Atlantic Canada

1
Atlantic Canada

• The Harvest Field

2
Population
3
PopulationContinued Growth

• In 5 years the Maritime population is expected to
  increase to 2,384,474
• However Newfoundlands population is expected to
  continue its steady decline

4
Population in the Three Largest Cities

• 27.1 of Atlantic Canadas population lives in
  three Census Metropolitan Areas (St. Johns,
  Halifax, and Saint John)
• Nearly 1 of every 7 Atlantic Canada residents
  lives within the Halifax CMA

5
Atlantic CanadasImmigrants

• The number of immigrants living in Atlantic
  Canada as of the 1991 Census was 75,650
• That number climbed to 79,220 by the 1996 Census
  - a 4.7 increase

6
Countries of Origin
7
Recent Immigrants(1991 - 1996)
8
Home Language

• English - 88
• French - 11

9
Believe in God

• An Angus Reid Poll revealed that 84 of Canadians
  believe in God
• The same poll indicated that 93 of Atlantic
  Canadians believe in God

10
Weekly Church Attendance

• The poll also indicated that only 20 Canadians
  attend church weekly
• In Atlantic Canada that number is eight
  percentage points higher - 28

11
Is Church Attendance Required for a Christian?

• 81 of Canadians say church attendance is not
  required to be a good Christian
• 81 of Atlantic Canadians said the same thing

12
Beliefs about Christianity

• Nationally, 70 feel their private beliefs about
  Christianity are more important than what is
  taught by any church
• 71 of the population in Atlantic Canada felt the
  same

13
Atlantic Canada

• The Harvest Force

14
Evangelical Churches

• As of 12/31/98 there were 1,398 churches across
  Atlantic Canada

15
Church Attendance

• In 1990 Atlantic churches average 78.3 people in
  attendance weekly
• In 1997 average weekly church attendance
  increased to 79.6

16
How Many Attendees?

• 4.7 (111,209) of Atlantic Canadas population
  attend an Evangelical church on a weekly basis

17
Atlantic Canada

• The Need for Churches

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Churches Needed?

• If the average Evangelical church reaches 79.6
  people, then we would need an additional 28,422
  churches to connect with every Atlantic Canadian
  resident!

19
Halifax Church Planting Needs
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Church Planting Challenge

• A realistic challenge to Atlantic Canada could be
  31 new churches per year a total of 460 by 2015
• The outcome would then be 1,398 460 1,858
  Evangelical churches by the year 2015