Post-World War II Dutch
Immigration to Canada

Jump to CRC, RCA, PRC, CanRef, FRC, NRC, or other Reformed churches.

Following the horrors of Nazi occupation, seeing the threat of economic collapse, and perceiving the threat of Soviet expansion, many Dutch were willing to leave their homeland following World War II. For the first time, even the Roman Catholics and hervormden left in large numbers. Primary overseas destinations included the United States (with its immigration cap), Canada, and Australia.

In 1952, Roman Catholics made up 38% of the Dutch population. The NHK accounted for 27%, GKN for 10%, other denominations another 7%, and the unchurched the final 18%. The following table shows the proportions of each in emigration from 1948 to 1962 (the unchurched are not included):15

Percentages by Religious Affiliation
                Canada  Australia  U.S.
1948-52
Roman Catholic     24      38      10
Hervormd           26      30      20
Gereformeerd       41       9      20
Other churches      7      19      24
1953-57
Roman Catholic     33      49      26
Hervormd           27      23      27
Gereformeerd       26       7      14
Other churches     10      17      18
1958-62
Roman Catholic     35      45      35
Hervormd           24      24      36
Gereformeerd       23       6       6
Other churches     13      20      13

The disproportionate number of those entering Canada, especially in the first post-War years, may be related to the Canadian government's exception to immigration quotas for Dutch farmers (made at the request of the Dutch government). If the gereformeerden were more rural than the other groups, it stands to reason that such a policy would bring more of them to Canada.

Other Dutch reformed groups may have been more rural than the GKN. These believers, when they settled in the same area, eventually reproduced their denominational differences in the New World. Thus the Canadian Reformed, Free Reformed, and Netherlands Reformed denominations were introduced to Canada.

The Christian Reformed Church in Post-World War II Canada

At the outbreak of hostilities, fourteen of the sixteen Dutch reformed congregations in Canada were Christian Reformed. In addition, the CRC had ongoing experience assimilating Dutch immigrants throughout the 1920s and 30s. They had a distinct advantage in reaching out to the thousands of Dutch reformed (and non-reformed) believers coming to the New World.

The CRC geared up to receive these immigrants. It found Dutch-speaking field missionaries and provided funding to begin churches. Because of this, the CRC has been the largest Dutch reformed group in Canada by a large margin. New congregations were organized beginning in 1948 in Ontario and 1950 in western Canada.

A glance at denominational yearbooks from this era shows a hard working core of pastors tending the immigrant flocks. Many served more than one church at a time; others moved from area to area, staying only long enough to build up the new congregation. When a history of 1946 to 1957 is written, the names of Garret André (8 churches served, 1948-57), Ralph J. Bos (9, 1948-57), Samuel G. Brondsema (9, 1949-55), Paul De Koekkoek (8, 1945-55), John Hanenburg (9, 1950-57), Peter J. Hoekstra (9, 1946-57), Herman Moes (4, 1949-56), Adam Persenaire (8, 1948-57), Gerrit H. Rientjes (4, 1952-53), John Rubingh (8, 1946-56), Albert H. Smit (5, 1950-56), Charles Spoelhof (7, 1948-57), and Gerald Van Laar (5, 1950-57) must all receive prominence.

My father, whose family came to Canada in 1950, tells how Christian Reformed congregations grew by being the Dutch-speaking church in a given area. They thus attracted members from other Dutch traditions, both reformed and evangelical. A list of communities served by the CRC and other Dutch reformed denominations appears as Appendix 1.

The CRC maintained consistent growth in Canada, both in number of congregations and total membership, until 1987. After a rebound in 1989, membership has been dropping. This corresponds to synod's decisions on women in church office and may explain much of the recent growth in the Canadian Reformed, Orthodox Christian Reformed, and independent reformed congregations.

The Reformed Church in Post-World War II Canada

The Reformed Church in America had three handicaps in ministering to Dutch reformed immigrants. First, the NHK recommended its members join the United Church of Canada. Second, the RCA didn't have the Dutch-speaking pastors the CRC had. Third, on a denominational level the RCA did not want to spread to Canada.16

While many hervormden were willing to join the United Church or Presbyterian Church, others were not. However, some of these were also unwilling to join the CRC because of established NHK/GKN differences which translated to RCA/CRC differences in North America. These believers petitioned the Particular Synod of Michigan for assistance in organizing congregations, which help the Americans were happy to give. However, when they requested the Board of Domestic Missions oversee work with the immigrants, they were rebuffed - "RCA headquarters let it be known that they did not want to introduce a new denomination in Canada."17

