Rev. Coleman urged the church to acknowledge participation in residential institutions, facilitating an apology to former students in 1998.
The United Church of Canada grieves the death of Rev. Kathryn Virginia “Ginny” Coleman, who faithfully served as the eighth General Secretary of the church from 1994–2002. Rev. Coleman died on April 3, 2026. She is predeceased by her beloved spouse, Suzanne Morris (2014), and survived by her sister, Barb (Gary), stepson Chris Emond (Lisa), and two grandchildren, Kye and Michelle.
She was General Secretary of the General Council from 1994–2002. During that time, she oversaw several important milestones for the church, including the historic Blackwater v. Plinth case. The civil suit targeted the federal government, which owned the Alberni residential school, and the United Church, which operated it. The suit, which expanded to other denominations, left the churches with a difficult choice, and in the end, they lobbied for a comprehensive out-of-court settlement to residential school survivors to avoid financial ruin; the tactic retraumatized the plaintiffs.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Coleman told Broadview Magazine’s Richard Wright in 2016. “Willie Blackwater and his lawsuit certainly pushed the button to make the church and government take notice.”
During Rev. Coleman’s time, the United Church created the Healing Fund, which was set up to help First Nations communities respond to the painful legacy of residential institutions. Rev. Coleman urged the church to do the right thing and not shirk from acknowledging its participation in the horrors of the residential school system. She facilitated an apology to former students of United Church Indian Residential Schools in 1998.
Rev. Coleman also presided over celebrating the church’s 75th anniversary in 2000. We are grateful for Ginny’s leadership during these important events in the life of this United Church of ours.
Rev. Coleman was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1949, and attended McMaster University from 1968–1971. She went on to study at the Centre for Christian Studies, receiving a diploma as a Professional Christian Educator in 1975. That same year, she was commissioned by Hamilton Conference, and went on to serve as Director of Education at St. Paul's United in Orillia for five years, then St. Paul's in Midland from 1981–1982.
She used her gifts in leadership and management to serve the church in a variety of different roles throughout the next 20 years; as well holding the position of General Secretary, she was the secretary of Ministry Personnel Services in the Division of Ministry Personnel and Education from 1984–1991, and Executive Secretary of Hamilton Conference from 1992–1994. From 2002–2005, she was Executive Secretary of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Conference. From 2005–2011 she worked as a diaconal minister in Little Britain, Manitoba.
After enjoying several well-earned years of retirement, Rev. Coleman also served at Cloverdale United Church, Clandeboye-Winnipeg Pastoral Charge and Grey Street UC in Winnipeg, MB, where she served faithfully and happily both as oversight minister (2021–2023) and quarter-time minister from September 2023 to June 2024.
The church across the country offers our deepest condolences to Ginny’s family, friends, and the community of Sandy Hook, MB, where she lived. As per Rev. Coleman’s wishes, there will be no funeral or celebration of life. An interment will be held at a later date.