Canadian Church Data 2026
If you haven’t heard me talking about the need for CANADIAN data on the reality we face in today’s Christian Church landscape - hear me now!!!
Granted, we can learn lots from US and UK data that details the trends about religious practice and the Church… for sure. But, we live in a very different context and it is important to check these ‘global’ trends with solid Canadian research(#elbowsup). Recently retired scholars like Professor Emeritas The Rev. Dr. Stuart Macdonald’s Substack is an excellent example.
Two other key people in this world are Dr. Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme at the University of Waterloo and Dr. Joel Thiessenfrom Ambrose University.
Dr. Wilkins-Laflamme is the Director of the Institute for Religion, Culture and Societal Futures (IRCSF) hosted by St. Jerome’s University at the University of Waterloo. IRCSF is Canada’s hub for social scientific and empirical research related to religion, spirituality, and emerging forms of communities of belief and practice. The IRCSF is non-partisan, and brings together both resident and visiting scholars working in the fields of sociology of religion and the social scientific study of religion to support undergraduate and graduate students, community organizations, faith groups, schools, the media, and the general public in better understanding the religious landscape of Canada and connections between religion, spirituality, secularity and other aspects of public and social life. The IRCSF hosts talks and workshops, publishes reports, media releases and social media posts, and provides consulting services.
Dr. Joel Thiessen is the Director of the Flourishing Congregations Institute hosted by Ambrose University. The Institute seeks to support the flourishing of Canadian pastors, denominational leaders, and lay leaders by sharing Canadian data on Canadian congregations. It is an interdisciplinary, ecumenical research centre that collaborates with scholars and practitioners from diverse disciplinary and theological traditions and institutions, across Canadian regions.
These two Canadian scholars shared a short conversation about the concept of flourishing congregations, and what this phenomenon currently looks like in the Canadian context. IRCSF’s YouTube channel has recordings of other presentations and conversations over the past year that may also be of interest. This one just asks for 7 minutes of your time… or 5 minutes and 36 at 1.25 speed!