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More people go to church everywhere in Canada, except Montreal
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| malek |
But Montrealers an exception; Church attendance in rest of Canada at its highest level since 1985
ALAN HUSTAK
The Gazette
October 12, 2004
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The Montreal region is increasingly godless, but Quebecers in the rest of the province are starting to find their way back to church on Sunday.
A new survey indicates that church attendance across Canada is at its highest level in 30 years - a rise attributed to the participation of people age 18 to 34 - and many of those who haven't seen the inside of a church in years say they still believe in a god.
The new study, by University of Lethbridge sociologist Reginald W. Bibby, found that 63 per cent of Quebecers say they have personally experienced God's presence in their lives.
And even though many people no longer support institutional religion, Bibby says, 80 per cent of Quebecers are still believers.
Bibby should know; he's been monitoring religious trends in Canada for 30 years.
Rob Bull, an elder at St. James United Church in downtown Montreal, says his experience supports Bibby's study.
"We've discovered a whole generation that has grown up without religious instruction that is now curious about spiritual matters," Bull said. "There are people who are curious about what goes on in a church and want to know what makes religion so special."
The number of people who go to church in Quebec, however, is still abysmal.
Twenty years ago, two out of every 10 Christians in the province attended services at least once a week. Now, it's one in 20.
Only seven per cent of those under 35 who call themselves Roman Catholic, for example, still go to church on a regular basis.
The situation in the Montreal metropolitan area - with a population of 3,426,350, according to a 2001 Statistics Canada survey - is even more pronounced.
The number of those in the region who say they have no religion is growing, according to StatsCan. That doesn't mean, however, that Quebecers are losing the faith.
"Anglicanism and the United Church, Presbyterianism and Lutheranism, along with Roman Catholicism in Quebec, are not exactly fly-by-night operations," Bibby writes in his latest book, Restless Churches. "They have long histories and recuperative powers. They just don't roll over and die."
If the faithful are still out there and the religious framework is still in place, according to Bibby, "it makes good sense to assume that it will only be a matter of time before they experience rejuvenation."
There is, he says, evidence of that already in the rest of Canada, where church attendance is on the upswing and at its highest level since 1985. Bibby's studies are supported by pollster Allan Gregg, who reports that 26 to 30 per cent of English-speaking Canadians go to church regularly, a dramatic increase from a low of 18 per cent in 1992.
Even in Quebec, about 2 million people attend religious services on any given weekend.
The exception is the Montreal region, where the number of those who say they have no religion has increased by more than 50 per cent since 1991, to 260,000.
"Overall, you can't trivialize the importance of religion in Quebec, it makes no sense," Bibby told The Gazette in a telephone interview from Lethbridge, Alta. |
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| mmx |
| If church had Preach spinning and maybe bring down Tiesto once a year or something, then maybe I'd go to mass. Thrown in some lazers and you'll have the place sold out. |
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| Mike_B |
| Church is good for sleep |
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| j_spot |
I didnt read it(ie page 2 of the report), but this really has me baffled. Is the rise in attendance in Urban areas (id be confused), or Rural(I would understand) or does it say at all?
Its done @ UofL, which is pretty much part of Canadas Bible belt, and a VERY conservative school...so this is interesting to read |
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| Johnny Jon |
Well why go to church when the guy who preaches probably commited more sins then ill ever dream of doing? Besides, everytime i go, im always laughing my ass off cause the choral down at my church really doesnt know how to sing,they took a bunch of 70 year olds and over to make the choral,last time i went was for a funeral,really a sad day...till they started singing,they'll probably be the only reason for me going to that church if i go again.
Dont get me wrong,i am a fierce believer,but in god,dont really trust the Church's organization. Till you know what you believe in,stand by it and practice it in your everyday life,i dont see the real point of attending week-ends masses on a regular base, the dude reads the bible and comments on it,buy one and read it and make your own analysis. As for montreal, well doesnt really surprise me, lot of reasons could explain that. |
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| ShadoWolf |
| quote: | Originally posted by Johnny Jon
Well why go to church when the guy who preaches probably commited more sins then ill ever dream of doing? |
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
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| KrinKer |
There's a reason for that ...
LA RÉVOLUTION TRANQUILLE
KrinKer |
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| discojoe |
| quote: | Originally posted by ShadoWolf
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
agreed.. :rolleyes: |
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| Mekroon |
i really dont believe in god
i believe in the power of life
i guess people were tired to hear someone telling them how to think and behave
i wouldnt go to church, cause i dont need
but i visited A LOT of churches in europe, im interested in the history of religion and philosophy
but i wont accept to do what a preach wants me to do
we got rid of religion cause its the reason why we are late compared to Ontario for example..... they thought we should stay farmers and raise families of 15 children
we all know we should at least give birth to 5 children per family if we want to preserve quebecers majority
but 2 is already too much
i wont have more than 2 kids.... more is just too much unless i make 500K per year:D
religion has been destroyed by human power
i even did some monastery thing where we didnt have the right to talk
during the first 15 hours i was ok... reading the old testament
then in the evening i just couldnt continue i had to talk!!!!!
we woke up the religious crew:D :D :D |
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| Bronze |
l'église dit pas au monde quoi faire
l'église sert de guide
ceux que l'église leur dit koi faire... devienne des extremiste |
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| alec |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mekroon
we got rid of religion cause its the reason why we are late compared to Ontario for example.....
religion has been destroyed by human power
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ughh, I guess you didn't read the article it says that the church and in that meaning religion is doing pretty good, except in montreal of course! Montreal is the Las Vegas of Canada! |
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| Johnny Jon |
| quote: | Originally posted by alec
ughh, I guess you didn't read the article it says that the church and in that meaning religion is doing pretty good, except in montreal of course! Montreal is the Las Vegas of Canada! |
Or the Amsterdam of Canada |
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