One of life’s little mysteries is that the Anglican Journal is still delivered to my door for me to peruse and inwardly digest. There is an interesting number mentioned in the September edition’s editorial – I can’t point to it because it isn’t online yet. The editorial states that there are now around 325,000 people in Canada that attend an ACoC church twice or more per month; hitherto, I had only seen the 2001 figure of 658,000 quoted.
In 1961, 1.3 million people attended an ACoC church; that means the average yearly number of those exiting the ACoC is around 20,300 people. If we assume a constant number of people exiting per year, we end up with no-one left by the year 2025.
It could be argued that the rate of decline is a better measure and that might be slowing; there isn’t much reason to believe this though, since attendance was halved between 1961 and 2001 – 40 years – and halved again between 2001 and 2009 – 8 years.
A 3 point graph doesn’t prove much, but it provides some food for thought:
Update: I had an initial concern that the 325,000 ACoC attendance number was too low. It is mentioned in two articles in the September Journal – the Editorial and a “re-thinking how we do church” article. There is no mention of where the number comes from; it seems possible that it is an extrapolation of a 2007 study done in BC where enrolment was 9,200 but ASA (Average Sunday Attendance) was only 4,755. The article goes on to say “Looking through this lens on a national level….. membership drops to a shocking 325,000″. However, there is nothing that actually says how the 325,000 was arrived at.
After posting this article, I received an email with an attached document that you can view here which gives official ACoC statistics as of 2001. The ASA for all of Canada is 162,138. The actual figures for 2009 have not been published – presumably because they would be even more shocking than the 2001 numbers – but one thing is clear: the end is nigh.
Are we talking ASA or membership figures?
325,000 is the number who “attend at least twice a month”, so it is ASA.
The other 2 figures – 1.3M and 658,000 – are under a heading that says “membership”, so that may be skewing the trend – although, in days gone by, “membership” might have been a lot closer to ASA than it is today.
Actually, in another part of the article, for the 1.3M and 658,000 numbers, it does refer to “number of people in the pews”, so that would be ASA, presumably.
“Suicide: The Decline and Fall of the Anglican Church of Canada” by Marney Patterson provides some interesting numbers.
Thanks Cathy,
Marney Patterson’s numbers were published in 1999, but they are still revealing. Here are some (from Here):
* The church lost 196,107 parishioners between 1970 and 1980, according to figures compiled by the church’s General Synod.
* Since the late 1960s, membership has dropped by more than 267,000 members, an average of 20,000 a year in the last decade.
* In less than 30 years, the church has lost more than 33,000 identifiable givers. Between 1992 and 1994, 10,000 contributors left the church.
* Total parish income plunged a whopping $5.1 million between 1992-94. In the last quarter of 1994, the national church was dealing with $2.5 million in budget cuts, forcing 22 or 65 head office staff to be relocated, laid off or retired.
* More than 950 churches closed their doors between 1967 and 1995.
* Baptisms fell to 17,722 in 1995 from 31,215 in 1967.
* Confirmations declined a staggering 73% to 7,183 in 1994 from 26,676 in 1967.
* Church marriages dropped 43% between 1967 and 1995.
Patterson says the wedding statistic “serves to prove that the decline of our church is not only rapid and massive, but that it is affecting every area of our pastoral ministry.”
Other areas of Anglican church life are also losing ground, according to Patterson:
* Membership in women’s groups sank more than 50% to 50,208 in 1995 from 105,171 in 1966.
* Men’s groups membership hit 9,234 in 1995 from more than 21,000 in 1966.
* Membership in youth groups dropped to 17,680 in 1996 from a 1966 level of almost 87,000.
* Sunday school enrolment is down to 57,537 in 1996 from 219,573 in 1966.
Unless action is taken now to staunch the bleeding, the Anglican Church of Canada is about 20 years from becoming a lifeless corpse, says Patterson.
And sadly, the Presbyterian Church in Canada will not be far behind the ACC in welcoming its own institutional death. The Presbytery of Montreal, the one with which I am most familiar, has become little more than a pale shadow of the pale shadow of the pale shadow that it once was. Like one of the bus riders in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce it is simply fading away into nothingness. Sad.