When the Dutch immigrants and the Synod of Michigan proved adamant, the General Synod reached a compromise position: the RCA would establish a 10-year presence in Canada to assist in assimilation; after ten years, every congregation would be free to affiliate with the United Church or the Presbyterians.18

The first RCA in Ontario was organized at Chatham in 1949, followed by congregations in Brantford and Harriston in 1950. A full list of RCA congregations in Canada and their year of organization follows:

1909	Monarch, AB
1912	Botrell, AB (Community), disbanded 1971
1944	Edmonton, AB (Emmanuel Community), disbanded 1946
1949	Chatham, ON (First)
1950	Brantford, ON (Bethel) Harriston, ON (First)
1951	Maitland, ON (Community) St. Catharines, ON (First) Wainfleet, ON (Maranatha) Whitby, ON (Emmanuel)
1952	Drayton, ON Edmonton, AB (Emmanuel Community) Exeter, ON (Bethel) London, ON (Emmanuel) Lethbridge, AB (Hope), merged with Presbyterian congregation in 1971 Toronto, ON (First), disbanded 1970
1953	Fruitland, ON (Ebenezer) Winnipeg, MB (Elmwood)
1954	Calgary, AB Guelph, ON
1955	Edmonton, AB (Second), transferred to United Church in 1957 Kingsville, ON (Faith) Medicine Hat, AB, disbanded 1962 Vancouver, BC (Hope)
1956	Abbotsford, BC (Bethel) Cambridge, ON (Countryside) Mississauga, ON (Ebenezer) Strathroy, ON (Hope), disbanded 1964
1958	Whally, BC (Grace Community) Woodstock, ON (Emmanuel)
1959	Barrie, ON, disbanded 1982 Edmonton, AB (Bethel), merged with Emmanuel in 1969
1960	Toronto, ON (Maple Leaf Drive)
1963	Montreal, PQ (Maranatha), dropped 1984
1979	Burnaby, BC (New Life Community)
1981	St. Albert, AB (Christ Community)
1984	Welland, ON (Christ Community)
1986	Calgary, AB (New Hope)
1987	Richmond, BC (Fookien Evangelical)
1988	Fort McLeod, AB (Bethel)
1989	Kamloops, BC (Christ the King), rec'd from UCC Nanaimo, BC (Woodgrove Christian Community), rec'd from UCC Parksville, BC (Arbutus Grove), rec'd from UCC Port Alberni, BC (Cedar Grove), rec'd from UCC
1990	Toronto, ON (Agape Hispanic) Tory Hill, ON (St. Paul's Collegiate), rec'd from UCC
1991	Athabasca, AB (Athabasca United), rec'd from UCC Norwich, ON (Ebenezer) Powell River, BC, rec'd from UCC Springford, ON Stevensville, ON (Faith) Toronto, ON (Christ the King)
1992	Surrey, BC (New Life Community)

At a workshop held in Hamilton, ON (March 31-April 2, 1959), the immigrant churches decided to remain RCA in a nearly unanimous decision.19 Until 1962 (when the Classis of Ontario was formed to cover Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba) all Canadian congregations belonged to American classes. Through 1993 the churches of Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba were part of the Classis of Cascades. They are now divided into the Classis of British Columbia and the Classis of the Canadian Prairies. Together the three Canadian classes constitute the Regional Synod of Canada, also known as the Reformed Church of Canada. The last Canadian congregation in a U.S. classis, Faith RCA of Kingsville, ON, transfered to the Classis of Ontario from the Classis of Lake Erie in 1993.

A recent development for the RCA in Canada is the defection of United Church congregations (noted above as "rec'd from UCC"). Despite this, the RCA saw a continual membership decline from 1966 to 1986; American membership also peaked in 1966. Since the addition of the former UCC congregations, RCA membership in Canada appears to have stabilized.

According to the 1992 Acts of Synod, the RCA in Canada has 42 congregations with 6,924 total members. The RCA is the third largest Dutch reformed group in Canada.

The Protestant Reformed Churches in Canada

The Protestant Reformed Churches came into being as an indirect result of Abraham Kuyper's doctrine of common grace and as the direct result of Rev. Herman Hoeksema of the CRC refusing to accept this teaching when it was made binding by the CRC synod in 1924 (part of the Three Points of Kalamazoo). Rev. Hoeksema took 80% of the membership of Eastern Ave. CRC (Grand Rapids, MI) out of the CRC in 1925.

