The state of the church: a Conference Pastor perspective
There’s an old song from the sixties that starts with the line: “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear” (“For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, 1966). These words are befitting the state of the Canadian church right now as things seem to have shifted and we are desperately trying to regain our sense of balance.
In spring 2022, Cardus, a Canadian non-partisan think tank, gathered data from nine surveys taken between 2017–2022 in order to get a snapshot of the religious landscape in Canada. In reading the report it is obvious that the events of the past three years have negatively affected the religious landscape in Canada. Looking around we may be tempted to ask the same question as Job; “Where then is [our] hope?” (Job 17:15).
The Cardus report, The Shifting Landscape of Faith in Canada (www.cardus.ca), highlights four distinct groups: about 19 percent of Canadians are now identified as being Non-religious. Half of these are between the ages of 18–40 and the majority are male. The greatest increase is those who are considered Spiritually Uncertain (47 percent), with nearly half of this group being individuals who were raised in a faith tradition. Another expanding group is the Privately Faithful (19 percent)—those who choose to practice their faith apart from a religious community. Only 16 percent of Canadians are considered Religiously Committed.
The majority of those who are Religiously Committed self-identify as being Evangelical Christians, and most are female (58 percent). It appears from the data that within the Canadian church, women are keeping the spiritual fires burning, but are growing weary in doing so.
In measuring the degree of religious commitment, seven indicators were explored. How regularly do respondents (1) read the Bible, (2) attend a religious service, (3) feel God’s presence, and (4) pray? Then to what degree do they believe (5) religious education is important for kids, (6) there is life after death, and that (7) there is a living God? These seven indicators are what we would traditionally refer to as part of our Christian discipleship process.
Four white pills for the Canadian church
It is easy to decry the woes of the society and to fixate on the apparent shift away from the church. Yet, I believe embedded in the report are four white pills. A white pill refers to an opportunity for good amid what seems to be a negative situation. Here are the four white pills I believe are important for our churches today.
1. Kids ministry
I will give you two reasons why kids ministry is an important area to focus on right now. First, most Canadians support this as being important for a child’s development—even those who do not attend church themselves. Secondly, those who come to faith at a young age are most likely to be attending the church as adults.
Healthy churches place a high value on kids ministry by investing in the proper resources and emphasizing training that will ensure the ministry is done well. As children attend, interact, and engage, kids ministry opens the door for ministry with parents as well. Many adults who choose to return to church and consistently attend, do so because of their children.
2. Men’s ministry
In Canada, men aged 35–54 are the least likely demographic to feel God’s presence and as a result are less likely to truly engage in faith practices—reading the Bible, praying, and attending corporate worship services. Yet, the largest increase of Canadians who indicate they pray at least once a month is among men under the age of 35. Young men appear to be looking for meaning in their lives and are open to guidance from God and Christian mentors. The need right now is for an approach to men’s ministry that is experiential—where faith is practically lived out, integrity is promoted, and purpose is laid out as a challenge to be taken up.
3. Biblical integrity
According to the surveys three quarters of those who identify as Evangelical Christian are Religiously Committed. At the same time, “Mainline Protestants have the highest percentage of any other religious group in the Spiritually Uncertain category (at 56 percent)”. Churches that choose to de-emphasize the gospel message of repentance and obedience to biblical truths are seeing declining numbers. It’s not necessary to take up a defensive posture that isolates our churches from society. Neither are we required to step up on a soap box to denounce every wrong we see in the world. Instead, we take up the position of, “This is what the Bible says, let us endeavour to live it out together.”
4. Genuine experiences
The Cardus group highlighted that many are “yearning for” a religious experience. Over the years, we may have been so reluctant to fall into the trap of emotionalism that we have gutted the very thing that ensures longevity and faithfulness—genuine felt experiences. We are not talking about fake encounters or whipped-up frenzies. We are talking about providing space and time for encounters with the Divine. The researchers assert that; “rather than understanding religion as an escape from suffering, increasingly converts are seeking to understand their suffering within a religious context.” It’s about real people connecting with one another and with God in a genuine way. This is the very heart of the Anabaptist approach to ministry.
Renewed hope
Remember that God has a track record of moving in extraordinary ways during the darkest of times. Therefore, we do not want to grieve these times as those who have no hope. Instead, we want to look up with the attitude of Paul who said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 ESV). We want to be praying and positioning ourselves to be the church that Christ is calling us to be in these days.
