Abstract
Survey data from government censuses, academic research and commercial polling have shown that active membership in the mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in Canada has been declining precipitously during the past half-century while evangelical Protestant churches have been expanding or at least holding their own. Reimer and Wilkinson set out to explain the relative success of the evangelical churches. In 2009 they conducted a study of pastors and youth leaders through face-to-face and telephone interviews. Given the difficulty of defining and identifying evangelical churches and the large number of these (at least 100 denominations, not including independent congregations), the authors limited their study to five of the largest denominations: Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Christian Reformed Church, Mennonite Brethren, Christian and Missionary Alliance and four Baptist conventions.
The focus of the research was the health of congregations rather than the commitment of individual members, since they hypothesize that the former is determinative of the latter: “Whether the Canadian evangelical behaves and thinks more like a devoted evangelical or more like a typical Canadian has a lot to do with how well enmeshed they are in an evangelical congregation” (38). These congregations exhibit several features that attract and retain members: their distinctiveness vis-à-vis secular culture, but only on some issues (e.g., sexual morality); their relational embeddedness (group solidarity), which reinforces the feeling of distinctiveness; their promotion of personal religious experience, whereby members internalize the church’s beliefs and morals; and their emphasis on faith development, especially in children and youth (59–62).
The interviews with pastors expanded on these congregational strengths while dispelling some stereotypes of evangelicals. Two-thirds of the pastors stated that “fundamentalist” does not describe their churches very well (131). Nor do evangelical congregations promote a right-wing political agenda: “They are committed to promoting Christian values in society at the same time as they are committed to pluralism and diversity” (90). Their top priorities are passing the faith on to the children, providing welcoming worship services and encouraging gift-based service (109). Activities for children and youth include discussion groups dealing with both religious and secular topics, community service, nature/wilderness events and mission trips. Evangelicals give more generously of their money and time to service activities, both religious and non-religious, than do other Canadians, including mainline Protestants and Catholics (204). However, most of these activities can be characterized as “charity” rather than “social justice.”
Despite their relative healthiness, evangelical congregations face many challenges. Over the years they have made few converts from outside, relying instead on retaining family members and absorbing evangelical immigrants. They have difficulty attracting and retaining clergy, due in part to declining enrolment in seminaries, the small size of many congregations, which cannot afford a full-time minister, and conflicts between young clergy and their (generally older) congregations. Although youth ministry is a very high priority and they are much more successful than mainline Protestant and Catholic churches in youth participation, almost 40% of those “who regularly attended evangelical congregations as children attend seldom or never as young adults” (174).
In their conclusion the authors caution that while statistics are suggestive of church healthiness, they do not provide a complete picture. Nevertheless, the book provides valuable information for church members, whether evangelical, mainline Protestant or Catholic, who are concerned about the future of their denominations. It will also be of interest to academics and policy makers who examine the influence of religion in Canada, including the disproportionate contributions of church-goers to charitable causes.