First Protestant Reformed Church was organized in Grand Rapids in 1926, after losing a lengthy court battle regarding church property. By 1929 Protestant Reformed churches had been organized in Grandville, Holland, Hudsonville, and Kalamazoo, Michigan; Doon, Hull, Oskaloosa, Pella, Rock Valley, and Sioux Center, Iowa; and Oak Lawn and South Holland, Illinois.

To help understand the antipathy this group held for the CRC, I here quote the fifth question and answer from their catechism:

5. But why cannot you be a member of the Christian Reformed Churches of America?

Because they would demand of me to express conformity with the Three Points adopted in 1924. These Points were added to the Confession of the Reformed Churches by the Synod of Kalamazoo in 1924 and since that time they are an integral part of the Confession of the Christian Reformed Churches. And they officially expel or bar from their fellowship every one that will subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity, vis., the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic or Netherlands Confession, and the Canons of Dordrecht, but refuses to express agreement with the Three Points. And seeing that I cannot sign these Points of doctrine they certainly make it impossible for me to affiliate with them.20

It is interesting to note that the PRC planted and prospered only where the CRC already existed, at least in the early decades. Thus it should be no surprise that they began outreach work with Dutch-Canadian immigrants following World War II. Their special target was members of the vrijgemaakte churches, discussed below under Canadian Reformed.

They were not above deception - my father tells of an uncle who brought their gereformeerde family to the Hamilton PRC, where they were asked for their papers.21 However, something seemed amiss and my grandfather retained the family's documents. The following evening a CRC pastor explained matters and received their papers.

The first Canadian PRC was organized in Hamilton, ON, in 1949. A second congregation was established in Chatham in 1950. More information on both appears below in the section on the Canadian Reformed Church. Neither congregation remained in the PRC longer than two years.

The PRC has had some success in the Canadian west, organizing congregations at Edmonton, AB, in 1975 and Lacombe, AB, in 1986. Following is a chronological list of Protestant Reformed congregations in Canada.

1949	Hamilton, ON, left PRC in 1950, merged with Canadian Reformed in 1952
1950	Chatham, ON, joined Canadian Reformed in 1950
1975	First, Edmonton, AB
1986	Immanuel, Lacombe, AB

Rev. Hubert De Wolf was co-pastor with Hoeksema at First PRC of Grand Rapids from 1944 to 1953. He became the center of great controversy when he stated in an April 1951 sermon, "God promises every one of you that, if you believe, you will be saved."22 After he was deposed in 1953, the denomination divided. Where there had been 24 PRCs in 1953, seven left the denomination and ten others were torn in half. In 1954, seventeen congregations (2,405 members) remained in the Protestant Reformed Churches in America; seventeen congregations (3,335 members) formed the Protestant Reformed Churches of America. In 1957 the latter group pursued relations with the CRC and by 1961 had joined that denomination.23

With 26 congregations (only 2 in Canada totaling under 200 members), the PRC remains small, with only 2 more congregations than it had in 1953.24

The Canadian Reformed Churches in Canada

The Dutch reformed in the Netherlands are far more likely to separate and recombine than their North American siblings. Until the 1980s only the TDRC and Protestant Reformed have created denominations without a direct Dutch parallel. Two North American reformed denomination have emerged in the last decade, both primarily composed primarily of formerly Christian Reformed folk who left the CRC over issues including evolution and women in church office.

One twentieth-century schism in the Netherlands had a great impact on the postwar immigrants and the churches they established. The GKN Synod deposed Dr. Klaas Schilder in 1944 (a decision it has since repudiated). Issues involved common grace, church order, and the right to theological debate.

Schilder believed that the theological differences being aired in the 1930s ought to be pursued in the church papers and in exchanges of views involving the professors and theologians. The church should not intrude - as long as all parties to the debate remained within the bounds of the confessions.25

After the 1944 decision, Schilder and those agreeing with him formed a new denomination, known informally as the vrijgemaakte or the Article 31 church. Thus was born the third-largest reformed denomination in the Netherlands.