At least the ACoC will be unable to lead people astray if it goes under. However, I doubt Satan will permit that to come to pass– perhaps merger with the United “Church” will seem more attractive this time around.
A portion of the McKerracher report to the House Of Bishops from 2005 pretty much said it all,
“McKerracher’s warning to Anglican bishops, when he presented his report in October, was clear: “My point to the bishops was, `Hey listen guys, we’re declining much faster than any other church. We’re losing 12,836 Anglicans a year. That’s two per cent a year. If you take that rate of decline and draw a line on the graph, there’ll only be one person left in the Anglican Church by 2061.’
“The church is in crisis. They can’t carry on like it’s business as usual.”
McKerracher says even though his report shocked some of the bishops, he doubts the Anglican Church, as currently organized, can find the willpower to take action. He says Canada’s Anglican hierarchy is woefully bureaucratic, and that most decision-making is bound up in inefficient committees.
“The church should do some marketing research to find out why people are fleeing,” he says. “But I don’t think the Anglicans will do anything.
“They talk things to death. And my impression is that the bishops are not going to go around telling priests to shape up.”
Very sad to see these figures, but there you have it. Still, 162,000 active members is nonetheless a very large organization, and those people are probably the ones who don’t just go to church because of old cultural standards. Some of you might find the recent Diocese of Huron planning study interesting, as well.
Page 85 of Huron’s study is interesting. The numbers giving and envelopes outnumber ASA. Seems more give and stay away rather than have the stomach to hear the ACoC message
Well if the ASA for 2001 is 162,138, and for 2009 is 325,000, then attendance is increasing!
Yeah, right.
#5 Donald
Yeah, what’s going on with the Presbyterianism in Canada that it’s declining so fast? According to Stats Can, the number of census Presbyterians fell 35% between 1991 and 2001!
Census Anglicans, by way of comparision, declined 7%, census Lutherans were “only” down 4.7%., and Pentecostals, for some reason, fell faster than Anglicans: 15.3%.
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/tables/canada/cdaprot.cfm
Interesting numbers, those. I see that the Baptists are up, but then the Mormons and Adventists are as well: there obviously isn’t much correlation between orthodoxy and attendance. In my experience, people don’t tend to put much thought into the decision of stopping to go to church; they simply seem to fall out of it.
I wouldn’t say that, Andrew. The Mormons and the Adventists are very strict in what their members are supposed to believe. It isn’t Christian orthodoxy, but they still have standards of belief that they are expected to adhere to – and those types of church groups are the ones that are growing.
With respect to the census numbers, I suspect that if Pentecostal (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada) numbers were combined with the numbers for independent charismatic churches there wouldn’t be much of a decline. I have many members of my extended family who have moved around in this domain over the past 20-30 years.
I also want to observe that being faithful to God’s Word will not guarantee numerical success. Some of the fastest growing churches in the US are on shakey doctrinal ground.
Seventh Day Adventists are Christian. They have a very strong Bible-based faith and hew to all the tenets of traditional Christianity.
Pardon me, I did know that, my mistake.
#14 They are? Which ones?
Kate (#14), take a look at Joel Osteen’s church. Reputedly the biggest in the US and you’ll be hard pressed to hear the gospel.
I was suspicious of him when I saw his books in the stores. Every one of his books has a huge photo of him on the cover. I think that shows what he is all about, personally.
Kate, I don’t know enough to reach this conclusion on my own, but there are some well known voices within evangelicalism who call Joel Osteen a heretic. It doesn’t seem to hurt his popularity, however. He preaches a man-centred message that seems to be very appealing.
He preaches the prosperity “gospel”.
The Osteen prosperity gospel is shallow but definitely an easy sell.
The reality of our lives is that we human beings have both real needs and felt or imagined needs. The man-centered and deeply flawed religion of Joel Osteen appeals to felt-needs, and it is there that he finds his large and growing audience. Unfortunately, those felt-needs are not the real needs of our lives, those needs that only God can meet through the living out of an authenic and historic Christian faith. Those churches that are growing are those that have something to offer people — whether the needs they address are felt or real — so that faithful Christian churches as well as wildly unfaithful post-christian *churches* alike can experience growth. The PCC and the ACoC and other old-line denominations, however, are offering practically nothing at all that is capable of meeting human needs, either real or imagined. Is it any wonder that fewer and fewer people are interested in them. The sooner they pass from the scene the better.
