Westminster Presbytery:
Eagle Ridge United Church is a part of Westminster Presbytery, the gathering of 17 United Church congregations in a geographical area bounded by Burnaby and Maple Ridge, by New Westminster and Ioco.
The Presbytery is a constituent of the B.C. Conference of The United Church of Canada, and is one of 91 Presbyteries in Canada which have as their mandate:
1. The oversight of Pastoral Charges;
2. The right to form, realize, and disband Pastoral Charges;
3. The review of all local church records;
4. The consideration of requests for the sale, mortgage, or lease of property;
5. The oversight of training of candidates
6. Any matters concerning relationship between the pastoral charge and the Minister.
In lay terms and in the words of Ralph Milton in his book, “This United Church of Ours”, “we supervise the local church”, we make sure that each Pastoral Charge has a minister, and we try to see “that both congregation and Minister behave themselves and get on with the work of the Church.”
B.C. Conference:
Eagle Ridge is also part of the B.C. Conference. One of 13 Conferences within the church, the B.C. Conference office is located in Burnaby. Full-time staff in the Conference work with presbyteries and local pastoral charges. Lay and ministerial delegates from the presbyteries meet annually.
The United Church of Canada:
Visit the main web site to learn about “the history, beliefs, and structure of the United Church; how its work is funded; and how the church partners with faith groups and other organizations in Canada and around the world.”