Within the awesome sight and sound of thundering cataracts that symbolize a harmony of two nations, the Canadian Council of Churches met under two flags at the Sheraton-Brock Hotel in Niagara falls. Ontario, and became absorbed chiefly with questions of greater church unity and closer cooperation. This fifteenth meeting of the twenty-year-old council, which now meets every two years, commenced in rain, proceeded in sunshine, and concluded in snow—signaling the onset, if not the onslaught, of Canadian winter—but the bright aspects of ecumenical progress outshone the passing clouds.

The council embraces about 85 per cent of Canada’s Protestants and Orthodox.¹ The National Councils of the YMCA–YWCA and the Student Christian Movement in Canada are affiliated members, while the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Lutheran Church of America are “friendly associates.” The Lutheran Church participates in the council’s department of ecumenical affairs.

The council has no administrative or legislative authority over its members. Its objectives are to give expression to the communions’ unity in Christ by providing them with an agency for conference, for consultation, and for common planning and action in a variety of fields, including political, economic, social, and moral areas.
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