Human history is always marked by moments of profound transformations. Western civilization undergoes a significant cultural and social transition toward an increasingly post-Christendom society. This shift presents a unique set of challenges for Christian churches, particularly those in medium and big-sized cities where these transformations are more impactful. These churches struggle to remain relevant in a rapidly changing society due to globalization, secularization and historical legacies. As a result, there is a need for new approaches to engaging with society and effectively sharing the Christian faith positively. This text aims to explore the necessity of repositioning the Christian church within Canadian society and the potential benefits of doing so. Through careful analysis, we will identify strategies and actions that the church can take to effectively reposition itself in a post-Christendom society.

Every moment of change is a possibility for significant transformations. It is practically impossible to think about Western culture and not associate it with the history of Christendom. Its cultural influence can be observed in Europe and North America and permeates all fields, from the strictly religious to the political, including the artistic. In most of the Western world, the Christian religion helped shape the countries’ worldview and occupied a specific prominent place in many celebrations and public gatherings (Beach 2015, 16). However, the world in which we were created no longer exists; we are living in a moment of transition, of liminality – the threshold of a new moment is unfolding. This historical moment, known as a “post-Christendom age,” establishes that Christian faith is no longer a crucial element in the dialogue between those who say they believe and the culture in which they are inserted. There is evidence that contemporary culture is indifferent to the Christian faith, which is no longer appreciated and considered culturally important. Notwithstanding, this is not an isolated phenomenon relative only to the church. Our societies are bringing new meaning to our primary social structures – “institutions that once brought people together and played the role of informal schools of civic virtue are increasingly rare and distant” (Sandel 2011, 328). Among these social institutions, the Christian church and its traditional religious behavioural practices are based on absolute concepts and forms, which no longer seem to make sense in a world of constant transformation and questioning.

The importance of the advent of Christendom considered not only the undeniable and incomparable influence of the Christian church in the religious, philosophical, and artistic fields but also, and mainly, the role determinant exercised by it in the sociopolitical transformations that occurred primarily from the Middle Ages onwards in Europe. This cultural influence was not restricted to Western Europe. With the colonization of the Americas, this strong influence also acted in the so-called New World. The cultural significance of the Christian religion was immense during Canada’s early years (McKim 2017, 9). Among them, it is possible to identify Scottish, British and French who were Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Pentecostalists, Roman Catholics, and United Church who have made invaluable contributions to the Canadian nation (Klempa 1994, 3). In Canadian Presbyterianism, Scottish influence has been an important component; however, it is not the only ethnic community within this tradition (Macdonald 2008, 170-171), and the profound impact of Presbyterian ways of thinking, in both their positive and negative aspects, on the social, political, economic, intellectual, and cultural aspects in Canada (Klempa 1994, 4). However, as stated before, we live in a liminal period of profound transformations. This includes Christendom’s influence in Canadian society.

Beach (2105, 16) contrasts two national gatherings the Canadian federal government promoted in 34 years. The first gathering occurred on July 1, 1967, in Ottawa as a crowd of 25,000 people gathered for the country’s centennial birthday celebration. At this event, prayers were offered, hymns were sung and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson read from 1 Peter 3:8-14. Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, was greeted by eight members of the clergy, who escorted them to their respective places on the rostrum. The result of this historical event is that Canada identified itself as a religious country, “The message was that Canada was a religious country, a country whose religion was decidedly Christian” (Beach 2015, 17). The second gathering occurred on September 14, 2001, in front of the Parliament buildings, three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington. Around 100,000 people gathered on Parliament Hill to mourn those lost in the attacks. Representatives from many religions were seated on the dais that day, although any religious leader was invited to participate in the ceremony in any way. The memorial ceremony was solemn and lasted for half an hour. Prime Minister Jean Chretien, American Ambassador Paul Celucci and Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson delivered brief speeches during the ceremony. There were no religious readings, hymns or prayers included. Each ceremony represented the Canada of its era. When we compare the two ceremonies, we can see how much Canada has changed as a nation in just one generation. Its Christian religious heritage decisively shaped Canada in the early to mid-20th century. However, in the 21st century, no single religious faith, including Christianity, takes center stage at times of national gathering (Beach 2015, 17).

The postmodern emphasis on spirituality creates space for reimagining the Christian faith as a liminal community with a prophetic voice. In the face of all these structural changes, an opportunity arises for repositioning Christianity.

