T. Albert Moore

Thomas Albert Moore (29 June 1860 – 31 March 1940) was a Canadian minister of the Methodist Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada. He started as a rural circuit rider and rose to become the General Secretary of both the Methodist Church and United Church, and then the 5th Moderator of the United Church.

Early life Moore was born in Acton, Ontario on 29 June 1860, and was raised in the nearby village of Rockwood, where he attended local schools until age 14. When Galbraith left the following year to pursue his reporting career in Montreal, Moore formed a partnership with his older brother H.P. Moore as co-editors and co-publishers of the paper. T. Albert applied to the London Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada and was accepted as a probationary candidate for ministry. He enrolled at Wesleyan College at McGill University in Montreal, and as part of his required field work, he become a junior circuit rider in 1882 under the supervision of Rev. W. H. Barraclough, visiting rural communities near London, Belmont, and Salford. In 1884, at the age of 24, he graduated with a Doctor of Divinity, was ordained, and married Mary Newton.

Ministry Over the next twenty years, Moore served as pastoral minister at various Methodist churches in southern Ontario including Drumbo, Princeton, Simcoe Street Methodist Church (Hamilton), Niagara Falls, Dunnville, Palmerston and Zion Tabernacle Methodist Church (Hamilton). As a teetotaller, Moore was against the sale and consumption of any alcohol; one biographer noted that he "hated the liquor trade with all his might, and never let a chance go by without striking at it." During two Ontario provincial elections where the question of Prohibition was a central issue, Moore served as the Campaign Secretary for the Ontario Temperance Federation.

Moore also was drawn to social justice issues, always looking to entwine Christianity with the betterment of social conditions. In the late 19th century, many Canadians had to work seven days a week. Moore campaigned and evangelized across Canada for Sunday-rest laws, promoting the idea that businesses should close on Sundays. This would not only give all workers at least one day off during the week, but Moore also believed that holding Sundays apart would bring Canada closer to his image of a Christian nation.

In addition to his strong evangelism, Moore was also recognized as an able and organized administrator, and served as Chairman of the Hamilton Conference of the Methodist church for five years before becoming President of the Conference.

Executive In 1903, Moore left pastoral ministry to become the Secretary of the Lord's Day Alliance in Ontario. In 1906, he was appointed Secretary of the General Conference of the Methodist Church in Canada, and in 1910 also took on the role of Secretary of the Board of Evangelism and Social Service. He also became editor of two important journals of the church, Methodist Discipline and Journal of the General Conference. In all of these roles, Moore frequently represented the Methodist Church of Canada at national and international conferences.

During World War I, Moore worked to raised relief funds for the citizens of Serbia. and in 1915 became the secretary of the Methodist committee on church union, and the secretary of the joint Methodist/Presbyterian/Congregationalist union committee.

In 1925, when the United Church of Canada was inaugurated, Moore became Secretary of the General Council of the new church. In that role, Moore represented the new Church of Canada at many important conferences and meetings. Canadian Press claimed that Dr. Moore "represented his church on probably more international and interdenominational bodies than any other Canadian churchman."

Moderator In 1932, at the fifth General Council of the United Church in Hamilton, Moore was elected to be Moderator of the church for a two-year term. At the end of his term, Moore continued as Secretary of the General Conference for another two years.

Retirement and death When Moore retired in 1936 at the seventh General Council, the delegates passed a motion that read in part, "The Church loses an energetic and efficient official, a wise administrator, an outstanding preacher of the Christian gospel, and an ecclesiastical statesman of tolerant spirit and broad vision."

Moore, now in his late 70s but still filled with vigour, continued to travel across Canada, preaching and evangelizing for moral and social reform. (The Toronto Star noted, "He could not be happy in idleness.") Honorary pallbearers at his funeral included Chief Justice Lyman Duff, former Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, and Canadian Catholic Archbishop Derwyn Owen. Moore's first wife Mary died in 1896, and the following year he married Annie Forster, with whom he had two daughters.

Honours In 1919, Serbian Prince Regent Alexander Karađorđević awarded Moore the Order of the Red Cross for his efforts to raise war relief funds for the people of Serbia during World War I. In 1934, the University of Syracuse conferred a Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) on Moore. In the same year, Mount Allison University conferred a Doctor of Law (LL.D.) on Moore. In addition to the Doctor of Divinity that Moore earned from Wesleyan College before his ordination, six other universities conferred a D.D. upon him.