Are Gen Zers returning to church? Yes, some are, but religion scholars say it's too soon to call it trend

 

Are younger people returning to church? That’s what’s being reported about Gen Zers — people born between 1997 and 2012 — in places in Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. That’s what’s being reported by some church leaders in the United Kingdom, Canada and in the U.S. 

Those who are writing about it say it’s happening because Gen Zers feel “lonely, isolated, anxious and fearful about the future. The promises of secularism for progress and freedoms simply have not delivered for them,” as one minister put it. 

Added to that is the unsettled and uncertain political situation in the U.S. and around the world, along with the employment challenges caused by tariffs and artificial intelligence for many in that generation. 

Those who study religion acknowledge something is happening, but say it is too early to call it a trend, with one saying there’s no data suggesting sizable conversion rates occurring among Gen Z in Canada or elsewhere. “We are not talking about a revival,” he says, suggesting church leaders need to be careful when talking about it. 

Read more about this in my Free Press column.

Photo above from On Mission.

 

A sampling of Winnipeg faith coverage over the past few weeks

I mostly post my Winnipeg Free Press columns on this blog. But I also regularly write news stories about faith in Winnipeg. (Four to eight stories a month.) So I thought I’d share a few of those from the past month so people can see how the Free Press is covering this aspect of life in Winnipeg. All my stories can be found here.

‘Sign of our welcome’: mural transforms plain-looking Prairie Spirit United Church entrance into inviting space (Photo above)

‘It’s our mission’: Inner-city church driven to help refugees 

Local faith groups express optimism after Canada’s formal recognition of Palestine 

‘Refreshing and uplifting’: Winnipeg Jews, Christians meet to promote dialogue

Plaque unveiled to honour Western Canada’s chief rabbi 

Winnipeg Catholics can pay tribute to ‘saint in sneakers’ 

Mennonite church treaty people tour provides a chance to pause, ponder 

Church branches out to beautify riverbank with help of non-profit 

 

‘You are not alone’: retired social worker takes time to listen during cross-Canada tour

In a polarized and divided world, where many may feel lonely and isolated, Paul Jenkinson has a message: “You are not alone. I will listen.” 

That’s what it says on a sign the 71-year-old retired social worker plunks down in public spaces from Nova Scotia to Manitoba as he makes his way across the country to B.C. 

“My goal is to simply listen,” said Jenkinson, a divorced father of two and grandfather of six who is on a cross-country journey that started in in May and is set to conclude in November. 

And people sit down with him—about 600 so far. After each person shares, Jenkinson asks if he can respond and tell them about his life. 

“I’m not offering counsel, just a conversation,” he said. “I just want to be there for people. I want to remind them they aren’t alone.” 

Read my story about Jenkinson’s tour in the Free Press.

If you want to understand what is happening in America, you need to know about the Seven Mountains Mandate

If you want to understand many things happening in the world today, you need to check out the religion angle. This is especially true in the U.S. 

An example of this is the Seven Mountains Mandate, a belief promoted by a conservative evangelical form of Christianity. Proponents of the Mandate believe that Christians need to dominate seven key spheres, or mountains, of society: government, religion, family, education, media, culture and the economy (business).

The idea of the Mandate has been around since the 1970s. But it has been popularized more recently by leaders in what is called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a loosely connected movement of evangelical non-denominational and Pentecostal churches in the U.S. 

The premise behind the Mandate is that those seven key pillars of American society have been taken over by demonic powers. In order to make America great again, Christians need to reclaim control of these “mountains.” One way for that to happen is by placing Christians in influential positions in government and other places so they can get rid of the demons.

Read my story about the Mandate in the Free Press.

New executive director of Canadian Council of Imams exploring what it means to be a Canadian Muslim

What does it mean to be a Canadian Muslim? That is the question being asked by Imam Sikander Hashmi, the new executive director of the Canadian Council of Imams. 

In his new role, Hashmi—who was born in Montreal to parents from Pakistan—wants to help build a Canadian Muslim identity, something he thinks could take a generation or two. 

“It’s a work in progress,” he said, adding “being born in Canada helps. I understand the culture better than someone from another country. I know how Canadians think, I understand the subtle things about being Canadian. That is an advantage for me.” 

