George Campbell Pidgeon (March 2, 1872 – June 15, 1971) was a Christian minister, first in the Presbyterian Church in Canada and then in the United Church of Canada, as well as the last Moderator of the Presbyterian Church before amalgamation and the first Moderator of the newly formed United Church of Canada.
Early life
George Pidgeon was born on 2 March 1872 in the hamlet of Dimock Creek, near New Richmond, Quebec to farmers Archibald Pidgeon and Mary Campbell, the eldest child of four. He attended a one-room school house for early grades before moving to a larger school in New Richmond for high school.
Amalgamation of denominations
In the early 20th century, the main Evangelical Protestant denominations in Canada were the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches. Many small towns and villages across Canada had all three, with the town's population divided among them. Especially on the prairies, it was difficult to find clergy to serve all these charges, and there were several instances where one minister would serve his congregation, but would also perform pastoral care for the other congregations that lacked a minister. On the prairies, a movement to unite all three major Protestant denominations began, resulting in the Association of Local Union Churches.
From the earliest days of the movement, Pidgeon was one of the church leaders who promoted amalgamation, and he tried to convince fellow Presbyterians to consider it. chose not to join the new church, and instead reconstituted themselves as the "continuing" Presbyterian Church in Canada.
In his 1950 book The United Church of Canada: The Story of the Union, Pidgeon recalled those times, and although he admitted that he had agreed to the policy of conciliation that led to the decade of delay followed by the congregational vote, in his book he wrote that the Union "would have been carried through with far less disturbance and division if the [Presbyterian] Church had gone forward to its consummation in 1912."
At the first General Council of the new United Church, former Methodist General Superintendent Samuel Dwight Chown was considered the leading candidate to become the first Moderator because the Methodist Church made up the largest segment of the new United Church. In a surprise move, Chown stepped aside in favour of Pidgeon in the hopes that this would strengthen the resolve of the Presbyterians who had chosen to join the new Church. As first Moderator of the United Church of Canada, Pidgeon served for one year.
Retirement
Pidgeon retired at the age 76 and turned to writing. His weekly religious column appeared in the Toronto Telegram from 1949 until 1960. Pidgeon also wrote a number of books, including The United Church of Canada: The Story of the Union (1950) and Seventy Years at Bloor Street: A History of Bloor Street United Church (1957).