Based on Pew Research Center data, Lipka pointed out five facts about religion in Canada: 1) A declining share of Canadians identify as Christians, while an increasing share says they have no religion; 2) Most Canadians say religion’s influence in public life is waning in their country; 3) Canada has low levels of government restrictions on religion; 4) Relatively few Canadians frequently engage in traditional religious practices; 5) Two-thirds of Canadians (67%) say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values (Lipka 2019). In this postmodern and post-Christendom context, the disappearance of an institutional and privileged Christian narrative seems to be inevitable. Nevertheless, this secular age is not without the possibility of belief, transcendence, and, therefore, seeking deep forms of transformation (Root 2023, 24). This does not indicate the end of the Christian faith. Still, the postmodern emphasis on spirituality creates space for reimagining the Christian faith as a liminal community with a prophetic voice (Murray 2004, 304). In the face of all these structural changes, an opportunity arises for repositioning Christianity. The religious system, closely tied to Western modernity and heavily reliant on it, has gradually ended. In its typical European or Western form, Christianity is experiencing significant erosion. However, a new reality is beginning to emerge, although we are only just beginning to glimpse it. Some scholars (Beach 2015; Beaumont 2019; Murray 2004; Rohr 1999; Szakolczai 2009) have identified this historical moment as a movement of shift for the Christian church. All the social transformation occurring at this moment is causing us to be drawn away from “business as usual” and remain patiently on the “threshold” where we are between the familiar and the completely unknown (Rohr 1999, 155). Liminal seasons can be challenging, disorienting, and unsettling. We often aim to move ahead with confidence and clarity. However, it seems we are dragging ourselves through thick mud, leaving behind the comfort of familiarity and heading towards an uncertain future yet to be revealed (Beaumont 2019, 2).

There are many ways to study human societies and their development and changes. For example, one way to explore this society’s development is through the Behavioural Analysis of Culture. Skinner proposed that biological, behavioural and cultural characteristics evolve through the processes of variation and selection. For him, organisms are not immutable but change constantly due to their relationship with the environment. The object of study for Skinner is behaviour. Species, individuals and cultures evolve through the selection process by consequences. Thus, we can identify three levels of behaviour determination: (1) Phylogenetic, establishing characteristics of the species; (2) Ontogenetic, which makes up individual characteristics of organisms; and (3) Cultural, which enables the emergence and transmission of cultural practices (Skinner 1984). The process of selection by cultural consequences describes how individuals in a group learn through their peers from current or past generations, producing and accumulating knowledge over several generations of individuals. At this level, the interlocking of individuals’ behaviours and the effects produced by these interlockings on the environment also become a source of behaviour determination, enabling the development of behavioural repertoires that transcend the individual’s life span. Since for Behaviour Analysis, behaviour is determined by the organism’s relationship with the environment, a fundamental part of a person’s environment is made up of other people – that is, their social environment. It is the effect on the group and not the reinforcing consequences for individual group members responsible for culture’s evolution. Greenman states this when he writes that “everyone has a worldview or core set of beliefs about reality, the way the world is. This is clearly part of our everyday experience, if we pause even briefly to reflect on how people actually live their lives. There are reasons underlying why people act as they do, for better or for worse” (Greenman 2016, 45). In other words, all is connected.

What could have happened to Canada’s mainstream Protestant denominations in the last century to contribute to such significant national shifts?

In recent years, Canada has undergone profound changes. “Since the 1960s, as wave after wave of immigrants from all corners of the world arrived to remake the nation and especially the city. Immigrants have dramatically stretched and reshaped our cities. Our urban centres are now cosmopolitan, pluralistic, multicultural communities with identities not yet set. Our cities, and with them our nation, are in seemingly constant transition” (Hjalmarson 2018, 8). Immigrants have transformed cities, creating cosmopolitan, multicultural communities in constant transition. These cultural changes indicate what is happening “as religion in general and Christianity in particular were increasingly pushed to the peripheries of the culture” (Beach 2015, 8). Although writing about Canadian culture without living these experiences is a great challenge, it is possible to deduce some aspects of the interaction between secularism/pluralism and religion, suggesting that we live in a “global village,” a metaphor that philosopher Marshall McLuhan described. Other scholars can help us understand the interaction between religion and secularism/pluralism in this specific moment of transition.