Are the Seventh Day Adventists Christian?
The Gospel HAll I was at last Sunday is moving into a SDA church while their new church is being completed. They were told that they had to stick to the OT food laws for shared meals and post-service snacks. Sounds like bad doctrine to me …
Also, SDA do not believe the damned suffer eternally, but instead are destroyed at death. It sounds nicer, but it sure isn’t Biblical.
Warren,
I did a bit of reading on Joel Osteen’s website (www.joelosteen.com) and you’d don’t have to go far to find ample evidence that he is preaching another gospel that the one revealed from heaven– which makes him an heretic.
Most of it is “BELIEVE and you will get God’s favour”; “BELIEVE and He will bless you financially” etc. He even tells a story of a orange grower who instead of trying to protect his crops during a frost, kept thanking God for protecting them (though he had as yet no evidence that God was doing so)– and low and behold they flourished! THERE’S your answer, TRUST like that man and you will see real fruit! I can imagine the soldier on the frontline, standing instead of skulking, in obedience to Osteen’s words “Thank you, Lord that you have protected me for all the bullets that will be shot at me today …”
From: http://www.joelosteen.com/About/JoelOsteen/Pages/JoelOsteen.aspx
“Joel’s extraordinary success can be found in his core message: That our God is a good God who desires to bless those who are obedient and faithful to Him through Jesus Christ.”
This is as clear a statement of the “Prosperity Gospel” as any I could imagine.
My early theological education and knowledge of the Bible came from my mother reading Uncle Arthur’s Bible Story books every night before bed. “Uncle Arthur” was an SDA, but the books were pretty solid (and the pictures were great). My mother, who is a PAOC bible school graduate, only found one thing she disagreed with. That said, I know that some SDA beliefs and practices are on the fringes of orthodox Christianity.
I have taken a couple of courses from an online program called The Theology Program and subscribe to their Theological Word of the Day e-mail. This just arrived:
psychopannychism or “Soul Sleep”
(from Greek psyche, “soul” + Greek pannuchizein, “to last the night”)
The belief that upon death the soul does not depart in a conscious form to heaven, hell, or any other waiting place, but “sleeps” or is in an unconscious state of existence until the resurrection of the body. This position is held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christadelphians.
24Charles
Are the Seventh Day Adventists Christian?
The Gospel HAll I was at last Sunday is moving into a SDA church while their new church is being completed. They were told that they had to stick to the OT food laws for shared meals and post-service snacks. Sounds like bad doctrine to me …
Also, SDA do not believe the damned suffer eternally, but instead are destroyed at death. It sounds nicer, but it sure isn’t Biblical.
Charles – It seems to me that what you heard at that particular SDA church must be a local rule. I know that the SDA Church where I am does not adhere to such rules if indeed there is such a rule. There are some that are vegetarians, etc., but I know that one Pastor of a SDA church is a meat eater.
Perhaps the SDA is somewhat like most Denominations and different parishes have somewhat different approaches to regulatory bodies.
This all sounds like “Religion” to me….. Personally, I don’t have much time for “Religion” and would rather that all Christians would come together as One and get away from this man inspired Religious nonsense.
#29 Gerry (Last paragraph) – That’s unity, Now your talkin!!!
Since no one mentioned it I will, can you not see the devil’s hand in all of this stuff?
Between the lines of some of these threads do I hear some gloating? GOD FORBID!
For #8
Your note suggests you might be a retired archbishop. In any event the ACoC might well be a large organization but the real issue is the fact that apostasy reigns in the church and there is no indication this fatal disease is being treated. The House of Bishops seems content to sit back and allow the apostates within their group to continue ravaging the church. Indeed the devil’s hand is very much evident as mentioned by “Stuck in Toronto”. My only question is when is anyone in the House of Bishops going to stand up and deal with this condition. As the old hymn asks, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Currently within the House of Bishops one would have to say, “None.”
