The crumbling state of the churches is a physical embodiment of the state of religious observance ”“ and the phenomenon is hardly limited to Quebec. From British Columbia to Newfoundland, places of worship of all mainstream denominations are falling victim to dwindling attendance, rising land values and maintenance costs too onerous for congregations to bear.
The United Church, the largest Protestant denomination in Canada, closes one church a week, and has shuttered more than 400 in the past decade. The Anglican Church, which said in a report this year it was hemorrhaging members, has seen eight churches close on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, and placed another six on a one-year watch list.
Yet as churches are shuttered, there are despairing questions about their fate. The twin steeples of Saint-Nom-de-Jésus dominate the brick and stone row-housing in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, and a grass-roots campaign has sprung up to save the building and its pipe organ.
Correction: the United Church of Canada USED TO BE the largest Protestant denomination in the country. But when they started morphing into functional unitarians they started hemmorhaging too. I’m not sure of the stats, but I think Pentecostalism is the largest Protestant group in Canada. Can anyone else clarify?
To a certain extent, this can be seen as a good sign. The churches and their governing boards will less likely be filled with nominal Christians.