For Charles Taylor, a Canadian philosopher, the so-called “secularism” concerns the response of the democratic state to the problem of diversity and not precisely the relationship between religion and political institutions. The secularity that Taylor refers to contrasts “not only with a divine foundation for society but also with every idea of society as constituted in something that transcends contemporary common action” (Taylor 2000, 285). He discusses the gradual shift from a society where belief in God was ubiquitous to one where even the most devout believers consider faith as merely one of many human possibilities and proposes a new perspective on the concept of secularization that goes beyond the common notions of emptying religion from the public sphere and the decline of religious beliefs and practices, instead emphasizing the importance of the search for the spiritual and the meaning of human life. Mark Juergensmeyer, an academic specializing in global and religious studies, states that “secularism versus religion” suggests two separate worldviews, each with its way of understanding reality. However, this dichotomy can be problematic as it creates a space for conflict that can be easily exploited by those who feel marginalized and are looking for someone to blame. The ongoing battle between secularism and religion can exacerbate this discord (Juergensmeyer 2017, 329).

On the other hand, Peter Berger, an Austrian-American sociologist and theologian, declares that in this historical moment of transformations, secularism is not the central theme but modern pluralism and its effects on religiosity. For him, pluralism explains the configuration of modernity and its contemporary trends better than the theory of secularism. The secularization thesis does not find sufficient empirical support; on the contrary, today’s world is as religious as it was in the pre-modern era. Faced with the observation of the observed deficit of the secularization theory, Berger then proposes a new paradigm that can deal with what he calls “two pluralisms”: (1) “the coexistence of different religions” and (2) the “coexistence of religious and secular” (Berger 2017, 9). These profound cultural changes were a long selection process by interlocking individuals’ behaviours and the effects produced by these interlockings on the environment. It is the effect on the group responsible for the evolution of culture as studied by Behavioural Analysis of Culture. Based on this, we can establish a crucial question: “What could have happened to Canada’s mainstream Protestant denominations in the last century to contribute to such significant national shifts?”

According to the Canadian Census, although the membership of Canadian churches increased after World War II, their population percentage decreased in the same period (Macdonald and Clarke 2017, 29). In other words, the number of members was growing, but the proportion of churchgoers in the population was declining. This decline has been a significant topic of discussion for many Canadian churches, especially for the mainstream Protestant denominations such as Anglicans, Presbyterians, United, Lutherans and Baptists that observed a decline both individually and collectively in terms of their share of the overall Protestant category over the four decennial Censuses between 1971 and 2001. The Presbyterians went from 9% to 4% in the same period (Macdonald and Clarke 2017, 35), while between 1991 and 2001, the number of people who identify with the Presbyterian church declined by 35.6%, “the highest rate of decline of any of the roughly twenty-five major Christian denominations measured by Statistics Canada” (Macdonald, Presbyterian and Reformed Christians and Ethnicity 2008, 174). It is noteworthy that the members of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, in the Census data, are considerably older than the general population of Canada. This highlights the significant transformation that has taken place over the past half-century. The data from the 2001 Census shows that the age distribution is quite similar among members of various Protestant denominations, and most of them fall into the age group of 45-64 (Macdonald and Clarke 2017, 37). As a result, the major Protestant denominations in Canada tend to have an older demographic than the average population. This is significant information that seems to indicate a process of cultural selection of the behaviour of younger people in their relationship with community faith, especially with Christian churches. Reginald Bibby, a Canadian sociologist, has done surveys every four years for more than 25 years to demonstrate how religious affiliation has shifted among younger people in Canada. From 1984 to 2008, there was a decrease of 47 per cent among Canadian teenagers who identified themselves as Protestant or Catholic, while at the same time, 32 per cent of Canadian teenagers reported themselves as “nones” in terms of affiliation, and 16 per cent reported themselves as affiliated with some non-Christian faith (Bibby 2009, 176). It seems like Canada is rapidly becoming a different place religiously, and the fact that these changes are happening among younger generations signals that these changes are only beginning. All these changes in the Canadian religious culture are a long process of selection by the interlocking of individuals’ behaviours and the effects produced by these interlockings on the environment. All is connected.

