Ernest Howse, the church's moderator 1964-66, was surprised at the public controversy that followed his announcement, during an Easter interview, that he did not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. He considered his statement to be "about as radical as an affirmation that the world is round," and shrugged off the vituperative criticism.The United Church of Canada, 107
After decades of anti-Roman Catholic pamphleteering, the United Church at the 1964 General Council was able to send magnanimous "Christian greetings to the third session of the Vatican Council," and United Church clergy began participating in the celebration of "mixed" marriages with Roman Catholic priests.The United Church of Canada, 104
Hord and those with whom he worked were not the church's ultimate decision-makers, and not necessarily representative of the church's average pew-sitters. Yet ordinary church members helped put them there; they financially supported their work, and purchased their publications. As one observer puts it, "A large percentage of the church didn't agree with these positions, but they did consent to them." These leaders, then, embodied something of the face of the collective United Church wished to show the world in the 1960s: Christians who sought cultural relevance and were eager to participate in progressive change.The United Church of Canada, 101
Four doctrinal omissions drew criticism from some prominent Presbyterians, fearful the new church would lose its way. First, the creed dropped the all-important statement affirming the Holy Scriptures "as the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and life."The United Church of Canada, 18-19