Leaving Christianity: Changing Allegiances in Canada Since 1945 How Canada has Changed and Why this matters for North American Theological Education A Discussion of Leaving Christianity: Changing Allegiances in Canada Since 1945 Stuart Macdonald December 5, 2018 (slides are © 2018 - Stuart Macdonald and Brian Clarke - slides may be used in faculty development and other educational purposes with proper attribution. For permission to use in any publication, please contact the authors)

What happened to Christian Canada? Mark Noll, 2006 - American Society of Church History

Sources of data on Canadians and religion Census (every ten years) - identity Statistics generated by religious groups (membership, Sunday school attendance, baptisms, etc.) Worship attendance Survey Data - Angus Reid; Statistics Canada (General Social Survey); Reginald Bibby (Project Canada).

Sources of data on Canadians and religion Census (every ten years) - identity Statistics generated by religious groups (membership, Sunday school attendance, baptisms, etc.) Worship attendance Survey Data - Angus Reid; Statistics Canada (General Social Survey); Reginald Bibby (Project Canada).

Sources of data on Canadians and religion Census (every ten years) - identity Statistics generated by religious groups (membership, Sunday school attendance, baptisms, etc.) Worship attendance Survey Data - Angus Reid; Statistics Canada (General Social Survey); Reginald Bibby (Project Canada).

Finding one - Canada’s mainstream Protestant denominations are in decline

How Did This Happen?

Sunday School enrolment, Presbyterian Church in Canada

Baptisms, Presbyterian Church in Canada

Presbyterian baptisms as percentage of Canadian births

Finding two: Other Protestant churches are growing, but not all are, and that growth has slowed down

Visual representation - data in Table 2 Visual representation - data in Table 2.4 - % growth/decline in census of other denominations

Selection from Table 2.5 - Difference (gain/loss) of selected groups in the census 1971-1981 1981-1991 1991-2001 2001-2011 Catholic 1,199,980 932,650 601,655 -126,200 Mainstream -161,050 -1,189,150 -596,580 -1,394,655 Other Protestant Denominations 387,095 307,150 -173,725 3,825 Protestant nos 63,535 565,410 -79,740 1,760 Christian nie 93,095 182,720 504,635 695,125 No Religion 853,955 1,602,835 1,513,730 2,950,515

Third finding: The number of Catholics is now stagnant

Selection from Table 2.5 - Difference (gain/loss) of selected groups in the census 1971-1981 1981-1991 1991-2001 2001-2011 Catholic 1,199,980 932,650 601,655 -126,200 Mainstream -161,050 -1,189,150 -596,580 -1,394,655 Other Protestant Denominations 387,095 307,150 -173,725 3,825 Protestant nos 63,535 565,410 -79,740 1,760 Christian nie 93,095 182,720 504,635 695,125 No Religion 853,955 1,602,835 1,513,730 2,950,515

Fourth finding: The number of Canadians with no religion is exploding

No Religion

Two “Soft: Categories Christian - Some 1.3 Million Canadians in 2011 - Not Evangelical Protestant - 550,000 Canadians

Summary - main findings Mainstream denominations declining (but recent) Other Protestant denominations growing - but not all, and less growth than in the past. Roman Catholics - stagnant No religion - explosive growth Taken together - a massive change in the Canadian Religious landscape

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (2007) Callum Brown, The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation 1800-2000 (2001)