Understanding this paradigmatic moment of profound shifts as an opportunity for repositioning the Christian faith, we need to establish an essential dialogue between Reformed theology and this pluralist society. This means that we, Christians, need to assume a humble position; we do not have more of a privileged position in the narrative – it is not more about one side of history; it is not about me, but about us. Why do we not establish a dialogue with young people to understand their concepts of life and faith or with those who abandon our churches to comprehend their experiences, for example? It is time to ask questions like Jesus did in His interactions narrated in the Gospels. When we are willing to understand the hearts of others, we improve our communication with them. An interesting curiosity in the gospels: we find 141 questions addressed to Jesus and 217 questions asked by Jesus. He asked more questions than he had received. This signals something important in communication. The practice of dialogue entails adopting attitudes and behaviours that foster community life. Dialogue is decolonization.

In the hypothetical church in a medium-sized city trying to reposition itself in society, dialogue can be an essential tool for this transition. The church would start a movement of dialogue with different actors in society, like schools, colleges, other religions, and political institutions, but with a conscience that “The Church must not merge or confuse her Gospel with any political, economic, cultural, or nationalistic creed. At the same time, the Church may not hold aloof from the affairs of the Nation, whether the authorities be of the faith or against it, for she must fulfill the ministry laid upon her by her Lord, who became one with man for man’s redemption” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 2021, 153). It is time to abandon the temptation of Christendom’s influence in society and return to be known as those who belonged to the Way (Acts 9:2). This is the second challenge for this church in this transitional time. As a church, we need to ask questions for people to understand what they bear in their hearts and to be able to present the Gospel’s answers to their questions. Dialogue is better than monologue.

In the beginning, the church was a fellowship of men and women centring on the living Christ. Then, the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise.” – Dr. Richard C. Halverson

An excellent way to establish a dialogue is to find and focus on common points of view. A perfect common point to start a dialogue is about the manifestation of evil in the world. Religious and non-religious people were concerned about this cruel reality. Fear and guilt are some outcomes of the evil in our fallen world. Reformed theology explains the reality of the evil in our world through the noetic effects of sin. Of course, the theological term “sin” is not a dialogical word, but its theological concept is. Living Faith resumes this theological concept understandably, “Sin alienates us from God. It offends the holiness of God, separates us from our Lord, and leads to spiritual death. It mars the divine image in us and infects our relationship with others and ourselves. Sin is a power present in every human life, even at birth. It issues such sins as pride asserting itself against God, indifference towards God and neighbour, untruthfulness, greed, lust, laziness, gluttony, envy and selfish anger” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 1994, 8-9). In the evangelical Brazilian culture, when there is talk about “sin,” the emphasis is more in the aspect of its traditional etymologic meaning “to miss the target,” with a conservative and fundamentalist bias. (Evangelicals in Brazil are mainly composed of Pentecostals and Neo-Pentecostals, influenced by Arminian theology.) So, the most common questions made for the evangelicals are about behaviours, “Is it a sin to smoke a cigarette?”; “Is it a sin to drink wine?”; “Is it a sin to listen to non-Christian music?” Perhaps they have not learned to make the correct question, “Since sin is missing the target, what target should we hit?” According to the Gospel, the target is “love God, loving people.” When we hit the target, we avoid sin in its selfish manifestation, as stated in the Living Faith: “We are called to work out the meaning of our own lives and to find our true vocation in the love and service of God. We serve and love God by the service and love of creation, especially the care of the needy. Every kind of work that is honest and serves others is a vocation from the Lord. Calling means the necessity to deny selfish ambition and desire in order to minister to others. In God’s service true freedom is to be found” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 1994, 7). We love God when we love people. In other words, sometimes, evil can not be avoided, but we can face it through our love for God. “The actions described here could never be described as in any way loving God, or loving neighbours. And so the answer to the question, “why work to decolonize?” also becomes clear.” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 2020, 9).  Simply asking questions for society is a powerful way to demonstrate humbleness and attitudes and behaviours that foster community life. In this way, we “recognize that truth and goodness in them are the work of God’s Spirit, the author of all truth. We should not address others in a spirit of arrogance implying that we are better than they. But rather, in the spirit of humility, as beggars telling others where food is to be found, we point to life in Christ” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 1994, 26-27).

