What do Pope John Paul II and Mick Jagger have in common? There is a joke in there somewhere, but one thing that applies to both men is that they can draw hundreds of thousands of worshipping followers to Toronto's massive Downsview Park, a feat few people in the world could likely match.

They are also both senior citizens.

The 2001 census on Canada's population suggests that the power of older Canadians will only increase as Canada's traditional demographic pyramid-small numbers of older Canadians supported by a large base of younger citizens-is flipped on its head. Canada is aging due to a low birth rate and insufficient immigration numbers, making 21st-century Canadian seniors an important group for advertisers, politicians and religious leaders alike.

In Ontario alone, there are already 1.5 million people aged 65 or older, making it one of the largest consumer blocs around. That doesn't mean the elderly will vote or shop en bloc. It does, however, suggest that their views will count much more than ever before.

So what does this mean for the Church?

New views

While most people typically become more conservative (and open to spiritual things) as they age, this older generation of Canadians is like no other generation before it. Its views on sex, drugs, music, fashion and morality can hardly be expected to be kind to those in the Church who insist the "faith of our fathers" has always been good enough.

Can you dig John Paul II's message and still listen to "I Can't Get No Satisfaction?" It seems many can and do.

Here's what churches find themselves up against as the "new demographics" take hold in post-modern Canada:

Most Canadians, including 21st-century seniors, won't buy the idea of a "Christian nation." There are no absolutes, just doing your own thing, man.

Too many Christians in Canada are happy to have religion be "comfort food," which would seem to make many people either vulnerable to easy answers to tough questions-abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, etc.-or hostile to the gospel's often difficult standards.

Traditional church services have lost their relevance for vast numbers of Canadians young and old alike, including older people who have been walking away from religious "traditions" for decades.

The inability of Christian leaders to grapple with the role of women in the church makes male-dominated churches look petty. Whatever sound, biblical foundation is used to justify keeping women out of the pulpit, it sounds like patriarchy to post-modern Canadians.

The grandkids of our seniors will find relevance in church despite their parents, not because of them.

Comfort wanted

Canadians want comfort in a hectic and frightening world-physically, emotionally and spiritually. So while many will find it in the words of the religious leaders such as the current Pontiff, many more (sometimes the same people) will find satisfaction in the heady hedonism Jagger and the Stones have always exemplified-even if the same singer who once sang "What a drag it is getting old" is, in fact, old himself.

It's a paradox that's bound to keep social thinkers-and those who want to see Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed as Lord and Saviour-in business for many years.

Joe Couto a keen observer of the church in Canada who formerly served as communications manager for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and is a frequent contributor to ChristianWeek.

This is the last column in a nine-part series.