Arthur B. B. Moore

Arthur Bruce Barbour Moore (February 4, 1906 – September 9, 2004) was an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada who served as president and vice-chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Chancellor of the University of Toronto, and as the 24th Moderator of the United Church of Canada.

Early life and education Arthur Moore was born in Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick on February 4, 1906, the fifth son of a Congregational minister. He spent his early years in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. In 1923, age 17, he enrolled in liberal arts at McGill University, but by his second year of studies, he felt drawn to ministry and began part-time studies at the United Theological College in Montreal.

For several years before his election, Moore had been co-chair of a joint commission of the United Church and the Anglican Church of Canada that explored the possibility of an organic union of the two denominations. At the 1971 General Council that elected Moore as Moderator, the delegates were presented with Plan of Union, the commission's proposal on how this could be accomplished. The report was accepted by the delegates, and the Hymn Book, a new source of song and liturgy, was produced the same year for use by both denominations. This was as close as the two would get. In 1975, the Anglican House of Bishops and National Executive Council rejected the Plan of Union, unwilling to give up ordination of clergy by bishops, and refusing to recognize United Church clergy as ordained.

In 1977, Moore became chancellor of the University of Toronto, a post he held for three years.

Awards and recognition 1952: Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Saskatchewan 1975: Honorary Doctor of Divinity, Victoria University.