Frank #8
I agree with your comment
Have a good weekend
Dear Brother Frank, As appaling as the ravaging appears there is another way of looking at it. Could this wrongness be also part of the larger picture of God’s will? Bear with me, prophetically, picture our Church, the Body of Christ as a large living circle in it are the many waters (People) of various denominations throughout Christianity. The living circle has begun to shrink (as our Lord prepares his Church (“Makes White”) and those on the outer edges find themselves outside the circle the shrinking (preparation) continues. Now consider Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
and so it goes.
Jesus said “Let not your heart be troubled”
May His Peace be with You.
For #33 – Stuck in Toronto (you have my sympathy!!)
What you have said is true but that in no way releases those in authority within the ACoC from doing their duty and honouring their vows. Until that happens they will continue to lead many of those in the pews into apostasy. Clergy that have taken their vows seriously should be forward and call publicly for action. Sad to say many – indeed most – seem to be more concerned with job security than the Gospel. The ACoC has virtually lost any claim to be a Christian church and seems to have made its god “political correctness” – a phrase that is false regardless of any claim to be otherwise.
The B.C. stats were probably from the Diocese of B.C. which is only Vancouver Island, not the whole Canadian province. They were compiled to determine which churches were healthy and which needed to be closed, part of the DMRT Report. The 4755 number sure looks familiar. I recall from that report that the most shocking decline was in the number of confirmations. Also, the decline in ASA could be correlated almost directly to the number of deceased. Not only are people leaving church, they are dying to leave the church – and there isn’t a generation following to take their places.
Frank – I prayed that His peace may be upon you – here is why
2 Timothy 2,24
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
As your Brother in Christ I concern myself with your pain and understandable but unnecessary anger. Let it go Bro and help our Lord build His Church.
For Stuck in Toronto – (yes, you still have my sympathy!!)
You may well interpret my comments as “unnecessary anger” so I will ask you a simple question. If you hired me to do a specific job and detailed the proper action(s) and work to be done and I willingly and deliberately failed to do the task after making specific vows, would you not dismiss me?? This definitely applies to the current situation in the ACoC. Besides I am confident you are aware that the Scripture does indeed advise us to be angry but sin not. This is not the time to sit back and quitely pray for repentance on the part of our church leaders. Rather it is a time for prayer indeed, but also some firm and decicive action to remove the apostates and discipline those who to date have been content to sit back and do nothing.
Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Psalm 145: 8-9
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Romans 12:19-21
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Colossians 3:7-9
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
Ephesians 4:25-27
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
James 1: 17-20
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
2 Timothy 2:23-24
Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful…
Frank, not whithstanding Noli’s abundant references, they do not leave room for human frailty
in quoting me you left out the word understanding (anger). I am truly sympathetic to your reasoning but if it is guided by anger than the peace that passeth all understanding may be ellusive, as it so often has been with me.
I do not believe for a second that this next statement applies to you personally. But consider your last sentence
“but also some firm and decicive action to remove the apostates and discipline those who to date have been content to sit back and do nothing.”
Could not anger create a “thin edge of the wedge” (the devil’s tool)and consequently, as we have seen so often, create delusion. Could a person suffering such and thinking in terms of your quote create a violent solution to “firm and decisive action?
Brother, I repeat this in no way is a description of you but simply a way of describing that God’s Grace and PEACE protect us from such as these.
I am aware of the many references to anger in the Scriptures but the type of anger – if that is indeed the best way of describing the situation – that I feel could be equated to our Lord’s reaction as mentioned in Mark 3:1-6. I definitely believe there is a time for what one might call righteous anger and the situation within the ACoC is such a time. Clergy at all levels and especially bishops are supposed to be “shepherds” and what we are seeing are “ravenous wolves” or worse still cowards who will not take a stand.
P.S. I still sympathize with your being “Stuck in Toronto”!!
Frank – I smile everytime you extend to me your sympathies – “Stuck” has several meanings.
- one more quote – “Let not the sun set on your anger.
Frank Wirrell and Stuck in Toronto:
First, STUCK – please fill us in on the several meanings you refer to in #41.
Having read over and over and over the interaction between you two, I cannot help but feel that I agree with BOTH of you. One says don’t be angry and one says But this time I have the right to righteous anger. Agreed!!
