Canadian Press: More Canadians, especially young people, are sitting in church pews these days, says Reginald Bibby, one of Canada's best-known pollsters on religion. And all the groups from Protestant to Roman Catholic to non-traditional are showing "important signs of new life."
Attendance is up by as much as "4 or 5 percentage points" since the late 1990s, said the University of Lethbridge sociologist who has just published a new book, "Restless Churches," in which he argues his case through a blizzard of statistics. "What we're looking at is fairly modest stuff. But it's consistent."
Lots of people are hurting, struggling to find meaning and worried about their kids, said Bibby. "People are saying, 'Well you know, jeez, I'd like my kids to turn out OK.' If they can find meaning in a church, "that makes people feel good about the organization."
Taking children to church helps "set values," says Rob Ward, who along with his wife Bonnie, daughter Clarissa, 10, and son Brandon, 6, regularly attends Sunday service at Maple Grove United Church just west of Bowmanville, Ont. "It brings the family closer together."
