This research project began with a curious observation.

According to Statistics Canada, Pentecostalism declined by 15.3%, or 66,960 affiliates between 1991 and 2001. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada which comprises about 60% of Canada’s Pentecostals recorded an increase of 10,000 members. The two stats don’t add up.

Adam Stewart hypothesized that the difference was due to an identity shift among Canadian Pentecostals. People who attend Pentecostal churches are self-identifying on government census forms as Evangelicals or merely Christian rather than Pentecostal. To test this idea, Stewart conducted an ethnographic study of three congregations in the region of Waterloo: Freedom in Christ, Elmira Pentecostal Assembly, and Elevation.

The research shows that people are putting less emphasis on Pentecostal identity.

[A] significant transformation is currently taking place within Canadian Pentecostalism. This transformation is reconfiguring at least some Canadian Pentecostals into practitioners who are less concerned with denominational affiliation, tradition, and established definitions of what it means to be Pentecostal (170).

Some of the most interesting material in the book are the transcriptions of interviews that Stewart conducted with church members. Hearing the thoughts and concerns of actual church members in their own words makes the research come alive.

Stewart, while fair, doesn’t pull any punches in his analysis of the data. For example, he suggests that the people who attend Elevation have ironically “been the victims of a very successful niche marketing campaign” (75). He also notes how the increase of therapeutic individualism has changed the way the Holy Spirit is interpreted.

While this study is (admittedly) limited by its geographic focus on one small region, the overall observations certainly resonate with my pastoral experience. Since this research was conducted the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada has embarked on a refreshing of our Statement of Fundamental and Essential Truths. Early versions of this refresh allow for a broader diversity in interpreting the Pentecostal experience. It seems like this process is an exercise in following what the Spirit is already doing.

Stewart, Adam. The New Canadian Pentecostals. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2015.

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