Divine Pulse Project

About the Divine Pulse project

The Divine Pulse project aims to explore life, death, and the pursuit of greatness in contemporary Canadian churches. It is an interdisciplinary, multifaceted project co-created by various collaborators and researchers part of the CIECR.

What does this project involve?

Research questions are broadly grouped into the following categories:

  • Life and birth – Church planting: How have Canadian denominational organizations engaged with church planting? What does the birth (or rebirth) of congregations mean? What does this process look like?
  • Death and decline – The rise of religious nones: How have the non-religious/secularism argument changed Christian perspectives around church decline? Does decline follow an economic, financial, or demographic trend? How has the death (closure) of hundreds of Canadian churches affect their neighbourhoods, communities, and cities?
  • Greatness – What processes drive a church to develop greatness? What is involved in the transition from ‘good’ to ‘great’?
  • Church classification and consolidation – How has the contemporary Canadian church ecosystem changed? How have churches competed and adapted to pressure over several decades?

…and many more.

Related Publications

LIFE AND BIRTH

Watson, J. “New Congregations in the Canadian Kaleidoscope: An autoethnographic analysis of thirty new congregations in the Waterloo Region.”

Watson, J. “Shaping the Future: Denominational Organizational Cultures Shifting Towards Multiplication Movements.”

DEATH AND DECLINE

GREATNESS

Millar, E. “Greatness in Canadian Congregations.”

CHURCH CLASSIFICATION AND CONSOLIDATION