Ernest Edgar Long
Section C, Lot 24
Pine Hills Cemetery
Ernest Long was born in Brighton, England in 1901. In 1910 he and his family came to Canada, settling in Woodstock, Ontario. Coming, as he did, from a family with Congregationalist and Methodist roots, and being much influenced by his sister's decision to become a missionary, he decided at 15 to become a minister. At 18 Ernest Long was accepted for mission field work in Northern Ontario and in and around Woodstock. He travelled by horse and buggy or bicycle to minister to various congregations. He attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1924, then spent three years on a bachelor of divinity at Union Theological Seminary in New York. While there, he was boys' work director in the east-side slums. The Reverend Long was ordained in The United Church of Canada in May of 1926 — less than one year after it had come into being. His first posting was in Tillsonburg, where he spent six years at Avondale United Church. From there he went to Barrie, Kirkland Lake, Montreal and finally Humbercrest United in Toronto, where he served for over a year before being elected Secretary of the General Council of the United Church in 1955. A position he held until his retirement in 1971. During his tenure as Chief Administrator of The United Church of Canada, the Reverend Long was also an Executive Officer of the World Methodist Council, a member of the World Alliance of Reform (Presbyterian) Churches, a member of the International Congregational Council, Chairman of Ecumenical Affairs of the Canadian Council of Churches, and served on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. The Reverend Dr. Ernest E. Long, B.A., M.Div., D.D., LL.D. died on Sunday, August 11, 1985 at the age of 84.