed by the Dominion of Canada or any Province thereof, and for all purposes of any loan or investment it shall have all such rights and remedies for the collection, enforcement or repayment thereof as any individual or corporation would have by law in the premises.
(d) To lend or give any of its property, funds or moneys for, or to assist in, the erection or maintenance of any building or buildings deemed necessary for any church, college, manse, school or hospital, or for any other religious, charitable, educational, congregational or social purpose, upon such terms and securities as it may deem expedient. and it shall have in respect of any such loan the rights and remedies mentioned in the next preceding subsection.
(e) To borrow money for its purposes upon its credit and to mortgage, hypothecate or pledge any of its property, real or personal, as security for any loan.
(f) To make, accept, draw, endorse and execute bills of exchange, promissory notes and other negotiable instruments.
(g) To receive and accept for its own use as to the principal sum or corpus thereof any monies or other personal property subject to and in consideration of the payment of interest thereon or of an annuity in respect thereof.
(h) To make such by-laws, rules or regulations as it may deem expedient for the exercise of any powers conferred by this Act.
(i) To exercise the powers conferred by this section, or any of them, by and through such boards, committees or other bodies as the General Council or any Conference or any Presbytery acting within their respective jurisdictions under the provisions of the Basis of Union may from time to time establish or appoint, and to determine the method of appointment or election thereof, and to define and prescribe the constitution, powers, duties, officers and quorum of such boards, committees or other bodies.
(j) To do all such lawful acts or things as may be requisite to carry out the terms, provisions and objects of the Basis of Union and of this Act.
(k) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize The United Church to issue any note or bill payable to bearer thereof or any promissory note intended to be circulated as money or as the note or bill of a bank, or to engage in the business of banking or insurance.
19. The provision in the Basis of Union that the approval of the Conference in which property is situated is required to enable the General Council to legislate in respect thereof shall be deemed to apply only to such property as belongs to or is held in trust for or to the use of a congregation or as belongs to or is held in trust for or is set apart for or used for the purposes of such Conference.
20. The United Church, and any board or committee thereof or appointed thereby or by any Conference thereof, having charge of any of the funds or property of The United Church, and the trustees of any congregation of The United Church, provided that such trustees first obtain the consent in writing of the Presbytery within the bounds of which the lands of such congregation are situate, may issue debentures in such denominations and upon such terms as it or they may deem expedient, under the hand or hands of such officer or officers as may be thereto authorized and the seal (if any) of such United Church board, committee or trustees issuing the same, for any money borrowed under the authority of this Act, and the payment of such debentures and the interest thereon may be secured by mortgage in favor of a trustee or trustees for the holders of such debentures upon any real estate under the control of The United Church or of such board or committee thereof or of the trustees of such congregation.
21. (a) Notwithstanding anything in this Act or in the Basis of Union contained, the first meeting of the General Council shall consist of one hundred and fifty members heretofore appointed by the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, one hundred and fifty members heretofore appointed by the General Conference of The Methodist Church, forty members heretofore appointed by The Congregational Union of Canada and ten members heretofore appointed by the General Council of local Union churches and the roll of members so appointed signed by the presiding officer and the secretary or clerk of such respective bodies, holding office at the date of the coming into force of this section, shall be final and conclusive as to the due and proper appointment of such members.
(b) The said meeting shall be held in the City of Toronto on the day that this Act, comes into force, at such place and at such hour as may be agreed upon by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the General Superintendent of The Methodist Church and the Chairman of The Congregational Union of Canada, or any two of them.
(c) The said General Council at such meeting, or any adjourned meeting thereof, shall exercise all such powers conferred on the General Council by this Act or by the Basis of Union as it may deem expedient for the conduct and management of the affairs of The United Church until a General Council is convened in accordance with the provisions of the Basis of Union.
(d) The said General Council at such first meeting, or any adjournment thereof, shall determine the number and boundaries of the Conferences to be established under the provisions of the Basis of Union and the number of ministers and non-ministerial representatives to be chosen by the said Conferences to constitute the next General Council, which may be convened at any time within a period of two years from the date of such first meeting of the General Council.
(e) All acts or things done by or under the authority of the General Council at such meeting, or any adjournment thereof, not being inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or the Basis of Union, shall be valid and binding until a General Council is convened in accordance with the provisions of the Basis of Union and thereafter until the same shall be altered, amended or rescinded by a General Council so convened.
