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Many Christians over the past 15 years have been trying to reverse these situations by electing Christian politicians and changing laws. Canadian Christians seem to have been slow to realize that the problem is much deeper than that--the problem is that a large majority of Canadians simply are not Christians. Our society is no longer Christian because the people in it are no longer Christians. The battle has been lost on the individual as well as the socio-political level.
It seems to me that the message is finally getting through. Christians now understand that we are living in a post-Christian society. It also seems to me that there is now something else to say. Although there are many conflicting trends pointing in many directions, I am starting to wonder if maybe we have "bottomed out". Some negative trends and developments are still coming--the likely elimination of tax breaks to churches and clergy for one thing. However, there are some trends that are beginning to point the other way.
Church attendance has dropped from 70% of the population in the 1950s to 20% of the population today. The mainline denominations (such as the United Church) will probably continue to decline for some time, to a large extent due to liberal theology which suggests that there is no great advantage to being a Christian anyway. However, evangelical churches are growing, and have been growing for 15 years. (If present trends continue, within a generation, the Mennonite Brethren Church could have more attenders than the United Church, once one of the dominant churches in Canada.) Even more encouraging is the fact that, instead of retrenching, the evangelical churches are aggressively reaching out in church planting and evangelism strategies.
As well, there are encouraging movements of renewal in some of the mainline denominations, and the situation could well improve as people who no longer believe in the fundamentals of Christianity see no reason to stay in the church, leaving it to those who do believe.
For some years, church attenders have been aging, as fewer in each new generation chose to attend church. However, recent statistics suggest that the current generation of 20-year-olds attends church as often as the immediately preceding generation. Contemporary worship experiences and mission experiences such as Youth Mission International are ministering to the younger generation. This is becoming easier as the older generations realize the urgency of the situation and understand the need for radical new strategies. The older generation may still prefer hymns, but if it comes to a choice, I think they would rather save their grandchildren than their music.
I am beginning to detect as well the beginnings of a changing attitude among the media and among society as a whole. This is partly because people generally cheer for the underdog, but it is also partly due to disillusionment with a life lived without God and His guidance. Consider the following:
* It was one thing for the media and society to criticize the Christian establishment for denying rights to homosexuals; it is quite another for them to approve of homosexuals screaming obscenities at Christian housewives or to allow one's own children to be adopted by a homosexual "couple".
* It was one thing for society to demand sexual freedom from a "joyless, puritanical church"; the issue has another look when society has to deal with child prostitution, sexually transmitted diseases and all the other consequences of sexual license.
* It was one thing for people to attack "antiquated divorce laws" which "forced them to stay in loveless marriages"; it is an entirely different thing to have to deal with the reality of a million single mothers and their children living in hopeless poverty. In February, 1998, our most recent issue of Encounter presented traditional Christian values on love, sex and marriage as something that would attract people to Christ. I don't think we would have used this approach ten years ago.
* Society wants to give women freedom to choose on the abortion question, but very few can be really comfortable with allowing careless mothers to seriously damage the health of their unborn children or allowing abortionists to kill fetuses that survive abortion attempts; the consequences and contradictions of abortion are becoming increasingly evident.
* People in society are beginning to see the church not as an irrelevant institution (irrelevant churches are dying) but as a place where they can find food, clothes and help for their family problems and addictions. In a mindless, impersonal, uncertain world, people are desperately seeking a personal touch, solid answers and real hope.
* Although still the standard in our educational institutions, the theory of evolution is losing favour among scientists. It has never commanded wholehearted support among society as a whole.
* A previous generation rejected the Bible as being outdated and irrelevant. Our current younger generation has never read it, and, in an age of high interest in "spirituality", is open to consider the Bible's message.
* A generation ago, we feared that an influx of immigrants would convert Canadians to "their" religions. Now, some of our strongest churches are thriving among these same immigrants. In fact, immigrants have a higher level of attendance at Christian churches than the native-born Canadian population.
In short, we are not in a time of revival, but we are in a time of great opportunity. Canada's past was not a golden age, but a battleground, just as today is. The Christian church in different places and different times has grown or declined, advanced or stagnated. The trends have never always been in one direction. What will happen in Canada in the next few years is unknown and to some extent will depend on how we respond. If we see this as an opportunity to re-establish the church as an institution and restore our powerful position in government and other social structures, we will fail. If, however, we will submit ourselves to God and let Him use us, if we will preach the good news of Jesus unashamedly, if we will love people and meet their real needs, then the future could be very bright indeed.
Jim Coggins is editor of Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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