Because the CRC failed to recognize the Schilder group as the legitimate continuation of the GKN, members of this church were wary of joining the CRC on reaching North America. Some initially tried affiliating with the Protestant Reformed, since Rev. Schilder shared some views on common grace with Rev. Hoeksema - Schilder initially recommended his followers in North America join the PRC. The vrijgemaakten, at the synod of 1948, took up official contact with the Protestant Reformed. However, following the adoption of the "Declaration of Principles" by the PRC, which appeared directed against the Article 31 churches, "at the Synod of Kampen 1951 it was reported that, owing to decisions of the Synod 1950 of the Protestant Reformed Churches, no conditions for a relationship as sister churches could be established."26

The Hamilton and Chatham Protestant Reformed congregations severed their relationship with the Protestant Reformed denomination. The Chatham church was readily welcomed into the fledgling Canadian Reformed Churches (now Canadian and American Reformed Churches [CARC]).

However, the Canadian Reformed had already organized a church in Hamilton. Further, the (independent) Protestant Reformed congregation did not wish to disband and havev its members join the Canadian Reformed church as individuals. Thus, on June 13, 1952, an act of union was signed which merged the two congregations. The following Sunday, the former members of the PRC council were voluntarily released from office.27

The merger in Hamilton "carried the seed of a new schism with it."28 Those who had belonged to the PRC retained leanings toward that denomination, especially the De Wolf group (also known as the Orthodox Protestant Reformed Churches or OPRC), which softened some of the hard lines drawn by Rev. Hoeksema. At the OPRC synod in 1954, the "Declaration of Principles" were declared without force. An elder of the Hamilton Canadian Reformed Church, H. R. De Bolster (later a CRC pastor and president of Redeemer College), "thanked the Lord in the public worship service of Hamilton's church for the 'liberation' of the Protestant Reformed Churches."29

This and other issues eventually led to a split within the Hamilton congregation. In July 1957 each faction suspended the other and the "First Canadian Reformed Church of Hamilton" was instituted.30 The Canadian Reformed synod refused to recognize this group, which immediately pursued relations with both the OPRC and the CRC. On November 19, 1959, Classis Hamilton of the CRC received the congregation as an autonomous church. The congregation renamed itself Immanuel Christian Reformed Church. This was the only Canadian Reformed congregation to join the CRC.

Two books, Inheritance Preserved and Seeking Our Brothers in the Light, provide a good discussion of the Schilder case, later decisions by the GKN reversing their decisions, and the failed merger talks between the CRC and the CARC. One can hardly read either book without wondering why the CRC could not effect a merger with the Canadian Reformed, which is undoubtedly the intent of the authors.

The following table lists Canadian Reformed congregations in Canada and their year of organization. Several U.S. churches exist which are called American Reformed.

1950	Coaldale, AB (4/16) Immanuel, Edmonton, AB (7/9) Neerlandia, AB (8/6) Orangeville, ON (8/13) Maranatha, Surrey, BC (12/17 as new Westminster)
1951	Houston, BC (3/4) Hamilton, ON (org. 5/20 as CARC) Eben-Ezer, Chatham, ON (org. 3/23/50; CARC as of 10/20/51) Carman, Manitoba (8/12)
1952	Smithville, ON (9/14)
1953	Winnipeg, Manitoba (2/15) Watford, ON (3/15)
1954	Toronto, ON (1/1) Cloverdale, BC (3/7) Carman, AB31 Rocky Mountain House, AB
1955	Ebenezer (East), Burlington, ON (5/1)
1956	Brampton, ON (1/15) Fergus, ON (1/15) Smithers, BC (4/15)
1959	Ottawa, ON (1/4)
1960	London, ON (4/1)
1961	Barrhead, AB (1/1) Abbotsford, BC (2/24)
1964	Calgary, AB (11/22)
1968	Matheson, ON (discontinued 1969?)
1970	Chilliwack, BC (2/1) Lincoln, ON (8/15)
1971	Rehoboth (West), Burlington, ON (5/1)
1974	Guelph, ON (1/1)
1981	Providence, Edmonton, AB (4/1)
1983	South, Burlington, ON (1/2)
198532	Ancaster, ON (5/5) Attercliffe, ON (7/1)
1987	Lower Sackville, NS (org. 2/24/84; joined CARC 3/12/87) Grand Valley, ON (7/19) Elora, ON (9/6) Vernon, BC (11/1)
1990	Port Kells, BC (1/21) Rockway, ON (12/31)
1991	Taber, AB (1/20)
1992	Chatsworth, ON (7/5)
1993	Yarrow BC (6/27)
1994	Aldergrove, BC (1/2)

In 1984 there was only a single U.S. congregation; four have since been added. According to the appendix in Seeking Our Brothers in the Light, there were 45 congregations in 1992.33 The 1991 edition of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches gives a total membership of 18,944 in 1989.34 The Canadian Reformed Churches are the second largest Dutch reformed denomination in Canada.