(f) The General Council at its first. meeting as aforesaid, or any adjourned meeting thereof, may, in addition to its other powers, appoint such boards, committees or other bodies, as it may deem expedient, to inquire into any matters relating to the conduct and management of the affairs of The United Church or of any property, fund, trust, interest, institution or religious or charitable scheme in connection therewith or with any of the negotiating churches and to report, upon the same to a General Council convened in accordance with the provisions of the Basis of Union.
22. Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained,
(a) The General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, the General Conference of The Methodist Church and The Congregational Union of Canada shall, save as to non-concurring congregations, continue to have, exercise and enjoy all their respective powers, rights, authorities and privileges in the same manner and to the same extent as if this Act had not been passed, until the first meeting of the General Council.
(b) All synods and Presbyteries of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, all Conferences and District Meetings of The Methodist Church and all Associations of The Congregational Churches of Canada and all other courts or governing bodies of any of the negotiating Churches shall, save as to non-concurring congregations, continue to have, exercise and enjoy all or any of their respective powers, rights, authorities and privileges in the same manner and to the same extent as if this Act had not been passed until such time or times as The United Church by its General Council shall declare that the said powers, rights, authorities and privileges, or any of them, shall cease and determine.
(c) Every Corporation, Board, Committee and other body, whether incorporated or unincorporated, created by or under the government or control of or in connection with any of the negotiating churches, shall continue to have, exercise and enjoy all their respective powers, rights, authorities and privileges in the same manner and to the same extent as if this Act had not been passed, until such time or times as The United Church by its General Council, or otherwise, shall declare that the said powers, rights, authorities and privileges, or any of them, shall cease or determine or be modified or altered as set out in such declaration, and thereupon such powers, rights, authorities and privileges, or any of them. shall cease or determine or be modified or altered, as the case may be, in accordance with the terms of such declaration or declarations from time to time made.
23. Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, any congregations of the negotiating churches heretofore separately incorporated shall continue to be corporate bodies but subject in all respects to the provisions of this Act.
24. All resolutions passed by the General Council shall have the force and effect of by-laws, and no formal by-law shall be required for the purpose of managing the affairs of The United Church.
25. All copies of the Basis of Union and of any by-laws, resolutions, rules or regulations in this Act referred to or of any amendment or alteration thereof, purporting to be published under the direction or authority of the General Council of The United Church, or a copy of any by-law, resolution, rule or regulation of the General Council purporting to be under the seal of The United Church and to be signed by the secretary, shall be prima facie evidence in all Courts of the contents thereof without proof of the authenticity of such seal or signature.
26. The Basis of Union set forth in Schedule A to this Act is hereby ratified and confirmed as such, and in so far as the terms and provisions thereof relating to polity and administration are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act they shall have the same force and effect as if expressly set out herein.
27 All Acts and portions of Acts of the Parliament of Canada inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed in so far as may be necessary to give full effect to this Act.
28. Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, it is hereby declared:-
(a) That the said union of the negotiating churches has been formed by the free and independent action of the said churches through their governing bodies and in accordance with their respective constitutions, and that this Act has been passed at the request of the said churches in order to incorporate The United Church and to make necessary provision with respect to the property of the negotiating churches and the other matters dealt with by this Act.
(b) That nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed to limit the independent and exclusive right and power of The United Church to legislate in all matters concerning its doctrine, worship, discipline and government, including therein the right and power from time to time frame, adopt, alter, change, add to or modify its laws, subordinate standards and formulas and to determine and declare the same or any of them but subject to the conditions and safeguards in that behalf contained in the Basis of Union.
(c) That the United Church by virtue of its independent and exclusive right and power to legislate in respect of the matters mentioned in the next preceding sub-section has the right to unite with any other church or religious denomination without loss of its identity upon such terms as it may find to be consistent with the principles, doctrines and religious standards set forth in the Basis of Union, or any amendment thereof made by the General Council under the provisions of the Basis of Union.
29. Inasmuch as questions have arisen and may arise as to the powers of the Parliament of Canada under the British North America Act to give legislative effect to the provisions of this Act, it is hereby declared that it is intended by this Act to sanction the provisions therein contained in so far and in so far only as it is competent to the Parliament so to do.
.