The Demographic Shift in the Diocese of Toronto
| Next | Previous | Contact Ron | Ron's Blog | Index | Tellout Home |
Church Boomers
So why the concern about the church of 2018 A.D.? In a word, our Anglican Diocese of Toronto will shrink to a fraction of its present size. The Elders in our congregation are aging and dying but the Boomers are not replacing them.
By 2018 A.D., instead of the present 273 parishes, we will have more like 96. Rather than our 259 Parish Clergy, I project we will need 133. This is not an exaggeration. It is a fair estimate, based upon our present churches' effectiveness and established trends in society.
Elders Gone
Let us compare today's church with that of 2018 A.D. Our present "Elders" group with their leadership skills, financial support and influence will be gone from power. There will be few Baby Boomers there interested in replacing them or supporting the institution. There will be little or no funds to keep redundant churches open to amalgamate or combine. Many churches will be closed and sold. This is basically because Baby Boomers may have characteristics like "spirituality" and a need for "meaning in life" but not in attending or supporting an institutional church. A city like Peterborough of seventy thousand which may presently have six churches may end up in 2018 A.D. with only one or two facilities. Parish income will drop radically, maybe to a third of present.
| ^Top of Page | Next | Previous |