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Join us on April 6 at 7 p.m. Eastern for Broadview Live
Is the church becoming obsolete?
United Church minister and Broadview contributor Christopher White will host a conversation with sociologist Christian Smith and Mitchell Anderson, lead minister at St. Paul’s United Church. Together they’ll discuss the decline of institutional religion, the cultural forces reshaping faith and what the future of the church might look like.
After our guests have spoken, there will be some time for discussion.
Christian Smith is an American sociologist who studies religion’s role in modern society. He has spent decades researching the spiritual lives of young people and the cultural forces shaping belief. Smith is the author of Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, in which he argues that religion “hasn’t just declined in organizational or numerical terms,” but has become culturally obsolete in modern American life.
Mitchell Anderson is the lead minister of St. Paul’s United Church in Saskatoon — one of the fastest-growing congregations in the United Church of Canada. He argues that churches must move beyond their buildings, engage younger and more diverse Canadians and adapt their methods while keeping the Christian message intact in order to remain relevant. Anderson holds both a Master of Divinity and an MBA. He also advises and serves on the boards of local, provincial and national organizations, helping them grow and strengthen their impact.
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