Read my story about Hashmi in Canadian Affairs.

New moderator of United Church of Canada wants denomination to think small

 

“We May Not Be Big, But We’re Small.” 

That was the motto of The Vinyl Cafe, a fictional record store owned by Dave, a character featured in the stories of the late Canadian author and CBC radio host Stuart McLean. 

It could also be the new motto for the United Church of Canada, according to its newly-elected moderator Kimberly Heath. 

“Our identity as United Church people is to think of ourselves as big,” said Heath, who was elected on Aug. 9 at the denomination’s 45th General Council. 

For a long time, Heath says, United Church members took pride in being the largest Protestant denomination in Canada; in being a “church that matters.” 

But that was the past, she said. “That idea of ourselves as big is not helping us today.”

Read my interview with Heath in Canadian Affairs.

Mixing aid and evangelism; not a good idea

Should giving out aid and evangelism be mixed? 

That question was prompted by an e-mail I received about a group of rural Christian youth who went to downtown Winnipeg to hand out food and water to homeless people and evangelize them. (“Four people were saved,” they said.) 

I have my own opinions. (No, they should not be mixed.) But I decided to ask some people who have experience with homelessness in the city: Julianne Aitken, executive director at Siloam Mission, and Tobi Jolly, who directs community wellness for that organization. 

Read their responses in my Free Press column. 

P.S. Ignore the headline on the column in the newspaper. I don’t write them. The answer is not complicated for me at all.

New paper describes three stages of religious decline in countries around the world

 

A new paper promoted by the Pew Research Centre describes what it says are the three stages of religious decline in countries around the world. 

In the first stage, people let go of aspects of religion that require more time and resources — things such as attending services. Next, they shed beliefs, partly because they are no longer being reinforced (or policed) in religious settings. 

The last thing to go is identity. People may not attend services or even believe in religious doctrines anymore, but they still call themselves Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Buddhist. The authors suggest religious identity hangs on longer since it isn’t burdensome; it doesn’t require anything in the way of time, devotion or resources. 

According to the authors, religion starts strong in rural and agrarian societies. As societies modernize and urbanize, and people become more educated, reliance on religious authority decreases. 

Generational change also drives the shift; each generation tends to be less religious than the previous one, as does religious diversity. 

And the transition from religious to less religious happens no matter what major religion is dominant in a country — Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. Some countries are further along (e.g. in Europe), others have further to go (e.g. the U.S.). Canada is near the end of the second stage. 

Read more in my Free Press column.

James Dobson and his complicated legacy, including conversion therapy

Some people, when they die, leave complicated legacies. James Dobson, who died at age 89 on Aug. 21, was one of those people. 

Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, was known across North America for his strong advocacy of a brand of conservative Christian morality that he packaged as “family values.” His views on disciplining children shaped generations of children, especially in evangelical families. 

For some, Dobson was a positive force. But others viewed him in a very different light. This included Christians who were members of the LGBTTQ+ community. Dobson saw homosexuality as sin and he opposed LGBTTQ+ rights and same-sex marriage. At the same time, he promoted the discredited idea of conversion therapy to change LGBTTQ+ people into heterosexuals. 

One person who knows the negative impact of Dobson’s teaching is Lucas Wilson of Toronto. Wilson, 34, is a member of the LGBBTQ+ community and a survivor of conversion therapy. He has compiled a book of stories about the negative effects of conversion therapy, called Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy. 

Read my column in the Free Press about Dobson, conversion therapy and Wilson’s book.

Is traditional religion obsolete, like the typewriter? New book says yes

When I started my career over 40 years ago, I used a typewriter to write all my stories. It worked fine; I had no complaints back then. 

But now I have a computer with a sophisticated word processing program. I could still use a typewriter, if I wanted — it still would work. But for me, like for most people, typewriters are obsolete. 

Is something similar happening in the world of traditional, or institutional, religion? For Christian Smith, one of the premier scholars about religion in the U.S., the answer is yes. 

