CT Classic: Confronting Canada's Secular Slide
Why Canadian evangelicals thrive in a culture often indifferent to religious faith.
"John G. Stackhouse, Jr" | posted 4/01/2001 12:00AM
An American who lived in Washington State once hosted an old college buddy from Alabama for a summer vacation. As the visitor's week drew to a close, the Washingtonian invited him to come out the back door. You've been here all this time," he said, "and I haven't told you that our yard ends at the Canada/U.S. border. Why don't we walk through the hedge so that you can say you've been to Canada?"
His friend liked that idea. "But," he replied, "shouldn't I bring a jacket?"
Americans assume that Canada is just like the United States—except colder. When it comes to evangelicals in Canada, the stereotype may be partly true: Canadian evangelicals live and witness in a chillier cultural climate. While Christianity in the nineteenth century transformed Canada even more dramatically than America, decades of secularization have profoundly cooled the nation's once-Christian atmosphere. And even though recent polls show a slight upturn in church attendance after decades of precipitous declines the picture is still not bright. How have Canada's evangelicals responded? As the clustering of evangelical churches and ministries known as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, evangelicals in the States stand to learn much from their Canadian cousins.
An American in Toronto
At first glance, Canadian evangelicalism may not seem especially distinct from the American variety. A recent Christian conference in southern Ontario, for example, boasted a lineup of American standbys: John Wimber, Jim Wallis, and Ken Medema. Still other Americans filled out the ranks and—oh, yes—two Canadians were featured as well: Don Posterski, a widely known writer on church life and social trends in Canada, and David Mainse, host of Canada's most popular Christian talk show, 100 Huntly Street.
Another Canadian evangelical talk show recently advertised its most attractive guests: Each was a prominent American evangelical. Walk into any evangelical bookstore and you find the same American authors prominently on display. As you browse, try to locate Canadian authors or publishers—while you listen to Amy Grant, Carman, or some other American musician over the sound system.
Americans may predominate in Canada's popular evangelical culture, but some British influence remains. John Stott, J. I. Packer (now a Canadian himself), Alister McGrath, and the late David Watson continue to be widely read. And on Sunday morning, many congregations will sing "Shine, Jesus, Shine" or some other praise song by English composer Graham Kendrick.
But Canadian evangelicalism is far from being a simple hybrid of British and American influences. The country itself is too vast and diverse for that. Canada spans one-quarter of the world's time zones and is "taller" north to south than the United States is "wide" east to west. It is closer to fly from Canada's east coast to Dublin than to Toronto. Vancouver on the west coast is 350 miles closer to Tokyo than to Halifax on the east coast.
Yet 90 percent of Canada's 26 million inhabitants are huddled within 100 miles of the American border. Following this thin strip of population across the country tells us much about Canada's evangelicals.
Starting with the east, Canada's four Atlantic Provinces attract tourists because of their spectacular coastlines, picturesque cities and villages, and inviting green farms and orchards. But they first attracted colonists because of their fish and timber, as well as their strategic location at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River.
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