The Free Reformed Church in Canada

The Free Reformed is not a large denomination, including two American congregations and ten Canadian ones. Additionally, two more U.S. and one Canadian congregation are listed as unorganized.

The FRC corresponds to the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk in the Netherlands, the group that stayed out of the 1892 merger with the Doleantie. Rev. P. Vander Meyden of the Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, characterizes the FRC thus:

What distinguishes our denomination is the desire for Calvinistic experiential preaching which balances the offer of grace and man's responsibility with our dependence on the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. We stress both the great privilege of being under the word and sacraments which declare God's covenant promises as well as the responsibility of repentance and the necessity of (even covenant children!, cf. John 3:3ff) being born again. Our relationship to the Lord must not be something to which we just give intellectual assent. Rather, it is something which we must come to experience spiritually.

With these concerns bound upon their conscience, the spiritual descendants of the Dutch 1834 Secession could not feel at home under the preaching of the Christian Reformed Churches. They felt that the results of the Kuyperian teaching of "presumptive regeneration" had become strongly entrenched in the CRC.35

Following, in order of organization date, is a list of Canadian Free Reformed congregations, culled from yearbooks of the Free Reformed and, prior to 1974, the Christelijke Gereformeerde.

1950	Dundas, ON (6/28)
1951	Chatham, ON (4/24)
1952	St. Thomas, ON (10/10) Smithville, ON
1953	Hamilton, ON (6/24)
1954	Toronto, ON (5/2) Mitchell, ON (7/13)
1955	Alberni, BC, not listed in 1967 data Aldergrove, BC (6/15) Red Deer, AB, not listed in 1967 data
1958	London, ON (1/16) Vineland, ON (10/22)
1967	Pitt Meadows, BC
1980	Langley, BC (7/9)
1991	Chilliwack, BC (7/20)
unorg.	Brantford, ON (expected organization in 1993)

In 1992 the Free Reformed had a total membership of 3,483, with 2,982 members in Canada. The three largest congregations are at Dundas, Hamilton, and Vineland; they have (respectively) 561, 533, and 446 members.

The Netherlands Reformed Congregations in Canada

The Netherlands Reformed Congregations were organized as a denomination in 1907 under the leadership of 25-year-old Rev. G. H. Kersten. This was a union of the remaining kruis kerken and the Ledeboerians, who left the NHK in 1841.36 This strongly pietistic group is sometimes called "the no-TV church" for their view that, while television is not inherently evil, there isn't enough edifying on TV for the believer to own one, let alone allow so many compromising messages to enter the home.37 The NRC carefully guards the communion table - many lifelong professing members rarely take communion and some never have.

Following is a list of current Netherlands Reformed Congregations in Canada sorted by organization date:

1950	Norwich, ON (10/22)
1951	Lethbridge, AB (5/25)
1952	Chilliwack, BC (4/30) St. Catharines, ON (7/7)
1955	Bradford, ON (11/11)
1957	Unionville, ON (9/1)
1961	Fort Macleod, AB (6/23)
1975	Hamilton, ON (1/8)
unorg.	Calgary, AB, meeting since 1955

In 1992, the Netherlands Reformed Congregations had one congregation in Australia, nine in Canada, and fifteen in the United States. Total membership was 10,113, with 4,762 in Canada. Their largest congregation, at Norwich, ON, has 1,566 members.

Independent and Orthodox Reformed Churches in Canada

The current secession from the CRC has proven at least as strong in Canada as in the United States. The leading journal of the separatist movement, Christian Renewal, is published in Jordan Station, ON. It is perhaps the best source of information on withdrawing churches, although The Banner has improved its coverage in the last few years. According to The Banner, 42 independent churches and 17 CRCs belong to the Alliance of Reformed Churches.38

Separated congregations go by a number of names: Orthodox Reformed, CRC (Independent), Independent Reformed, Independent CRC, etc. Several congregations have joined together as the Federation of Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches, which appears to be an emerging denomination.

Following is as complete a list of Canadian congregations as I have been able to find in print.39 There may be former CRCs which are not listed; I have not yet seen a published list of ARC congregations.

Federation of Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches of Canada and the U.S.

