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Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America
Pioneer Christian Monthly
Date - Jan/88
Contributor - Rev. Murray Moerman
Title - The R.C.A. in Canada: Taking Stock (Part 1)
Topic - Reformed Church in Canada
The Reformed Church in Canada will be choosing a new leader in the next few weeks. Rev. Cor Bons has announced his resignation and a search committee has been hard at work in discerning God's choice of the person who should take, what many consider, the key leadership role of the RCA in Canada. The choice as to who should fill this position is a critical one and therefore the focus of much united prayer.
The RCA has been in Canada since 1909 when the first Canadian congregation was organized in Monarch, Alberta. Since that time, to the best of my knowledge, 38 other congregations have been organized, 8 of which have disbanded, 2 transferred to other denominations, and 2 congregations of various other backgrounds, are preparing to unite with our denomination.
What does this tell us about the health of the RCA in Canada? How are we really doing as a denomination in Canada?
An attempt to respond to that question may be found in Table 1: 'An Overview of Canada RCA Growth (1963-1987)".
Table 1: An Overview of Canadian RCA Growth (I 963 -1987)
ONTARIO AND QUEBEC
1963 1973 1983 1987 DGR
Barrie 164 97 -41.0%
Brantford 234 230 244 213 - 3.8%
Cambridge 254 112 152 101 -31.9%
Chatham 347 340 309 262 -11.0%
Drayton 297 337 356 362 + 8.6%
Exeter 177 250 266 222 + 9.9%
Fruitland 548 394 332 293 -23.0%
Guelph 378 428 243 235 -18.0%
Hamilton 648 591 425 379 -20.0%
Harriston 174 131 160 172 - .5%
Kingsville 105 105 109 113 + 3.1%
London
Immanuel 366 317 262 224 -18.5%
Maitland 186 175 115 132 -13.3%
Mississauga 260 290 156 124 -26.5%
Roxboro
Quebec 100 56 -44.0%
St. Catharines 332 511 461 426 +10.9%
Strathroy 116
THE WESTERN PROVINCES
1963 1973 1983 1987 DGR
Abbotsford, BC 204 232 217 260 +10.6%
Alberni, BC 81
Burnaby, BC 207 304 +161.8%
Calgary Corn
Alta. 407 351 261 200 -25.6%
Calgary, New
Hope, Alta. 102
Cochrane, Alta. 53
Edmonton,
Emm. Alta. 517 496 439 297 -20.6%
Edmonton
Bethel, Alta. 123
Edmonton
Christ 120 95 -44.2%
Lethbridge,
Alta. 357
Monarch, Alta. 179 175 146 129 -12.8%
Surrey, BC 174 276 138 158 - 3.9%
Vancouver, BC 432 332 275 244 -21.2%
Winnipeg,
Man. 343 167 149 156 -28.0%
Totals 2,870 2,029 1,952 1,945
Total Decadal Decline -15.0%
In Table I three figures from the General Synod Directory active communicants plus baptized non-communicants plus adherents - make up the figure representing each congregation. The only exception is 1973 when the General Synod Directory did not list adherents. In that year the total baptized membership figure alone is used, based on the assumption that inactive communicants and active adherents may be approximately equal in number.
These figures are, of course, not as accurate as average total attendance figures, but actual attendance figures are, unfortunately, not available.
The dates chosen represent the first year statistics are available after the organization of Classis Ontario (I 963) and decadal increments after that date.
The column labeled DGR refers to Decadal Growth Rate, the average percentage of growth or decline experienced at a per decade rate. Some churches have not been in existence for the full 24 year period covered. Their DRG will reflect only the years of their existence.
Several important things should be noted:
1 . We have been decreasing in size from a total of 8,998 persons in 1963 to a total of 6,791 persons in 1987, a decline of 24.5% in 24 years, or an average decline of - 11.1% per decade.
2. Canadian population, however, has not been decreasing but rather has increased 36.8% during these same 24 years, or an average increase of + 13.8% per decade. This growth is depicted in Table 2.- Keeping Pace With Canadian Population Growth.
1963 1973 1983 1987
Canadian Population
(millions) 18.9 22.0 24.9 25.8
% increase over 1963 0% +16.4% +31.4% +36.8%
3. Were RCA church growth to have kept pace with Canadian population growth during these 24 years, the RCA in Canada should be 12,309 persons rather than her current 6,791 persons. Please see Table3.-RCA Totals Required to Keep Pace with Canadian Population Growth.
Table 3: RCA Totals Required to Keep Pace with Canadian
Population Growth
1963 1973 1983 1987
East Required 6,128 7,133 8,052 8,383
East Actual 6,128 5,878 5,193 4,846
East % Behind 0% -17.6% -35.5% -42.2%
West: Required 2,870 3,341 3,771 3,926
West: Actual 2,870 2,029 1,952 1,945
West: % Behind 0% -39.2% -48.2% -50.5%
4. The eastern RCA churches are 'less far' (-42.2%) behind Canadian population growth, an average decadal decline of -9.3%, than are the western RCA churches (at -50.5%), or an average decadel of -15.0%.
5 . Not all churches are growing/declining at the same rate. Some churches have been generally increasing, others decreasing, and still others going up and down. Further details of individual church patterns of fluctuation would be evident if Table I were expanded to include 1967 and 1977.
Some may question the accuracy of a specific portion of this overview. The figures may not appear to reflect local conditions for a particular church or region, i.e. a church may have transferred to another denomination or split over a local issue or personality, or economic conditions or population growth may not have been equally distributed across the country.
Certainly these charts do not reflect human conditions in all their intricacies. Nevertheless the trend is clear.
What are the reasons for this general inability of the RCA in Canada to keep pace with the population growth of the country in which Christ has placed us with His Great Commission? To this question and to the future we will turn in next month's column.
(to be continued)
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