The Reverend, the Honourable Lois M. Wilson was elected president of the Canadian Council of Churches in 1976 and moderator of the United Church of Canada in 1980, the first woman to hold either office.

Senator Wilson will address the Awards of Excellence Banquet at the Centennial Gathering/General Assembly on Wednesday evening.

In 1983 she was elected one of the 7 presidents of the World Council of Churches. Also in 1983, she became co-director of the Ecumenical Forum of Canada. She has been instrumental in awakening in the United Church an increased concern for co-ordinated action to eliminate poverty and promote peace throughout the world.

In 1984 she became a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 1985 she received the Pearson Peace Prize and World Federalists Peace Award. The author of several books and the recipient of many honorary degrees, she has been chancellor of Lakehead University since 1991.

In 1998, Lois Wilson was appointed to the Senate of Canada, where she served as an Independent member until her retirement in 2002 at age 75. Dr. Wilson won the World Federalist Peace Prize and Canada's Pearson Peace Medal. Previously an Officer of the Order of Canada, she is one of the few Canadians to be promoted to the top rank of Companion. She is also a Member of the Order of Ontario.

Wilson was born in Winnipeg and obtained her B.A. degree from the University of Manitoba in 1947. Ordained after 15 years as a homemaker, Wilson shared team ministries with her husband, Roy, successively in Thunder Bay, Hamilton Kingston, where she served from 1978 to 1980.

 

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