1. 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 © 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)

2. What happened to Christian Canada?
Mark Noll, American Society of Church History

4. 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).

5. 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).

6. 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).

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

8. How Did This Happen?

11. Sunday School enrolment, Presbyterian Church in Canada

12. Baptisms, Presbyterian Church in Canada

14. Presbyterian baptisms as percentage of Canadian births

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

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

20. Selection from Table 2.5 - Difference (gain/loss) of selected groups in the census
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

21. Third finding: The number of Catholics is now stagnant

22. Selection from Table 2.5 - Difference (gain/loss) of selected groups in the census
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

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

24. No Religion

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

26. 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

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