If you were at church this past weekend only because it was Easter, and if you just aren't the type to flaunt your Christian beliefs, consider yourself a quintessentially Canadian Christian.
The results come from an Ipsos Reid poll of 814 Canadians and 768 Americans on their religious beliefs, conducted April 11-12.
While in the United States once-a-week church attendance remains at a steady 39%, in Canada churchgoing is on the decline, with only 17% of the population attending. Slightly more than half of those Canadians Ipsos spoke to go to church once a year, or simply don't go at all.
However, six in ten Canadians believe that "through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God provided a way for forgiveness of sins," and 42% claim an experience of being "in the presence of God."
Effectively, according to the poll, belief in Christian teachings has endured in Canada, but public expression of those beliefs has not.
Canada's religious story is different from the United States, believes Andrew Grenville, Ipsos Senior Vice President. Canadians remain strong in their faith, but decline in church attendance "is a real and persistent trend since the 1950s," he said, adding that in Canada "There is belief without necessarily belonging."
Lloyd Mackey, veteran Christian journalist and editor emeritus for Christian Current , thinks that there are no surprises in the Ipsos Reid poll.
"There is a sense that there are other things one can do to cultivate and encourage one's spiritual formation or development, and the church isn't needed as often," he said.
Both Mackey and Grenville acknowledged a "cynicism factor" that is discouraging church attendance.
The combined effects of sexual abuse within the church, residential school history, and questions about the authenticity of the crucifixion and the marital status and resurrection of Christ, have led to a proliferation of informal religious study groups in Canada, said Mackey. The popularity of books such as The Da Vinci Code , have contributed to this trend, he said.
Also, 63% of Canadians polled (a drop from 80% a decade ago) said religion and politics shouldn't mix, and evangelical leadership from any party is suspect.
"Religion and politics is something that goes on in people's minds, and often you're moving from one to the other without really thinking about it," said Mackey, author of the book The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper .
The decline in church attendance in Canada is "consistent with current mistrust of all large organizations," added Grenville.
The Ipsos poll was conducted as a telephone survey, commissioned by CanWest News service, and has a margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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