Aubrey S. Tuttle

Aubrey Stephen Tuttle (2 October 1874 – 20 October 1949) was a minister of the Methodist Church of Canada and then the United Church of Canada who became the 9th Moderator of the United Church.

Early life Tuttle was born on a farm near Pugwash, Nova Scotia, the fourth of five children of Peter Milldige Tuttle and Julia Ann Fulton. On his father’s side, Tuttle was descended from a United Empire Loyalist who had been forced to leave Albany, New York during the American War of Independence. On his mother’s side, Tuttle counted among his ancestors William Black, the founder of the Methodist Church in the Canadian Maritimes; Adam George Archibald, one of the Fathers of Confederation, and his maternal grandfather Stephen Fulton, who had served in the cabinet of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

Tuttle quickly put out the call to members of the United Church to buy Victory Bonds, writing, "It enables us to express our loyalty to our country, our devotion to our Church and our desire to preserve for future generations the priceless possession of civil and religious liberties ... Remember, if the forces of evil triumph it means the end of all we hold dear."

Another issue Tuttle raised was a shortage of ministers in Western Canada due to what he believed were financial barriers, pointing out "When church union came [in 1925], we had 200 ministers to spare, but they were quickly absorbed. Now there are western fields without men. In Saskatchewan there are 25 young men anxious to study for the ministry but without the means to take their college courses."

Retirement Tuttle stepped down as moderator in 1942, and retired as principal of St. Stephen's College the following year. He and his wife then moved to Victoria BC, where Tuttle died on 20 October 1949, aged 75.

Personal life In 1910, during his period of church-building in Alberta, Tuttle returned briefly to Nova Scotia to marry Mary Anna Johnson, a teacher at Mount Allison Ladies College whom he had know from childhood. They raised five children: Morley, Julie, Aubrey Jr., George (who would become a United Church minister and also be elected moderator), and Ruth (who died in infancy). In 1936, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Alberta.