Centre Participant Online Survey

In March of 2008, anyone who had previously been connected to the Centre through our research or events was invited to complete a survey.

Read some of the results of what you had to say about current needs and priorities for our ministry.

A link is also provided on this page to a fuller summary of the survey's results.

Coming soon...

Results of our research conducted on the first five years of ministry.

Clergy Well-Being: Seeking Wholeness with Integrity

research conducted by The Rev. Andrew R. Irvine, PhD

This study was commissioned by the Beatty Ryckman Trust and was conducted with the clergy of six major protestant denominations in the Province of Ontario. The denominations included in the research were:

The United Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada
The Presbyterian Church in Canada
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, and
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada

The study began in conversation with ministers and ended with ministers assisting in the interpretation of data collected during the study. Over fifty clergy participated in focus groups as the study began. These groups assisted in the formation of a broad-based questionnaire.

In June of 2003 a mailing of 1252 questionnaires was sent out to the sample group which represented 30% of the clergy of the six denominations. At the end of the time allotted for completion of the questionnaire 338 responses were received. The data from the questionnaire was analyzed following which some 10% of the respondents were directly interviewed to assist with the interpretation of the material. Those interviewed were asked as to their experience of the accuracy of the data and to offer insight from their experience and denominational perspective.

Read some of the findings of the study and reflect on your own experience of ministry.

Projects of our Senior Researchers

The Rev. Dr. Stuart Macdonald and Dr. Brian Clarke

Stuart and Brian continue to pursue the area of recent developments in church history, particularly in Canada since World War II. They are working with membership data from several denominations and noting intriguing trends, some of which dispel prior assumptions about church decline. This data also raises new questions.

Click here to visit their website and to read the papers they have prepared from their findings.

Read about distinctions between the church in Canada and the U.S. and a response to the article "Converted Preach to the Converters" from the Globe about Indian ministers coming to preach in Wales to fill vacancies, both written by Stuart.