Jesse H. Arnup, (1881-1965) was a Methodist and then United Church minister and later the Moderator of the United Church of Canada. He was born in Norfolk County, Ontario in 1881. In 1905, he was received on trial by the Methodist Church in Estevan, Saskatchewan. He graduated from Victoria College in 1909 and received his D.D. from Wesley College, Winnipeg, in 1924. From 1910 to 1912 he was Secretary of the Layman's Missionary Movement of the Methodist Church, Assistant Secretary of Overseas Missions from 1913 to 1925, and Secretary of United Church of Canada Foreign Missions from 1925 to 1952. He served as Moderator from 1944 to 1946.

Meredith Black Banting was born on September 19, 1901 in Rounthwaite, Manitoba. He moved with his family to Manor, Saskatchewan as a teenager. He farmed in Richlea and operated Banting's Machine and Furniture Shop in Kindersley from 1933 to 1942.

In 1942, Banting entered the United Church Ministry. He served as a lay minister in Duval, Saskatchewan while completing high school correspondence classes. He then served as a lay minister in Raymore and Viscount while attending St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon. After his ordination in Moose Jaw in 1948, Banting served numerous parishes in Saskatchewan (Central Butte, Moose Jaw, Broadview, Whitewood, Wapella, Craik) and Alberta (Bow Island, Beaver Lodge). In 1970, Banting retired to Regina, where he was involved with the Westminster United Church's native ministries. He died in Regina on May 20, 1991.

Banting was a life member of the Masonic Lodge in Moose Jaw and the Order of Eastern Star Chapter 7 in Regina. An amateur photographer, Banting also loved music and sang in several choirs. Banting wrote, compiled and edited numerous books, mainly of poetry and reminiscences, and operated Banting Publishers, a small press publishing company, out of his home at 2306 Athol Street in Regina. Banting also produced and hosted several television and radio programs, mainly for children and senior citizens.

Banting married Florence Harper in 1934. The Bantings had one daughter: Anne.