Gary Paterson

Gary J. Paterson was the Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 2012 to 2015. He was the first openly gay person to take the post since the church was formed in 1925 and the first in the world to lead a major Christian denomination. He earned two degrees in English literature and became a sessional lecturer at University of British Columbia. Paterson studied theology in Boston and the Vancouver School of Theology before being ordained by the United Church of Canada in 1977. He served as minister at several rural and urban churches, became a staff member of the British Columbia Conference of the United Church, then served as minister at three churches in Vancouver: Ryerson United Church, First United Church, and at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.