Author: Emanuel Cusanelli

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Christian Identity vs. Christian Doctrine

Many Canadians identify as Christians, but what do they actually believe? Canadian Christians’ beliefs don’t necessarily match what their churches teach. That’s one of the key findings in a major new study by think tank Cardus, Still Christian(?): What Canadian Christians Actually Believe. Ray Pennings, Executive Vice President of Cardus, highlights some of the key inconsistencies between Christians’ personal beliefs and historical doctrines, which have significant implications for discipleship, evangelism, and reaching the next generation.

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The Stories Congregations Tell: Flourishing in the Face of Transition and Change

Congregations are story-telling communities. The stories they tell, which link a community’s past, present, and future, can play an important role in whether a congregation flourishes or not. The Stories Congregations Tell features detailed case study research from seven dynamic Canadian congregations across theological traditions and geographical regions. Readers will encounter narratives that congregations tell themselves through a myriad of congregational and social transitions, accounts that shape how congregations interpret, frame, approach, and ultimately flourish in ministry. On the surface congregational descriptions appear specific to local contexts. Yet, cultural analysis reveals several commonalities across distinct congregational cultures that appear resilient in the face of challenge and change. These factors include visionary leadership, clear congregational identity rooted in spiritual formation, hospitable community among members, and intentional systems and structures oriented toward a congregation’s mission. This book offers social scientific analysis and theological reflection on the stories congregations tell and the function those stories play for a congregation’s culture, along with practical and hopeful applications to arise from this research.

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Mental Health and Illness in Canadian Congregations, 2024

What attitudes and perceptions regarding mental health, mental illness, and mental health challenges exist in Canadian Christian congregations, and what congregational supports and resources related to these topics exist? These questions anchor this survey, in partnership with Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, with nearly 1000 church leaders and congregants across theological traditions and Canadian regions. This report also offers a way forward for churches, informed by these data.

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When research gets it wrong

Research shapes how we think. But what if the research we’re accessing is inaccurate? Researchers at the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada studied how Evangelicals are found through survey research and came across alarming trends in Evangelical samples. Their findings have implications for how Evangelicals are represented in media and for making data informed decisions as ministry leaders.

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Reverse Testimonies Behind the Shifting Stats: Blessed are the Undone Spotlights Canadian Deconstruction Stories

We have heard of the religious “nones” and “dones” but this book talks about the “undone.” Blessed are the Undone: Testimonies of the Quiet Deconstruction of Faith in Canada by Angela Bick and Peter Schuurman offers an assessment of the “deconstruction” trend by examining 70 “reverse testimonies” of conservative and evangelical Canadians. The stories form a pattern of 7 trigger issues that reveal the “church hurt” that leads to becoming undone. They insist, however, that deconstruction is the necessary precursor to the reconstruction of the church.

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Evangelizing in a post-Christian Quebec from Exhortation to Incarnation

Let’s start with a personal anecdote. It’s a normal Thursday evening, I’m on the subway, on my way home after a day of work at the university. As I’m about to leave the metro station, two women stop me, saying with a big smile: “Are you a Christian? Are you saved?” After a very quick chat, they invite me to read a short prayer where I recognize I am a sinner and that if I want to get eternal life, I must give my life to Jesus. Then, the two women explained to me that that they are from Nigeria and that their Church (the Christ Embassy, one of the most powerful and successful transnational African Churches) is about to launch a congregation in my neighbourhood.
Encounters of this kind happen daily on Montreal’s public transit systems, which is why a colleague and I decided to do some fieldwork about Christians who evangelize in such public spaces. The questions guiding our research are simple: can we identify different strategies in the task of evangelizing urban populations? What do the people who evangelize in the streets and public transit systems expect to achieve? Do they care about finding strategies for most efficiently proclaiming the gospel in a post-Christian Quebec, or do other concerns animate their activities? How do the province’s lively debates about the visibility of religion in public spaces impact their evangelizing activities?
Violence and abuse happen across all types of relationships and backgrounds—economic, ethnic, and social. It involves physical, sexual, emotional, spiritual, and financial abuse to control and maintain power. This reality can be discouraging for Christians. Many wonder, “How can domestic violence happen in our church family, where we profess to live God’s love through Christ?”

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