“This book is a must-read for anyone interested in religion in Canada,” the American Academy of Religion affirms. “[N]owhere will you find a more comprehensive analysis” of the changes occurring in Canadian Christianity. The findings affirm “a tectonic shift in Canadian society that [has] led to rapid decline in most churches,” Cambridge University Press declares, adding, “The story they [the authors] tell is quite grim.”
Clark and Macdonald “expertly detail the numerical decline of the major Canadian churches,” Faith Today acknowledges. “They contrast this with the explosive growth of those who say they have no religion at all, now more than a quarter of the Canadian population.” Be prepared: they are, as the Ontario Historical Society mentions, “obsessed with numbers,” but then it warns, “[T]his process of de-Christianization…contribute[s] to a reordering of people’s participation in civic life.”
“Faith communities…would benefit from…spending quality time with the last two chapters which focus on major trends and the direction Canada is heading after the demise of Christendom,” The Catholic Register urges. “The reality of the growing phenomenon of the ’No Religion’ category speaks volumes about the various faith denominations, and forces us to question how we are to address this reality.”
Leaving Christianity: Changing Allegiances in Canada since 1945
By Brian Clarke & Stuart Macdonald
McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017
