Editorial : Sharing the experience of God: To become relevant the secular world, we must face some hard truths
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/article35979
- Author
- Jenkins, Kristin
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Anglican Journal
- Date
- 2009 December
- Author
- Jenkins, Kristin
- Material Type
- Journal Article
- Journal
- Anglican Journal
- Date
- 2009 December
- Volume
- 135
- Issue
- 10
- Page
- 4
- Notes
- Last month [November 2009] the Anglican Journal invited the Rev. Dr. Gary Nicolosi, Congregational Development Officer for the Diocese of British Columbia, and a former Episcopal Church rector, to address the House of Bishops meeting about declining enrollment in the Anglican Church of Canada. "Nicolosi calls Canada the second most secularized country in the Western hemisphere, next to Cuba." "[M]ore and more Canadian are saying they don't believe in God. An April 2009 Canwest and Global national survey has shown that the number of Canadians who believe in God has dropped from 84 per cent in 2000 to 71 per cent in 2009. The biggest decline is among men. Apparently, 36 per cent of Canadians under the age of 25 don't believe in God, either". "The good news in all of this is that the experience of God is the one thing that only the church can deliver, says Nicolosi. "The demographic group in Canada most open to attending church ? Traditional families with children, says Nicolosi. Why because they're socially more conservative than most. If they're going to come to church, however, we have to be able to provide excellent programs and facilities for their children and teens. That's on top of helping them make sense of their lives, of course. We've also got to get with the program when it comes to technology." Nick Brotherwood, is assistant director of the Institute of Evangelism at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, and a team leader of Fresh Expressions Canada in Montreal. He talks about engaging "with the unchurched, [to] share the experience of God, and help people define and create a worship experience that is meaningful to them".
- Subjects
- Christianity and culture - Anglican Church of Canada
- Secularism - Canada
- Secularism - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Religion - Canada - Surveys
- Church membership - Anglican Church of Canada
- Nicolosi, Gary (Gary Gabriel), 1950-
- Church work with the unaffiliated - Anglican Church of Canada
- Fresh Expressions
- Brotherwood, Nick (Nicholas Peter)
- Location
- General Synod Archives