Death of Christian Canada? Do Canadian Church Statistics Support Callum Brown’s Theory of Church Decline?

Abstract

The decline in church membership in all of Canada’s major denominations has been making headlines. Our own statistics show that there were 2,373 fewer Presbyterian members in 1966 than in 1965, a decrease of more than one percent. The situation calls for concern but it should not cause alarm. There have always been inactive people on communicants rolls . . . The church and its members will never cease to evangelize, but the true strength of the Christian church cannot be measured by numbers. Pruning dead branches from the tree is just as necessary in the congregation as it is in the garden. The quality of witness is what counts in today’s world (Presbyterian Record [1967]).