More Context for the Collapse of the Anglican Church of Canada

FOR TOO LONG, we have danced around the reality of the Anglican Church of Canada’s decline in finances and attendance, with Church House releasing statistics only sporadically, and various leaders offering soothing sermons on how God is doing something special — along the lines of our declining numbers being a picture of the upside-down kingdom.

Posted Date : 2024-10-02 22:45:00

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By Sharon Dewey Hetke

FOR TOO LONG, we have danced around the reality of the Anglican Church of Canada’s decline in finances and attendance, with Church House releasing statistics only sporadically, and various leaders offering soothing sermons on how God is doing something special — along the lines of our declining numbers being a picture of the upside-down kingdom. 

Yes, it’s true that attendance levels — or age demographics and baptismal numbers—never tell the whole story of faithfulness. But a healthy, living church grows, and the church exists to baptize and make disciples. The Anglican Church of Canada has long struggled with the “making disciples” part (confirmation numbers being one signal of this), but until fairly recently we’ve been pretty good at the baptizing. But now even those numbers have collapsed.

Still, it’s worth adding a bit more Canadian nuance to David Goodhew’s analysis. First, a church like the Anglican Church of Canada that has been committed to long-term presence in nearly every rural community in Canada is going to be greatly affected by urbanization.  

And then, regarding the “pockets of vitality” referenced in Goodhew’s article, there are indeed parishes in mid-size and larger cities that are growing, some of which are becoming increasingly multi-cultural through attracting new Canadians. But this vitality is seen not only in a parish here or there in Calgary or Toronto. Anglican Christianity is vibrant across the vast Arctic, and on many First Nations—where it is sometimes the only Christian denominational presence. Further, while these areas of the church have great challenges in terms of geography, finances and other social factors, they are also skewing much younger than the rest of the country’s Anglicans, and their numbers are growing. (And a note to those who greet a declaration of collapse with glee, keep in mind: The ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada in Northern communities will not easily be replaced.)

Still, Goodhew’s article is a needed splash of cold water on the face—it has certainly woken some Anglicans up to the fact that the numbers overall are devastating.

Goodhew makes the case that much of this decline can be blamed on progressivism in the church. It’s of course also true that some bastions of theological orthodoxy are experiencing decline, but Goodhew is not out on a limb in pointing the finger at progressive theology. Recent studies have done the same. See, for example, the 2017 report by David Haskell et al. “Theology Matters: Comparing the traits of Growing and Declining Mainline Protestant Church Attendees and Clergy.” (A sidenote: The use of the Diocese of Yukon in an article focused on decline of a progressive church may have confused some readers since, until quite recently, the Diocese of the Yukon had a more conservative ethos. It’s probably accurate to speculate that Yukon’s decline is based on many factors, with recent liberalizing being but one.)

So, are we indeed a church that is declining—or at least missing opportunities to reverse decline—because of a fixation on progressive causes? One sign this is the case is that, as Goodhew points out, Canadian Anglican churches writ large (unlike the Roman Catholics and others) have not realized the boost they might have expected from immigration. The fact is that Nigerians (for example) read international Anglican news too, and they are likely to be turned off by a Church that is preoccupied with various progressive causes and has at best a muted Gospel message. 

So, what about these “pockets of vitality”—whether in the Arctic or in major urban centres? Perhaps more, not less, should be made of those in discerning a prescription for the future. In order to hold together a network of Anglican churches, we will need larger, vital parishes to think nationally, reaching out to partner with struggling but Gospel-focused ministries. What a delight to read recently of Toronto’s St Paul’s Bloor St. parish offering financial support to a start-up Arctic radio station that plays Gospel music, church services, prayers and testimonies in Inuktitut.

And what if the energy and funds being directed towards various progressive causes in the Church were directed instead to paying non-stipendiary Indigenous clergy, and resourcing theological schools like James Settee in Saskatchewan? Or funding youth or prospective clergy to go to the north for short-term ministries? We might be amazed what a few hundred thousand dollars would do where there is an openness to the Gospel, and senior clergy already accustomed to sacrificial ministry. And these partnerships are sure to be a blessing to the whole Church—we have already seen hints of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Arctic bringing revival to the south.

What will this “collapse” mean for the many small, struggling but faithful Anglican churches in towns and villages across Canada? They have of course been closing at an increased pace over the last decade. And there will be more closures. But I would highlight the comments of The Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop-elect, Sean Rowe: He told The Living Church, “It’s time to reorient our churchwide resources—budgets and staff—to support dioceses, congregations on the ground where ministry happens. To build on what dioceses and diocesan partnerships already do better than the churchwide structure and use churchwide resources to strengthen those ministries,” and “Reorienting our structures, our budgets, and our relationships will only matter if we do it for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Jesus Christ.” And on a local level, this is a time for faithful, biblically-centred clergy and lay Anglicans to be bold. As the world around us has become darker and lonelier, there are many new and encouraging signs of openness to the Gospel in our culture, perhaps especially among the Gen-Z population.

There are new leaders in place for all three major North American Anglican denominations. What can we ask of them at this time? To keep their focus on the Gospel and the teaching of Scripture, not on secular causes, and to do everything possible to redistribute resources and support to local clergy and congregations. Rowe’s comments are hopeful. And I suspect that Interim Primate, Abp Germond, will encourage the Canadian Church to focus on Scripture, evangelism and discipleship.

Wisely, the ACNA does not even pass resolutions on non-ecclesiastical political matters such as climate change or geopolitics at their national Assembly. Presumably they are too busy discussing theology, Scripture and their plans to grow the church. While they do have their own conflicts and challenges, they are seeing some growth in numbers.

So, in terms of keeping the main thing the main thing, there are signs of hope, overall. I hear again and again from theological conservatives that things are more peaceful now with their bishops. Perhaps with “collapse” on the horizon, bishops are oriented to supporting clergy who are serving well and who are seeing signs of growth. It must also be pointed out that there seems to be less conflict than even 15 or 20 years ago on core teachings like the necessity of faith in Christ, the Virgin Birth and the physical resurrection of Christ.

How should we relate to leaders who by all accounts have a strong faith in Jesus and who uphold the Creeds but with whom theological conservatives will have serious disagreements—based on Scripture and received tradition—on sexuality and other issues? That is perhaps a subject for another editorial. But if the “collapse” of the Anglican Church of Canada can spur us to partnerships in the Gospel, to greater focus on evangelism, Scripture and discipleship, to praying for our leaders, and to better relationships across disagreement, there may, in fact, be some good news in the bad.  TAP

 

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