I am a sociologist of religion. My research centers on religion in Canada (www.joelthiessen.ca). I regularly consult with church groups across the country, seeking to bridge sociological, theological, and practical discussions for Christian ministry in Canada in the 21st century. Below are four trends in the Canadian religious landscape that are worth paying attention to. Along the way I raise questions aimed to help one consider the practical implications. Secularization Emp

Our Flourishing Congregations Institute research team—based at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta—spent April to June 2016 interviewing and facilitating focus groups with over 100 Catholic, mainline Protestant, and conservative Protestant leaders in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, SW Ontario, and Halifax regions. The purpose? To explore how leaders of self-identified flourishing congregations describe and explain the optimal traits and characteristics of a flourishing congr

Greetings on behalf of the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta! Some of you participated in our phase one interview and focus group research last spring/summer, several were instrumental to network us with church leaders across the country, and others have graciously followed and supported us from a distance. Thank you for your interest as we seek to better understand flourishing congregations in a distinctly Canadian context, mindful

In 1963 the Anglican Church of Canada commissioned the prominent, pithy journalist Pierre Berton to tell them, from an outsider’s perspective, exactly what was wrong with Canada’s churches and what they needed to do to fix it. In the resulting book, The Comfortable Pew (1965), Berton took the churches to task for being too attached to old dogmas like Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostles’ Creed, and even the idea of God as a cosmic “daddy on a cloud.” In a modern age of rapid cha

Lakewood Church in Houston, TX. Photo by Amber Case. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License available here. While they’ve been around for a long time, megachurches have grown in popularity and influence. The Leadership Network reports that in Canada there are about 150 churches with weekly worship attendance of 1,000 or more. Together, these congregations draw 300,000 Canadians to worship each week. When we think about flo

“I don’t know why anyone would come to our church.” The pastor’s voice faltered as he tried to control his emotions. “The music is terrible, sometimes there is no one there who even plays an instrument. People visit and they don’t come back.”It was 1995 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was interviewing pastors as part of my Ph.D. research. I had called this pastor several times, but he refused to meet with me in person. I think he was too ashamed. He could not understand how

On Saturday, November 26, 2016 the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University formally launched. We were joined by approximately 100 people from seven Canadian provinces, plus 50 others via our live stream online. During this event we shared some of our preliminary findings from phase one interviews and focus groups in five Canadian regions. We are delighted to make those resources widely available via our website under the Resources tab (click here). There you

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God (be transforming). You'll be changed from the inside out. (Romans 12:2; The Message) In the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz, a sweet (albeit naïve) Dorothy experiences a tornado of change and all she knows is where she isn’t… Kansas! The Canadian culture and church have gone through a tornado of change and sometimes all we know is where we are not… “Kan

Clear Self Identity: Flourishing congregations have a clear sense of who they are – where they come from, where they are now, and where they are going. They often learn from other churches along the way, yet they understand their uniqueness and do not strive to be like the others (e.g. how many Canadian churches have we encountered who mistakenly try to be like Willowcreek or Saddleback or any other American church). As part of knowing themselves, thriving churches involve ma