Baby band: A church program for pre-school children. See also Mission band.
BC Conference: Former governance body of the Methodist Church of Canada and The United Church of Canada that oversaw denominational work within British Columbia, excluding the northeastern section (Peace River District). It was superseded by the Pacific Mountain Regional Council in 2019.
BC Security Commission: Body established by the Government of Canada to organize and supervise the internment of Japanese nationals and Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
CGIT: A church program for girls aged 11 to 17. Acronym stands for Canadian Girls in Training.
Columbian College: The Methodist theological college located in New Westminster that served Greater Vancouver prior to church union in 1925. It continued as a liberal arts college until 1936. See also Union College.
Community House: Name given to the Powell Street Church building while Welfare Industries was using it for its community programs during the late 1940s to 1955. Early on, it was referred to as United Church Friendship House.
Custodian of Enemy Alien Property: An office of the Government of Canada responsible for seizing and administering the property of Canada’s enemies during both World Wars. This office seized property of Japanese Canadians and Japanese nationals during the Second World War.
Executive Secretary: The name for the former chief staff officer with administrative oversight for the United Church within the conference. The position of Executive Secretary for BC Conference existed from 1963 to 2018, and was superseded by the office of the Executive Minister, Pacific Mountain Regional Council.
Explorers: A church program for children (normally girls) in the 6-12 age range.
Fonds: Term used in Canadian archives and in the archives of many European and Latin American countries. Fonds refers to all the documents made or received by a person or organization in the course of their activities. The “Chizu Uchida fonds” refers to all the records in the Archives made or received by Chizu Uchida, kept together as a unit.
General Council: Governance body for The United Church of Canada that makes decisions and administers programs for the denomination as a whole.
Hakujin: Japanese term for Caucasian person.
Home Missions, Board of: United Church body that oversaw mission work in Canada. A Secretary of Home Missions administered the work from the head office of the church in Toronto, and superintendents represented that national board in the conferences. Dr. W.P. Bunt served as Superintendent of Home Missions in BC Conference during and after the Second World War (1939-1958).
Issei: Japanese term for first-generation Japanese Canadian.
Metropolitan Council of the United Church in the Lower Mainland: An incorporated entity affiliated with The United Church of Canada (1969-1979). The Metropolitan Council was responsible for the oversight, support and administration of: rural and urban missions, institutional work and social services in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
Mission band: A church program for young children.
Missionary residence: Home where WMS workers lived, situated in the community they served. See also Woman’s Missionary Society.
Moderator: The spiritual leader and public representative for The United Church of Canada.
Nikkei: Japanese term meaning “of Japanese descent.”
Nisei: Japanese term for second-generation Japanese Canadian.
Powell Street Church: The common name for the Vancouver Japanese United Church (and earlier Methodist Church) that stood at the corner of Powell Street and Jackson Avenue. Also known as the Japanese Mission in its first years.
Presbytery: Former governance body in The United Church of Canada that oversaw property and clergy within a specific geographical region.
Recto: The front (e.g. of a photograph)
Trail Rangers: A church program for boys aged 12 to 14. See also Tuxis.
Tuxis: A church program for boys aged 15 to 17. The name stood for “Training for Service, with Christ in the centre, and you and I on either side, with no-one but Christ between us.” See also Trail Rangers.
Union College: The United Church theological college located at the University of British Columbia, 1927-1971. See also Columbian College and Vancouver School of Theology.
Vancouver Nisei Fellowship Group: A social group that flourished among second-generation Japanese Canadians in Vancouver, 1952-1961. It was strongly affiliated with the Vancouver Japanese United Church.
Vancouver School of Theology (VST): The ecumenical theological college that superseded Union College and the Anglican Theological College; located at the University of British Columbia.
Verso: The reverse side (e.g. of a photograph)
Welfare Industries: A service society of First United Church (Vancouver). The United Church of Canada sold the Powell Street Church to Welfare Industries in 1953.
Woman’s Missionary Society (WMS): An organization of the Methodist and later United Church of Canada that did mission work both in Canada and abroad. A large part of the work centered on schools and hospitals. In Canada, the WMS appointed missionaries (“WMS workers”) to support immigrants, Indigenous communities, and people living in poverty.