Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

Jon Meachem, in the lead to his recent article in Newsweek magazine, says that the percentage of self-identified Christians in the United States has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. Canada is, and has always been, a different nation, but it can be argued that trends in the United States - religious, political and otherwise - have always affected us, and been reflected by us. How will this change affect the America we know, and how in turn will that affect us?

In the words of a pastor interviewed by Meachem: "The most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered. The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis which threatens the very heart of our culture."

But might this shift be a good thing, both for the state, and for the church? The church, while shrinking, is in no danger of disappearing. Could it be that the declining political influence of the church will lead to a re-orienting  - a church separate from the corruption of political power, but still involved and engaged in the world? In many ways, the end of Christiendom in North America marks the beginning of a significant opportunity for the church to identify and live into the mission and the cutting edge of the gospel to which we are called to bear witness.