Tour helps churches better understand a changing Canadian society
OTTAWA, ON—A new national tour spearheaded by World Vision Canada is helping church leaders think seriously about the changing dynamics of Canadian culture and how to inspire dialogue with people outside church walls.
Shifting Stats: Shaking the Church features Don Moore, World Vision Canada’s National Church Ambassador, and Bruxy Cavey, pastor of The Meeting House and author of The End of Religion.
Moore hopes to inspire dialogue on how Christians can respond effectively with the gospel when presented with some of the challenges of Canada’s cultural climate.
“I travel back-and-forth across Canada meeting denominational leaders and pastors, so I notice patterns going on,” Moore explains. “We decided to get the stats to document what I have seen. In this tour, I am presenting the shifting stats and Bruxy is sharing how to re-frame the gospel in light of the changing dynamics.”
The tour started in Saskatoon March 18, and will hit 10 cities from coast to coast ending in Victoria, May 8. Shifting Stats marks the 10th tour World Vision Canada has organized for church leaders during the last seven years.
“Thousands of Canadians support our development work overseas,” says Moore. “We try to give back to the churches by hosting annual church leader forums, bringing in knowledge specialists who can help churches further accomplish their mission in the local community.”
The duo is highlighting trends among Canadian families, immigration and stewardship of time, money and technology. Moore points out the median net worth of single-parent families led by a female is $14,000 and the number of single-parent families has doubled during the past 50 years.
Another strategic area Moore identified is that, according to Statistics Canada, nearly twice as many immigrants (43 per cent) attend religious services at least once a month, versus native-born Canadians (23 per cent).
“That’s quite a contrast. We have to learn to listen to the immigrant community and engage them in worship and leadership,” Moore states. “Right now there are more Canadian teens who identify as Muslims then Anglican, United Church and Baptist combined. One-third of Canadians ages 15 to 24 have never attended a religious institution.”
Cavey responds by using his church as a case-study to get pastors discussing ways the Church can be “more welcoming and more witnessing.”
“I talk about ways we can better position ourselves to create safe places for spiritual seekers to ask questions and how we can serve the needs of people around us in more practical ways,” he says. “I think there’s real life when we learn from each other in different denominations. It’s always very valuable for the Church to cross-pollinate.”
Moore also hopes to use the forum to collect success stories to encourage Canadian churches.
Photo courtesy of Don Moore
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