Existing in different periods of human history and associated with cities (meeting places for people with different experiences and knowledge), pluralism, in modernity, has become a globalized phenomenon. It is interesting the fact that we are more and more connected in digital life but disconnected in real life. In theological terms, we are alienated: “The human condition is one of alienation, but that alienation is sin” (Tillich 2005, 341). Alienation and disconnection are understandable concepts for postmodern and pluralistic people. “The doctrine of “total depravity” does not mean that everything we do is as bad as it could possibly be. Rather, it means that every aspect of our lives is marked in some manner by sinful corruption. The full scope of human activity is twisted by sin and needs redemption. Our defiance of God and his ways requires dramatic intervention, which is the rationale for God’s saving action in the cross and resurrection of Jesus” (Greenman 2016, 40). In this dialogue with society, the church probably also could realize that not just society is badly influenced by sin. The noetic effects of sin are evident in the relationship between colonization and religion. The Western, white influence of the Christian church has adapted to the materialistic and consumeristic worldview of North American culture, where the doctrine of “I did it my way” is prevalent. This has led to the view that God’s grace is “nice but not necessary.” “Captivity” is the term used by Greenman (2016), while “Exile” is a term written by Beach (2015) to define this historical moment for the church. Dialogue is different from enculturation; as Lockhart remembers us, “Enculturation. . . is a process of influence by the dominant culture upon “an individual or community (e.g., the church) to imbibe its accepted norms and values so the individual or community is pressured to find acceptance within the society of that culture” (Lockhart 2016, 26-27). Dialogue is a great way to strengthen beliefs, “tolerance is the heritage of true convictions” (Tournier 2002, 41). One time that this hypothetical church can establish a dialogue with society, the church will be seen in a different way by the city. The greater the involvement in dialogue with various social actors, the church demonstrates greater respect, love, and concern for the city, more the church could be a “city on the hill” – a place where the songs, preaching, and prayers of congregational worship are Christ-centred rather than me-centred, and a “morally formative practice would be to identify in whose name we gather – the Triune God’s name” (Greenman 2016, 24), and the outcome is all together praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people, and “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).

In some Christian circles, the church is confused with the reign of God (Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ – basileia tou Theou). In some Christian traditions, some temples of geographical importance are called Basilica, a term derived from Greek “basileia” (Βασιλεία). The church is not the reign of God but the announcer of the reign of God and a member at the same time. “The reign of God (basileia tou Theou) is undoubtedly central to Jesus’s entire ministry. It is likewise, central to his understanding of his own mission. One may even say that, for Jesus, God’s reign is the “starting point and context for mission” (Bosch 2011, 32). Dialogue could be a good starting point for a discipleship ministry.

In the Gospel of Matthew 28:19-20, it is possible to find a clear statement from Jesus about the work of the church in this fallen world, which is based on the authority of Christ himself: “Wherever you go/are, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” These verses emphasize not to go but to make disciples. The disciples of Christ were the germinal church at that moment. The mission is from God, through Jesus, and by the Holy Spirit. The church is just commissioned, i.e., God calls her to act with Him in His mission – co-mission.

“The theme of discipleship is central to Matthew’s Gospel and to Matthew’s understanding of the church and mission. . . Let us, however, first turn to the verb, matheteuein, “to make disciples.” . . . The most striking use of the verb matheteuein is encountered in the “Great Commission” (28:19). It is also the only instance in which it is used in the imperative sense: matheteusate, “make disciples!” It is, moreover, the principal verb in the “Great Commission” and the heart of the commissioning” (Bosch 2011, 74-75).

We are in a period of profound transformations where the influence of Christendom on Canadian society is changing. However, even in this secular age, people can still seek transcendence and transformation.

In the same way that in some Christian circles, there is confusion about the church and the reign of God, there is another mistake about the church’s work to make disciples and mission. What must have happened for God’s mission, initiated in Jesus and presented as co-participation of the church, to change its focus and direction so much?

Dr. Richard C. Halverson (1916-1995), the chaplain to the U.S. Senate, was credited in 1984 for a speech before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church that could help us to understand this issue: “In the beginning, the church was a fellowship of men and women centring on the living Christ. Then, the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise.”

It seems like that is a crucial mistake between Christendom and Christianity, as Halverson keeps clear, from a fellowship of men and women centring on the living Christ to a philosophy-institution-culture-enterprise thing. Christendom refers to the cultural influence of the Christian religion, while Christianity encompasses all people who are disciples of Christ. “Christianity is the faith, Christians are believers in the faith, and Christendom is the collective culture and institutions of the faith” (French 2021).

