Alpha Canada and Message Canada joined forces with Angus Reid Group to present a positive view of “how God is moving across Canada during their Sharing Jesus webinar October 15.
Alpha Canada National Director Shaila Visser stressed that the project is very much Canada-based, adding “We want to be attentive to what the Spirit is saying through the data.”
She began on her presentation by acknowledging that we have become accustomed to hearing not-so-positive news about the state of Christian faith in Canada:
If you look at the headlines, there’s the noise of culture. If you’re following societal trends, it’s easy to absorb a narrative that faith in Canada is simply shrinking into irrelevance.
But when we look closer, when we actually stop and listen and pay attention to everyday Canadians, a different hope-filled story emerges. . . .
There’s three things I want to talk about:
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- Canadians are positive about Jesus;
- Canadians value authentic relationships; and
- Canadians are already connected.
She pointed out that the study had spoken with 3,000 participants, with a good balance between men and women, age range, income and education levels – and with strong representation everywhere except in the North.
In terms of religious identity, 1,057 identified themselves as Christian (only 259 ‘practicing’), with 1,947 seeing themselves as non-Christian (and 1,622 of them reporting ‘no religion’ at all):
This is distinctly below where earlier research and census data has reported on Christian affiliation. And it likely marks a continued trend in the decline of Christian affiliation.
[This trend is clearly spelled out in a book review by James Coggins on this site last week, where he writes of leading sociologist Reginald Bibby’s new book: “The Canadian Transformation makes for sobering and disturbing reading. Bibby’s ‘decisive conclusion’ is that ‘Religion in Canada has known something of a golden era. But that era has been over since the final decades of the 20th century.’”]
Shaila Visser is National Director of Alpha Canada.
Visser said:
Now if you look at those numbers you might think – like I did at first – oh, my goodness, how are we ever going to reach people?
But really today, my prayer is that as we walk through the three key takeaways from the data, your heart would be encourage, excited and filled with deep hope and confidence for how God is moving in our country, because we are seeing God on the move, and we’re seeing that Canadians are far more ready to talk about life, meaning and Jesus than we often give realize. This data is going to really encourage you in that.
Let’s . . . start by looking at the spiritual landscape in Canada. While we see affiliation in decline, there’s something happening in our country. Canadians are actively seeking for meaning, purpose and connection.
Bill Hogg, President of Message Canada, wrote a 20-page illustrated Sharing Jesus e-booklet. Here is a comment from the Introduction:
[S]piritual openness varies across the country. British Columbia has stronger than average spiritual curiosity with low institutional attachment; Christianity is a familiar story for Albertans who are unsure of where they stand; while Quebec is the most reserved region requiring greater trust-building before dialogue opens. . . .
The majority of Canadians view Jesus positively and regularly interact with practicing Christians. The study also shows most Christians feel ill-equipped to share Jesus. In this open-yet-cautious culture, effective faith conversations depend entirely on trust, tone, and authentic relationships.
Bill Hogg is President of Message Canada.
He states later:
The search for meaning is alive and well. About 70% of adults either actively seek understanding and conversations about meaning, purpose, beliefs, and spirituality, or often think and speak about these topics. Only a small minority are “not really interested.” . . .
Most Canadians describe Jesus as loving (almost 75%), selfless, powerful, life-changing, and revolutionary Canadian Christ followers must be mindful of the credibility gap between Jesus and Christianity.
When describing Christianity, people are much more likely to choose words like judgmental, controlling, divisive and “causes arguments,” even though some also see Christianity as loving, giving and impactful. . . .
This raises a question for the individual Christ follower – does my life commend Jesus and his good news amongst those I rub shoulders with? It raises a larger question regarding Christian community. This Canadian moment requires faith communities that display the grace, love, wisdom, ways of Jesus before a watching world.
Many non-Christians are willing to talk with us about our faith:
About 50% of non-Christians, say they would be likely to have a respectful and open conversation about the Christian faith with someone they trust, compared to only about a quarter who would be likely to attend a Christian service if invited, and roughly 1 in 8 who are likely to explore Christian beliefs on their own in the next year. . . .
Among non-Christians, about 81% know a practicing Christian, and 67% have had at least one conversation about faith with a churchgoing Christian. Most of these conversations take place in person, and in many cases the Christian takes the initiative. However, these conversations are very much a mixed bag, with most practicing Christians reporting inadequacy in faith sharing.
He concludes:
For the Church, this moment is an invitation and an opportunity. By focusing on relational proximity, honest conversation, humble storytelling, and prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, Christians in Canada can share Jesus in ways that resonate deeply with the longings of their neighbours.
Evangelism in this context is less about volume and more about presence – less about winning arguments and more about sharing Jesus in word and deed.
Go to the Alpha Canada site or the Message Canada site for more on the Sharing Jesus report, including the full webinar video and links to the booklet. Though the study concerns all of Canada, both Alpha Canada and Message Canada are based in Metro Vancouver.
Another study earlier this year came to somewhat similar conclusions; I posted ‘Faith restored? Cardus study cautiously optimistic about young people & faith’ in March.