Dear Friend,
Evangelicals in North America are often misunderstood and misrepresented. This is most likely because the word
evangelical has not been defined consistently by those who use it – by statisticians (e.g. StatsCan), journalists, political pundits, sociologists, academics, and religious leaders.
So, what does it mean to be an “evangelical” Christian? Does it matter how we define it?
Sadly, use of the word
evangelical has become problematic in many quarters in recent years. In North America, the term
evangelical has become highly politicized, often used to
only refer to a voting bloc of white, right-wing Christians who hold conservative (or fundamentalist) views on specific social and political issues. This is far cry from how Evangelicals in rest of the world understand the biblical, theological, and historical usage of the term.
As you know, the word
evangelical comes from the biblical term
euangelion, meaning “good news” or “gospel.” Simply put, Evangelicals are centered on the Good News or Gospel of Jesus. The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) – of which the EFC is a member and on whose 15-member governance board I sit – represents 600 to 700 million Evangelicals around the world!
Founded in 1964 – exactly 60 years ago – the EFC is
the national association of evangelical Christians in Canada. 48 denominations, 33 post-secondary schools, more than 80 ministry organizations, and more than 500 congregations have affiliated with us. We are united by a common set of religious beliefs and practices that distinguish us from the other Christian traditions (like Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Orthodox Christians).
Today, there are approximately 4 million Evangelicals in Canada who hold the Bible as the highest authority in faith and life. Because the EFC is regarded as one of the leading evangelical voices in Canada, it matters greatly to us how the word
evangelical is perceived within our faith community as well as in our governments, courts, and the broader Canadian society.
There is an urgent need to combat the prejudices about who we are and what we believe. Allowing inaccurate or negative stereotypes about Evangelicals to persist and grow will have dire consequences for our faith community: Laws and court decisions will continue to erode our religious freedoms. More Canadians – both Christians and non-Christians – will question whether the expression of our faith has any place or value in the public square or in our neighbourhoods. And our efforts to positively influence Canadian society by voicing biblical principles and meaningful solutions to help make Canada a better place to live and flourish will be ignored or dismissed.
At stake is the freedom to live out our faith – to teach our children, to worship, to show the love of God to our neighbours, to voice biblical truths, and to spread the Gospel. If more and more Evangelicals – individuals, churches and organizations – start to distance themselves from the evangelical movement and to disassociate from the larger evangelical community, we will no longer be a united movement, and the EFC’s influence and impact will be greatly diminished.
The EFC’s Centre for Research on Church and Faith (CRCF) was established to conduct vital research to help us understand church and faith trends, as well as social trends, that are uniquely Canadian. This helps us to better explain who we are as Evangelicals, to understand our place and relevance in the broader culture, and to make better ministry decisions for the furtherance of the Gospel.
The CRCF conducts research, in partnership with our affiliates, to help the Church in Canada grow and flourish. Past research has focused on church and faith trends, Bible engagement, missions engagement, the faith of children and youth, the parental role in faith formation, and small church ministries.
Today’s religious landscape is very complex. The questions currently being used by researchers to determine if someone is an evangelical Christian (based on their associations, beliefs and behaviours) are no longer effectual at identifying
all Evangelicals. Given the growing immigrant population, for example, we want to be able to identify Evangelicals amongst diaspora and ethnic minorities. Further, if we can create a pool of research participants who we are confident are evangelical, we can trust that research results will accurately reflect the evangelical community and the evangelical movement in Canada.
To ensure that the research studies we conduct continue to produce relevant information, the CRCF is working to update how the words
evangelical and
evangelicalism could be better conceptualized and operationalized
. The success of this endeavour will have significant and far-reaching implications. We would be helping to shape an important source of demographic and social information for decision making and analysis – like identifying important trends that would benefit the work of Canadians churches, ministry organizations and Christian schools.
Your donation today will help fund this critical work. Will you partner with us? Will you help ensure that the evangelical movement in Canada remains strong and vibrant and relevant for this and future generations?
Gratefully yours,
Dr. David Guretzki
President & CEO