While Christianity’s cultural influence has been significant throughout history, the Christian faith is ultimately about following Jesus Christ and living out His teachings in our daily lives. As we face the challenges of a post-Christendom society, it is essential to remember that our goal is to share the love and message of Christ with others rather than simply preserving the influence of a particular religious culture. “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living” (Pelikan 1984, 65).

The power of this living tradition as a witness can be viewed in this story. Sam Butler was a lay missionary at Knox Church Toronto in the 1960s, working in the local neighbourhood. He became known for his exceptional ability to connect with young people in the nearby public school and understand their difficulties. He had a keen sense of where each child lived and often knew something about their home life. Through sharing his faith in Christ and their personal journeys, many young people found a welcoming community in the congregation, and in time, so did their parents. Over time, Knox Church became a diverse and inclusive congregation, reflecting the multicultural makeup of the surrounding area. “Many may not have used the language of social action to describe this evolution but at heart it expressed an evangelical vision for the social reality at the church’s very doorstep. Spiritual and social were woven together in mission” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 2019, V).

Despite the two confusions identified here: “of the church with the reign of God” and “making disciples and mission,” it is possible for the church to recover her missional existence. Firstly, we need to remember continuously that:

“God is already powerfully at work in the community where your church is located, and your church was put there for a reason. In the past, many churches understood that purpose as bringing people into the church rather than going out to join what God is doing in the neighbourhood. Now, as many churches seek to move outside of the church building’s walls, they are looking for new ways to understand the hopes and needs of their neighbours, build relationships and partner with others in the good work that is already happening” (The Presbyterian Church in Canada 2021).

The greater the involvement in dialogue with various social actors and build relationships, the church demonstrates tremendous respect, love, and concern for the city, more the church could be a “city on the hill” – a place where the songs, preaching, and prayers of congregational worship are Christ-centred rather than me-centred, and a “morally formative practice would be to identify in whose name we gather – the Triune God’s name” (Greenman 2016, 24), and the outcome is all together praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people, and “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Mission and evangelism are not something the church does as a part of her program, because the essence of the church is missional, as God’s calling and sending forms her identity, “Mission is founded on God’s mission in the world, not on the church’s effort to expand” (Guder e Barrett 1998, 82). For Byassee and Lockhart (2020), missional metrics in this post-Christendom age should be incarnational, investment, and intentionality – incarnational involvement, investment in the community, and dense and deep shared life.

The church needs to be more relational. It is crucial to interact with the neighbourhood and the city. Hagley invites us to attend to the spaces and relationships where “the congregation can discern its participation in God’s mission in its context, a missional sensibility for fieldwork will attend to the spaces and relationships where the status quo of congregational life is challenged or provoked by new relationships or unexpected partnerships” (Hagley 2020, 105-106).

This is more than to invite people to attend one of our weekly or special services. It is to establish relationships with the people we work with, study with and live together in the same society.

Once, I heard from a pastor in Hong Kong named Ben Wong, in a lecture about small groups that the church’s people need to open three doors in their lives to reach other people: the door of their own heart, the door of their houses, and the door of their fridges. This makes total sense to me. Here in Brazil, we have a particular room called the “visiting room.” As you can see, this is a room to host visitors, the kind of people with whom we are not so intimate and acquaintances. This is a formal place. However, when we host someone intimate and familiar, we host them in the kitchen, where the food is more accessible. Immediately, I remember some Biblical examples: when Abraham hosted the three strangers, when Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house to eat with him, and when Jesus hosted the disciples for the last supper. When people open their stomachs, their hearts are open, too. Fellowship is building around the table. In Portuguese, the word “fellowship” is “Companhia,” and it comes from a Latin word, “companes,” which means “with bread.”

Of course, this is a cultural aspect of my country. I hear that Canadians are more reserved about their lives. We need to be invited to visit their houses with an anticipated schedule. Even with these cultural differences, the church is called by God to be her witness in this fallen world, “God’s presence is not always obvious. He requires witnesses. God comes humbly in Christ. He so loves us, he never imposes himself on us. Instead, He comes to us, to be with us, and in that presence He reveals Himself. In His presence there is forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, transformation, patience and, best of all, love. In his presence He renews all things. Presence is how God works. But He requires a people tending to His presence to make his presence visible for all to see” (Fitch 2016, 27).

Despite the confusion about the church and the reign of God, the church commission, and Missio Dei, it is clear that God calls the church to be his witness in this fallen world and to participate in the redemption promoted by the triune God.

