Moderator of the United Church of Canada  The Moderator of the United Church of Canada is the most senior elected official within the United Church of Canada. He or she may be a lay person or a member of the Order of Ministry and is elected to a three-year term by commissioners attending the church's triannual General Council. The current Moderator is the Right Reverend Dr. Richard Bott, who was elected to the office at the 43rd General Council in Oshawa, Ontario in July 2018. The Moderator's authority exists by his or her ability to influence the direction of the denomination, rather than any sort of direct power to unilaterally enact changes. Duties of the Moderator include:  When the United Church of Canada was founded in 1925, General Councils were biannual, giving each moderator a two-year term of office. (The exception was the first moderator, George C. Pidgeon, who only served for one year.) At the 1994 General Council, the commissioners voted to make General Councils triannual, thus increasing the moderator's term to three years. Although most moderators have been ordained ministers, this is not a requirement of office, and to date, four moderators have been lay persons. If the moderator is ordained, he or she is styled the "Right Reverend" while in office, and the "Very Reverend" afterwards.