On Thursday December 12, over 70 church researchers and denominational leaders gathered at Wycliffe College to discuss church research, current Canadian church trends, and the future of the Canadian Church. The occasion was the second annual gathering hosted by Wycliffe College's Canadian Institute for Empirical Church Research (CIECR).
Keynote speakers Dr Gina Zurlo and Dr Sam Reimer did not disappoint.
Dr Gina Zurlo
Dr Zurlo opened the day with a quote that gathered resonance as the day unfolded: “Christianity exists between the universal claim of its message and the particular way of practicing the faith.” This was no more apparent than in her eye-opening look at the shifts in global Christianity.
In 1900, 82% of all Christians lived in Europe and North America. By 2020, this figure had dropped to 33%. Today, 67% of all Christians live in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania.
Christianity, argued Dr Zurlo, is a global faith:
- 50% of all Christians are Catholic and 79% of Catholics live in Brazil.
- Spanish, English and Portuguese are the top three dominant languages (mother tongues) of Christians.
- 40% of all Protestants are Africans.
- Singapore is the country most comfortable with religious diversity.
This global shift carries profound implications for the North American Church at large, and for theological institutions like Wycliffe College.
Decentering Eurocentrism in the teaching of the history of Christianity remains key: “We need more history being written and taught by scholars from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania. Are students reading books by Asian theologians?” Dr Zurlo asked.”
Women make up the majority of churches around the world, and yet, “there is no complete physical security anywhere in the world for women,” Dr Zurlo shared. Access to all levels of education (especially for women), poor quality of life, and a lack of economic justice remain fundamental issues in the global South.
Dr Sam Reimer
Ending the day, Dr Reimer drew insights from his book Caught in the Current: British and Canadian Evangelicals in an Age of Self-Spirituality. He focused on how the Canadian Church is at a crossroads between self-spirituality and religiously-influenced immigrants.
Orthodoxy and orthopraxy, once the governing norms by which church members and adherents organized and practiced their beliefs, have been replaced by self-spirituality. This “inward turn” means most people now believe that 1) all religion, at its base, is the same, 2) one’s heart guides one to the truth, and 3) every person’s inner voice is divine. The Canadian Church must now contend with the growing belief that the goal of this self-spirituality is to find one’s authentic self and inner peace.
Reimer also posits that most Canadian church growth is likely the result of immigration. Immigrants revitalize existing churches, immigrant churches are concerned about the second generation, and existing churches are adjusting to immigrants – creating space, providing programs and adapting for greater cultural inclusiveness.
General themes
In between these keynote speakers, presenters focused on four themes: Church research and new definitions, Church research and transmission, Church research and technology, and Church research and the future. They represented a range of traditions, denominations and affiliations, and their topics ranged from gratitude as methodology, to clergy health and wellness in the midst of a post-pandemic malaise, to church realignment in the 21st century.
CIECR
CIECR post-doctoral fellows Dr James Watson and Dr Elizabeth Millar presented research being conducted as part of CIECR’s Divine Pulse project. Dr Watson talked about unique ways in which Canadian organizations are supporting new churches while Dr Millar offered three key findings for pastoral leaders from her qualitative research on what makes churches “great.”
CIECR Director Dr Stephen Hewko shared his passion for how AI and machine-based learning tools can extract and present nuanced insights from big data that could drive evidence-based, future-forward decision-making in churches.
CIECR Associate Director and the day’s coordinator Dr Scott Mealey offered as he shared nuanced insights from CIECR’s own work with 35 years of Canadian church data sourced from the Canada Revenue Agency. Bigger is not necessarily better, decline is not destiny (even though rural churches, small churches and traditional churches are feeling the most pull toward decline), and a practical theology of change needs to be taught in our theological institutions.
“I am particularly pleased with how the conversations and collaboration between church leaders and researchers has continued to evolve,” Dr Mealey said. “Presenters offered a variety of ways of reimagining a Canadian church that is not declining but is in transition. They offered new stories about health, immigration, partnerships, and shifting church engagement, and suggested new ways to tell them. We also got a better sense of how denominational leaders are using and thinking about data, and what researchers need to know about the successes and struggles that are taking place in their congregations.”
In many ways, the day sat, successfully, at the same intersection of wide nets of Church research and particular modes of Canadian practice that Dr Zurlo highlighted at the beginning of the day.
Learn more about how CIECR continues to draw together these two strands at https://www.wycliffecollege.ca/canadian-institute-empirical-church-research