Like the typewriter of old, the way religion is still organized into denominations and practiced today—appointment-style services with a few songs and a sermon delivered top-down by clergy with no chance to engage the topic during the delivery—is obsolete for many, especially younger people. 

That’s the argument he makes in his new book Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America (Oxford University Press). 

Read about Smith’s new book in my Free Press column.

Winnipeg bride realizes dream of meeting pope

 

Sometimes you just need a fun and uplifting story—like this one, about a Winnipeg bride who realized her dream of a lifetime when she and her husband received a blessing from Pope Leo XIV in Rome. 

Bénédicte LeMaître, 31, and Stéphan Kosowski, 38, who were married on July 25, got tickets from the Vatican to sit in the “Sposi novelli,” or “newlyweds,” section in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s general audience on July 30. 

“It’s been my dream in life to meet a pope,” said LeMaître. 

But it gets better; after the general audience, Bénédicte and Stéphan received a personal blessing from him.

Read my story in the Free Press.

Sean Feucht: Bringing "revival" to Canada or doing the opposite? Some observations about the controversial American right-wing singer

 

Some observations about Sean Feucht, the controversial American right-wing, anti-LGBTTQ+ and pro-Trump evangelical Christian worship leader, who was slated to perform in Winnipeg’s Central Park on Aug. 20. 

The city refused to grant him a permit for that public space. In other cities where that happened, Feucht claimed he was being persecuted. But was he? Or was he just a victim of his own American hubris for failing to do any homework about Canada. If he had done that, he would have learned we are a different country than the U.S. 

Another thing: Fuecht thinks he is coming to Canada to bring revival to this country. In fact, he will likely end up pushing more people away from Christianity, due to his strident anti-LGBTTQ+ views. 

And finally: His visit, though unwelcomed by many, might be a gift to Canadian Christians. It might prompt them to think that if Feucht’s brand of faith isn’t what they want to look like in society, what does a Canadian form of Christianity look like, anyway? 

Read more about Feucht and his coming to Canada in my latest column in the Winnipeg Free Press.

When it comes to salvation, the "nothings" of the world may save us, author says

 

Donald Trump was so offended by seeing homeless encampments as he rode to play golf on the weekend that he demanded that homeless residents of Washington DC leave the country’s capital or face eviction. 

Trump’s demand mirrors what a Winnipeg city councillor said last month when he called for the removal of encampments on what he called “image routes” in the city—main thoroughfares used by people from the suburbs to go downtown. 

The reason he gave for the proposal was safety, and also for esthetics — they make Winnipeg look bad. The question left hanging seemed clear: Who wants to see encampments on the side of the road on their way to work, shopping or to see a movie? 

When it comes to encampments, David Driedger, lead minister at First Mennonite Church in Winnipeg’s West End, doesn’t think we should look away. For him, those tents and tarps and shopping carts should be seen because they might be showing us a way to salvation. That’s the argument he makes in his new book Nothing Will Save Us: A Theology of Immeasurable Life (Pandora Press).

Read my column about Driedger's book in the Free Press.

Driven by faith, frustrated by funding: Faith-based care-home operators say miracles are in short supply when trying to feed residents with 2009-level resources

 

The feeding of the 5,000 with only five loaves and two fishes—that’s the idea that comes to mind for Gary Ledoux, CEO of Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home when he thinks about how he is going to feed good and healthy meals to residents in 2025 based on a 2009 food budget from the Manitoba government. 

For Laurie Cerqueti, CEO of the Simkin Centre, a Jewish personal care home, the story of how the Pharoah commanded the Hebrew slaves in Egypt to make the same amount of bricks with less straw is the one that sticks with her—and she has to buy more expensive kosher food. 

Both appreciate that the provincial government is under enormous pressure when it comes to health care dollars, but say something needs to be done to ensure seniors in Manitoba—the people who their religious traditions say must be respected and cared for—don’t suffer when it comes to mealtimes. 

Read my story in the Free Press.

Gary Ledoux (right), director of Bethania Personal Care Home, and Delroy Clarke, director of food and environmental services, in the kitchen where staff are preparing lunch for care home residents.

