152 CHURCH UNITY 



September, 1874, — the first time in history 

 when laymen were accorded equal repre- 

 sentation in the chief court of any large 

 Methodist Church. The name chosen for 

 the united Church was the Methodist 

 Church of Canada. This irenic result was 

 an object lesson which the other churches 

 could not resist. The Ecumenical Con- 

 ference in London in 1881 intensified the 

 desire for union. In 1881 the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church in Canada, the Bible 

 Christian Church, and the Primitive Meth- 

 odist Church in Canada, merged themselves 

 into the larger Church. Thus, where there 

 had been six, there was henceforth to be 

 but one Methodist Church in Canada. A 

 grand example has in this way been set for 

 other Methodist churches to follow. Eng- 

 land is looking in the same direction. 1 



It does not fall within our scope to treat 

 the union movements in the Anglican, 

 Greek, Old Catholic, and Roman churches, 

 tending toward a union of one with an- 

 other, or any one with all. This would 

 form a most interesting chapter, but it 

 would require more time than is accorded 

 to this lecture. 



1 Centennial of Canadian Methodism, Toronto, 1891. 

 This volume gives full historical information. 



