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Are we ready to meet the next generation in the digital spaces they already call home? This post explores how followers of Christ can shift from being mere screen consumers to active creators to build online neighbourhoods that foster genuine discipleship and evangelism.
Canada and America appear to be in a deteriorating relationship. When Donald Trump expressed an interest in making Canada America’s “51st State” near the end of 2024, an overwhelming amount of Canadians brought their “elbows up” in protest. The hockey term—meaning a player is on the ice to defend and bring physical violence to members of the opposing team—communicated a rejection of such a possibility in a very Canadian way.
Concerns of American annexation are not new to the Can-Am dynamic. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick seemed fated to become the 14th colony in the early days of the Revolutionary War (1776-1783). After Britain defeated France in the mid-1700s, the Acadian (French) inhabitants of those lands were deemed too French to occupy such valuable real estate. After the expulsion of the Acadians, the Crown invited interested colonists from the south to populate these regions with more loyal subjects.1 This was the birth of the Nova Scotia New Englanders—a group of people named for their new colonial location and their place of origin. When, just twenty years later, the members of the 13 colonies declared their independence from the British Crown, it seemed a natural fit for these former New Englanders to join the cause.
Both practical theology and sociology of religion are interested in how local congregations in urban contexts are dealing with their environment. To say it bluntly, two attributes exist: on one hand, there exists a model which sees local congregations as citadels besieged by dissolving secular forces and insists on the necessity to limit interactions with non-Christian organizations; on the other hand, a second model contends that being truly Christian in an urban context implies committing to the local environment. Commitment doesn’t necessarily mean evangelizing and calling people to repent in public spaces, but it means living distinctively Christians lives in a secular world.
Explore the relationship between Christianity and culture in this thought-provoking video with James Tyler Robertson, Associate Professor of Christian History at Tyndale University. In “Defending White Jesus,” Robertson unpacks the historical, cultural, and theological implications of portraying Jesus as white—a depiction that has shaped Western Christianity for centuries.
Whether you’re a theology student, a curious observer, or someone wrestling with the intersection of culture and Christianity, this video offers a nuanced look at how images of the divine reflect—and often reinforce—human narratives, sometimes in divisive and problematic ways.
Whether you’re a theology student, a curious observer, or someone wrestling with the intersection of culture and Christianity, this video offers a nuanced look at how images of the divine reflect—and often reinforce—human narratives.
I am an editor for the journal Post Christendom Studies. In the most recent issue we asked a number of scholars to reflect on the 2021 Canadian census with a view to understanding the implications of religious trends in Canada on the church today. The 2021 Canadian census confirmed trends in religious habits that are now cemented into the Canadian identity. It offered a picture of the reality that Canadians are increasingly less inclined toward participating in structured religious activities and are less inclined to belief in God. While there may not have been any great surprises in the latest census data it depicts some sobering realities for anyone engaged in church leadership. The diverse group of scholars, from Canada and elsewhere, came up with a number of thoughts that have implications for ministry in Canada and North America today. Here is a sampling of them.
Dr. Ross Lockhart shares highlights from his recent research project studying 14 Christian communities in Vancouver, British Columbia where the major of the city’s population now identifies as having “no religion.” Lockhart provides a summary of his findings with suggestions on areas for pastoral leaders to focus on in order to connect with their secular neighbour.
As disruptive technology continues to shape the world, the Christian church faces critical decisions in engaging with advancements like Artificial Intelligence and digitalization. A recent study by Futuring Hub at Acadia Divinity College reveals surprising hesitations among Canadian church leaders toward four key technology trends, including hybrid worship and AI. These initial findings invite Christian leaders to thoughtfully discern technology’s role in ministry, recognizing both the potential for good and the ethical implications.
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.
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.
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.