It does seem to me however, Frank that the ACoC has gone to the point of no return and certainly that even “righteous” anger will not implore them to turn back. It does appear that those priests and bishops remaining in the ACoC are spelling God incorrecctly but are intent on spelling it JOB and/or PENSION. Perhaps all that will ever do bring them out of where they are will be a face to face encounter with The Lord like Saul had on the road to Damascus.
We must still hold them up in prayer.
I have a feeling however that they are at a point where they have pushed the “Believers” to either shake the dust off their feet and push ahead OR sink with the ship.
Blessings to Both of you
ADDITION TO #42:
Further to Franks words, I would venture to think that if we are given the opportunity to speak with Priests or Bishops in the ACoC, that the time has come when we should be bolder in our words with them and question them forthrightly as to why they insist on apostasty being the right direction. We in ANiC have not been very bold with them or with parishioners in the ACoC in challenging their stand. Perhaps it is Time!
Gerry – Speaking out in boldness or meekness if opportunity presents itself, must be done “In Christ ” this means with Love and patience as my #37 Quote explains. To do so with any other emotion is self defeating.
The ACoC ship will not sink it will simply drift, its rudder smashed, its sails flapping aimlessly. This is why we built a new boat, its sails full of the wind of Ruah (my spelling it is suppose to be Hebrew for mighty wind)(of the Spirit) God’s Hand firmly on the tiller and crewed by every last Man Woman and Child on board and filled with the love of Jesus. Sailing straight, and safe through every trough and wave. Her course unwavering. Her speed . . .just enough.
Ah Gerry me boyo you do remember what killed the cat aye?
and a final ting – Never forget, both of you, there are many fine Priests and I’m sure more than one Bishop working harder than ever they have, to fix things to bring peace to the chaos, understanding to the confused, in short what was once God’s fine church back to Him. -Pray without ceasing and stop painting with such a broad brush.
If there are any bishops in the ACoC working to that end, well, I wish they would be a little more vocal, and their actions a little more concrete.
In my life experiences there has always been times when I felt it was necessary to be as wise as a serpant. I to would be happier being able to witness a more pro active episcopate (or some of them) I personally know of none. But we pray in faith.
In reference to Gerry #42 – one must be careful in casting stones. The reference to bishops and priests left in the Anglican Church of Canada as remaining only for a job and pension is an unfair generalization, and a terrible insult to priests and bishops in parishes all over Canada seeking only to do the work of the gospel. It is an offensive statement and one filled with judgmentalism. If one is casting stones of this nature one must also remember that the present ANIC bishops (I’m sure coincidentally) left the ACoC with about 40 years of service and “full” pensions. I have no problem with specific arguments but I do have a problem with taking hundreds and hundreds of individuals and making a general claim that they are all there only for a job and pension. I have an intern coming with my parish for the Fall, a retired teacher – I’m sure she is not pursuing ordained ministry in the church simply for a job and pension. There are still legitimately called and spiritual men and women in the ACoC. Thank you for allowing me to express my disappointment in this particular case, as I was greatly moved to not let it slide as I do most comments on the blog
Doing or condoning or just staying quiet about SSB’S may prove to be as sinful as the sin of GLBT. you said “I’m sure she is not pursuing ordained ministry in the church simply for a job and pension.” It is my opinion that woman are not “Called to the ministry” this of course can be debated ad infinitum. Should this turn out to be the case than one could assume perhaps, a hidden agenda? The last three priestesses that I spoke were adament that “Jesus was not the only way to God”.
After all it was the Father Himself that provided Jesus with the 12 no sorry the 13. Not a female among them. I agree with you that painting with too broad a brush does no good. You neglected to mention why you stayed?
No Stuck, not all women who are called to ordained ministry have a hidden adjenda. I know three in Ottawa who are serving in ANiC parishes, and they would all certainly say that Jesus is the only way to God. Could we all please try to refrain from broad brush generalizations?
Thankyou Kate – #49 – when I was called to the priesthood I was pursuing another upper level degree in an entirely separate discipline. I was surprised, shocked and left shaking in my boots at the responsibility of it all.