Orthodox CRC, Bowmanville, ON

Orthodox CRC, Cambridge, ON

Orthodox CRC, Kelowna, BC

Covenant Reformed Church, Surrey, BC

Orthodox CRC, Toronto, ON

Orthodox CRC, Wingham, ON

Other Independent Dutch Reformed Congregations

Evergreen Covenant Reformed Church, Agassiz, BC

Independent CRC, Ancaster, ON

Aylmer Independent CRC, Aylmer, ON

Bethel Independent CRC, Calgary, AB

Grace Reformed Church, Dunnville, ON

Orthodox Reformed Church, Edmonton, AB

Independent CRC, Hamilton, ON

Trinity Reformed Church, Lethbridge, AB

Independent CRC, London, ON

Parkland Independent Reformed Church, Ponoka, AB

Immanuel Orthodox Reformed Church, St. Catharines, ON

Trinity Orthodox Reformed Church, St. Catharines, ON

Independent Reformed Church, Sheffield, ON

Grace Orthodox Reformed Church, Simcoe County, ON

Independent Reformed Church, Troy, ON

Orthodox Reformed Church, Wellandport, ON

Independent Reformed Church, Winnipeg, ON

Independent Reformed Church, Woodstock, ON

Covenant Christian Church, Wyoming, ON

I have no membership data by which to compare group size with other Dutch reformed bodies, although the ARC could rival the size of the Canadian Reformed Churches. How many denominations will emerge remains to be seen.

Many small reformed bodies are paying close attention to the ARC, perhaps hoping these congregations will seek to join them. At the November 1993 meeting of the ARC, observers were present from the Canadian Reformed Churches, Christian Presbyterian Church, FRC, OCRC, PRC, Reformed Church in the United States,40 and Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly.41 At this meeting a committee was appointed to

contact the Canadian Reformed Churches, the Free Reformed Churches, the Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches, the Protestant Reformed Churches, the Orthodox Presbyterian Churches, the Christian Presbyterian Church, and the Reformed Church in the United States, requesting some official communication from them to see whether they are interested in working toward federative unity with the independent churches, and if so, according to what procedure they would suggest such a federative unity be sought.42

Statistical Overview

The following summarizes recent denominational data for the Dutch reformed churches in Canada. For comparison, the average CRC congregation has 307 members (195 professing, 112 nonprofessing, 36.5% youth ratio), 77 families (3.98 members per family), a birth rate of 41.4/1,000, a transfer rate of 5.5%, and a profession rate of 13.4/1,000.43

	congregations	total members	professing members	nonprofessing members	prof. rate
CRC, 1993	234	83,450	43,939	39,511	25.1/1,000
RCA, 1992	41	6,846	4,631	2,215	47.9/1,000
CARC, 1984	33	10,823	5,289	5,534	n/a
NRC, 1992	9	4,762	2,172	2,590	23.6/1,000
FRC, 1992	11	2,982	1,550	1,432	35.6/1,000
PRC, 1992	2	174	74	100	n/a

	avg. members	birth rate	transfer rate	families	avg. family size
CRC	357	18.1/1,000	5.4%	19,724	4.23
RCA	167	5.8/1,000	3.9%	2,539	2.70
Can Ref	328	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
NRC	529	35.9/1,000	n/a	n/a	n/a
FRC	271	26.5/1,000	4.5%	777	3.84
PRC	87	n/a	n/a	36	4.83

	largest cong.	members	smallest cong.	members	youth ratio44
CRC	Second, Brampton, ON	1,059/814	Vauxhall, AB	54/30	47.4%
RCA	Woodstock, ON	540/348	Norwich, ON	36/24	32.4%
CARC	Smithville, ON	728/337	Oakanagan Valley, BC	26/12	51.1%
NRC	Norwich, ON	1,466/694	Calgary, AB	21/13	54.4%
FRC	Dundas, ON	561/269	Toronto, ON	61/43	48.0%
PRC	Edmonton, AB	91/39	Lacombe, AB	83/35	57.5%

	evangelism rate	five-year growth rate
CRC	4.4/1,000	-2.2%
RCA	3.2/1,000	5.5%
CARC	n/a	20.1%
NRC	n/a	n/a
FRC	n/a	12.3%
PRC	n/a	n/a

It is quite possible that the definition of a family varies between denominations. The data indicate the RCA has the smallest pool of potential confirmants and the lowest birth rate, as indicated by infant baptisms. This may be due to a higher inactive membership rate in some congregations, the addition of UCC churches with overall older memberships, and alternative ministries which are not geared to attract families.

Looking at family size, youth ratio, and birth rate, all statistics point to overall health and a promising future for all but the RCA. However, statistics cannot factor issues which may divide congregations and denominations, such as presently afflict the CRC.

15. Oosterman, et al., p. 94. <back>