 

 

“I want to see it thrive, to be an enlivened Church": New primate of the Anglican Church of Canada reflects on his new mission

If the Anglican Church of Canada is going to survive and thrive, it will need to make deep changes — and Shane Parker, the denomination’s new primate, is ready to guide that change. 

In accepting the position, Parker, 67, was given a mandate by the General Synod to implement change in the church, which has an estimated 500,000 members in 1,700 parishes. 

“I want to see it thrive, to be an enlivened Church,” he said. “I want it to be a church that lifts the spirits of everyone.”

Read my interview with the new primate in Canadian Affairs.

In choosing Pope Leo XIV, Roman Catholic cardinals showed they want to follow path set by Pope Francis--just slower

 

The goal of a Vatican conclave is to choose a new pope. That’s what happened in May when Robert Prevost was chosen to become Pope Leo XIV. 

But a conclave is also a referendum on the previous pope and his legacy — whether to follow in the same direction or change course. 

When the 133 cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on May 7, the question they were answering when selecting a new pope was whether to follow the vision of Pope Francis for a more open, inclusive and welcoming church or to repudiate it in favour of an emphasis on tradition and doctrine. 

They chose the way of Pope Francis, but just slower.

That’s the view of Christopher White, a former Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of the new book Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy (Loyola Press). 

Read more about that process and the new book in my Free Press column.

Canadian Imams, church leaders sign joint letter calling for humanitarian aid, ceasefire in Gaza

The Canadian Council of Imams and national church leaders have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The letter, dated July 9, was initiated by the council, a non-profit that brings together imams and Islamic religious leaders from across Canada. 

In addition to the signatures of the council’s president and executive director, the letter is signed by leaders of the United Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada. It was also signed by Mennonite Central Committee Canada, the aid and development arm of Canadian Anabaptist and Mennonite churches.

Read the story in Canadian Affairs.

Photo above: Mennonite Central Committee partner Al-Najd Developmental Forum distributes food parcels to internally displaced residents in Gaza City in the north of Gaza last year.

Christians and Jews in Canada partner to combat antisemitism

 

Antisemitism in Canada has reached record-setting levels. That’s the conclusion of the latest report from B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish service and advocacy organization. 

In its Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, the organization says there were a total of 6,219 antisemitic incidents in 2024 — the highest number since the inception of the Audit in 1982. That’s a 7.4 per cent increase in incidents from 2023, when B’nai Brith recorded a then-record number of 5,791 incidents across Canada. Altogether, there has been a 124.6 per cent increase from 2022 to 2024. 

In response, a group of Jewish and Christian leaders from across Canada have decided to partner together in what they call the Simeon Initiative, a new national movement to build relationships between members of the two communities to combat antisemitism.

Read my story about the Initiative in Canadian Affairs.

"A vision of what downtown Winnipeg could be." Holy Trinity Anglican Church inspires vision for greening of Graham Ave.

Cathy Campbell was tired of seeing parking lots when she looked out the window from her office in Holy Trinity Anglican Church. 

Six years ago, when she was rector of the church, located at 256 Smith St., Campbell thought a park, garden or trees would give her a much better view. “I could almost see it in my mind.” 

Today, Campbell’s vision is becoming reality, now that the City of Winnipeg has temporarily blocked off parts of nearby Graham Avenue to create a pedestrian corridor—a greening that is partly due to the inspiration and foresight of Campbell and others at Holy Trinity. 

Read my story about how Holy Trinity put its theology of creation care into action to help with the greening of Graham Avenue in the Free Press.

Photo above: Cathy Campbell and Andrew Rampton.

Occasional religious practice the new normal for Anglicans, other Christians today

If you are a Christian, how often do you go to church? Do you go weekly? Once a month? Or maybe only on Christmas and Easter? 

If you are in the latter group, you are not alone. That has become normal for a growing number of churchgoers in Canada, especially in the Anglican Church of Canada.

That’s what Sarah Kathleen Johnson found when she did research on attendance patterns of members of that church. Through her research, Johnson found these occasional attenders are quite content with their current practice. “They don’t feel the need to go more often,” she said. 

As for why they feel that way, Johnson said it wasn’t because they are anti-religion; they just didn’t feel going to church was necessary anymore. And when they did go, it was usually because of tradition or family — Grandma wants the family together at church on Christmas Eve. 