Every moment of change is an opportunity for transformation. Western culture is deeply intertwined with the history of Christendom, which has influenced various aspects of society. Christianity significantly impacted Canada’s early years, with European immigrant communities of multiple denominations contributing to the nation’s development. Presbyterianism profoundly influenced Canadian society positively and negatively. We are in a period of profound transformations where the influence of Christendom on Canadian society is changing. However, even in this secular age, people can still seek transcendence and transformation. This does not mean the end of Christianity but rather an opportunity to reimagine it as a liminal community with a prophetic voice.

In this time of transformation, avoiding confusing Christendom with Christianity is crucial. Christendom refers to the cultural influence of the Christian religion, while Christianity encompasses all people who are disciples of Christ. “Christianity is the faith, Christians are believers in the faith, and Christendom is the collective culture and institutions of the faith” (French 2021). While the cultural influence of Christianity has been significant throughout history, the Christian faith is ultimately about following Jesus Christ and living out His teachings in our daily lives. As we face the challenges of a post-Christendom society, it is essential to remember that our goal is to share the love and message of Christ with others rather than simply preserving the influence of a particular religious culture. “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living” (Pelikan 1984, 65).

Behaviour Analysis posits that behaviour is determined by an organism’s relationship with its environment. A crucial part of a person’s environment is their social environment, which is responsible for cultural evolution. Cultural practices emerge and are transmitted through the effects on the group rather than the reinforcing consequences for individual group members. The selection process by cultural consequences describes how individuals in a group learn from their peers, producing and accumulating knowledge over several generations. The Holy Spirit is using all of these interlocking behavioural contingencies to bring about three changes in the church in North America, as stated Tickle: “1) a new, more vital form of Christianity; 2) the organized expression of Christianity, which up until then had been the dominant one is reconstituted into a more pure and less ossified expression of its former self; and 3) The birth of a brand-new expression of its faith and praxis, the Church also gains a grand refurbishment of the older one” (Tickle 2012, 17).

As Christians, we need to humbly engage in meaningful conversations with diverse perspectives, including the youth and those who have left our congregations. It is our responsibility to inquire about people’s concerns and offer Gospel-centered solutions.

Personally, I point out three pastoral experiences about this challenge to establish dialogue with society.

The first experience, when I was pastor of the First Independent Presbyterian Church in the city of Ourinhos, some people on the neighbourhood of the church, concern with the violence in our city meeting with me asking the possibility to use some place in our building to teach some martial arts for people – self defense for women and Jiu-Jitsu for every people. In the Session meeting, I presented this solicitation. Some elders were uncomfortable with the possibility of promoting any kind of violence. I explained to them the goals of this initiative and the importance to our relationship with our neighbourhood to testify the love of God in Jesus Christ. At the same time, I committed with the Session, to attending all Jiu-Jitsu classes, to interact with the students, talk to them and learn from them. I was the first student enrolled in these classes. Some families started to visit our Sunday Services and were integrated in the community life of the church. From an average of 50 participants in our Sunday services, we now have 250 people!

The second and the third experiences, when I was pastor of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Itaqui, in the city of Campo Largo, the church was already a partner of the city hall, providing a room in its building for a class for children aged 2-4 at a municipal school close to the church, which did not have enough space to house this classroom. When I started my ministry there, the city hall told the church that they need to open five more classes to serve children until 12 years of age. In the Session’s meeting the elders were divided whether they would accept the expansion of this partnership. I invited three elders to visit with me other churches who have this type of partnership in other cities in Brazil. After this time of research, visiting and praying, the Session decided unanimously to expand this partnership. For that, we needed to build five more classes, but the church didn’t have the money for that. In addition to financial support from the city hall, neighborhood residents and neighborhood businesspeople helped us build these teaching spaces. As a result, the church experienced an increase in the number of visitors to its Sunday services, which had a contemporary language.

Then the third experience comes into play. Before my arrival, the church was already developing contemporary services. However, as a result, older people felt excluded from community life. I talked about this reality with the Session, and we started holding more traditional services, as an alternative to contemporary services, with the reactivation of the church choir. The result was that people who were away from the church returned to the community of faith, while other people who missed this type of worship in this city also became part of it. At this moment, we have, between the two services, 650 people attending our celebrations on Sundays!

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