Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada

By Bill McAlpine, Joel Thiessen, Keith Walker and Arch Chee Wong Tyndale Academic Press, 2021. 262 pages. $25 (e-book $20)

what makes for a flourishing congregation? That is the key question in this fresh discussion starter on church life in Canada. The book draws from surveys and interviews of professional and lay leaders in congregations across Canada’s geography and Christian theological spectrum (except, unfortunately, Orthodox).

The authors examine 11 categories of congregational life – self-identity, leadership, innovation, structures and processes, discipleship, engaged laity, hospitality, diversity, neighbourhood involvement, partnerships and evangelism.

This schema is perhaps the greatest gift of the book. It broadens the discussion of success beyond the typical preoccupation with membership statistics by also paying attention to congregations’ social contexts and identities (denominational or otherwise). Diversity, collaborative leadership and community partnerships, for example, can be signs of flourishing. Evangelism, the book acknowledges, is understood differently by various traditions – and that should be respected.

The authors, affiliated with the Flourishing Congregations Institute founded at Ambrose University in 2016, also are quick to acknowledge the limitations of their research. Interviewees, for example, are overwhelmingly male (as are the authors). Indigenous and immigrant voices are under-represented. U.S. research is often invoked when Canadian data is lacking. Even so, the authors use both the gaps and their findings to stimulate conversation, self-reflection and articulation of vision.

This is an excellent resource for leaders looking to renew their witness and community life. And look for other new resources at www. FlourishingCongregations.org.