Read more about Johnson’s research and findings in the Free Press.

Manitoba connection to Live Aid on 40th anniversary of groundbreaking concert to raise funds for Ethiopia famine

Forty years ago — on July 13, 1985 — Live Aid rocked the world to raise funds for millions of starving people in Ethiopia. And a Manitoban helped make it happen. 

That Manitoban was William Rew. He was the pilot who flew a BBC film crew into what was considered the epicentre of the famine in the fall of 1984 so they could provide the world with its first view of the terrible suffering unfolding in that country. It was that coverage which led to Live Aid. 

“It was just another day at work in Ethiopia,” Rew said of the BBC trip on Oct. 19, 1984. But that ordinary work day changed the world. 

Read about Rew and his world-changing flight in the Free Press.

Photo above: William Rew (second from right) with his plane in Ethiopia. 

Carnie Rose returns home to be rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. “I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God."

After decades of living and working in the U.S., Israel, Japan and Europe, Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose has come back home. 

Rose, who was raised in Winnipeg, took up his new responsibilities as senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on July 1. 

He returns after serving as CEO of a Jewish community centre in Cleveland. “I wanted to go back to teaching in a synagogue,” he said. “I realized I was more of a pastor, teacher and preacher, not an administrator. I missed those things.” 

As a rabbi, Rose wants to pass on the tenets of Judaism to members of Shaarey Zedek. 

“Judaism is a 4,000-year-old tradition that still has something to say to the world today,” Rose said, noting he wants to help the synagogue continue to be a place “where people can come to learn and develop deep roots in Judaism and in the Jewish community.” 

“I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God, to see Judaism as a tradition that has something to say about how to live with a partner, with children, with parents, neighbours, others and the world.” 

Read about Carnie Rose and his vision for Judaism in Winnipeg in the Free Press.

"I want to be a voice for trans people in the church." Anglican priest Theo Robinson leaving Manitoba for new role in B.C.

“I want to be a voice for trans people in the church.”

 

That’s what Theo Robinson, who serves as an Anglican priest in Manitoba, says.

 

Robinson, the first trans person ordained to be a priest in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land—and likely the first in Canada, too—is leaving the province to take a new role as a priest in B.C.

 

Before he left, he shared his story with me (again). By telling it, Robinson hopes to make it easier for other transgender Christians to feel welcome in the church.

“Ignorance brings on hate,” he said, adding that more exposure to the stories of trans Christians can normalize them as people who also are faithfully following Jesus.

Read my story about Robinson in the Free Press.

A lunatic question: Whose side is God on in the Middle East when it comes to war?

As a rule, I try to refrain from writing about the Middle East. The conflicts in that region are mostly geopolitical, not religious. But every now and then religion leaps to the forefront and can’t be ignored. 

That’s what happened during the so-called “12-day war” between Israel, the U.S. and Iran, when leaders of all three countries invoked God and their respective religions to justify their actions. 

It started with Benjamin Netanyahu, who was followed by Donald Trump. And then came Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—all of the invoking God as being on their side against their enemies. 

Which raises several questions, starting with: If, as these monotheistic religions claim, there is only one God, who does that God listen to when asked to bless the wars of one country or another? 

Or maybe, as Mark Twain wrote, that's a lunatic question.

Read more in my recent Free Press column.

100th anniversary of the United Church of Canada; time for another "united" church movement?

 

Turning 100 is a significant milestone for people — and for denominations. That’s what the United Church of Canada did on June 10, this year. 

It was on that date a century ago that Canadian Methodists, Congregationalists and the Presbyterians came together to form the new denomination.  

A big reason for the merger was to reduce duplication of effort and resources; so many little towns and villages across the country had multiple churches from different denominations. There was also a desire for greater Christian unity and collaboration. 

Today, Canada is a less religious place and the challenges are different as the country's over 300 denominations lose members and see churches close. But the need for unity and collaboration is as great as back then, or even more. Is time for some 21st century visionaries to step forward to promote a new kind of “united” church in Canada today?

Read about it in my Free Press column.