Churches contribute significantly to the economy and represent 40% of registered charities in Canada. Contributor Yvonne Rodney offers snapshots of four organizations: their work, the breadth of services provided, and the potential loss if they were to close.
The little church sat lonely at the intersection. Doors shut. No cars in its parking lot. It reeked of lost memories and abandonment. What happened here?
Of the 86,000 registered charities in Canada, more than 40% are churches. While there has been a steady decline in attendance over the last few decades, the forced closure of churches during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that decline. In-person participation has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and some churches have simply aged out and closed for good. This is probably the story of what happened to that lonely little community church. And it is just one of many to come.
Why does this matter?
Church closures will eventually affect the wealth of resources local communities have come to rely on or even taken for granted. Church communities contribute significantly to the Canadian economy. They have what is termed a “halo effect.” And, according to a Cardus report, this halo effect is worth a whopping $16.5 billion. That’s the dollar-value calculation for what churches and other faith-based organizations contribute to Canadian society in programs, resources, and community-building activities.
Church closures will eventually affect the wealth of resources local communities have come to rely on or even taken for granted.
In areas of healthcare, community service, assistance to those experiencing poverty, immigrant/refugee settlement and sponsorship, addiction counselling, and even the provision of social and cultural activities, faith communities have been found to have a more positive than negative legacy. Imagine Canada’s Bruce MacDonald has said that “The work of charitable and non-profit organizations includes not only the provision of vital services to Canadians in communities right across the country and around the world, but also speaking out on issues they experience intimately and proposing solutions.”
Through quiet provision of service as part of a spiritual mandate to care for the “least among you,” and notwithstanding various atrocities committed in the name of organized religion, churches’ work continues in meeting the needs of the communities of which they are a part. Canada needs them to continue doing this good work, especially now that tariffs, inflation, hikes in food pricing, a slow economy, and a host of other external factors are putting more and more families at risk.
What you will learn from the four organizations profiled below is just a miniature of the work that’s being done, the breadth of services provided, and the potential implication if it all should cease to exist.
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army started its work in Canada in 1882 “and has since grown to become the country’s largest direct providers of social services,” says Jamie Locke, assistant territorial secretary for communications. Last year it recorded three million visits from people seeking residential support (shelter, addiction, rehabilitation, housing, programs, meals, and more), community services (including food visits, summer camps for kids, clothing, and practical assistance), and emergency assistance.
The Salvation Army’s work in delivering practical care to those marginalized in society takes place in large cities as well as remote and isolated communities. But without the generosity of donors, Locke says, they could not do what they do. Partnership is critical to creating lasting impact. In 2024 alone, more than 100,000 volunteers contributed more than 826,000 hours of service.
While The Salvation Army continues to . . . pursue innovative, long-term solutions for systemic change, the reality remains: people need tangible help today.
Jamie Locke, The Salvation Army
A worrying trend is afoot, however. Over the past five years, the organization has noted a steady and significant increase in demand. Of the three million visits across Canada in 2024, more than two-thirds of clients required food and clothing – basic necessities of life, especially for families with children.
Locke issues an urgent call for more assistance: “While The Salvation Army continues to advocate, collaborate with partners, and pursue innovative, long-term solutions for systemic change, the reality remains: people need tangible help today.”
Toronto West Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Located in the heart of Rexdale, the Toronto West Seventh-Day Adventist (TWest) church has a long history of welcoming immigrant families from the West Indies since the early 1960s. Feeding the homeless, providing free English-as-a-second-language and tax clinic services, community “Love and Care Days,” and a weekly food bank program are just a few of TWest’s community-based programs. Damson Oppong, lead pastor, says that Second Harvest and Daily Bread Food Bank provide food weekly so that the church can facilitate its distribution to the community. “Our food bank sees up to about 200 families (500 people) being fed weekly,” Oppong reports. “[And the] usage has increased double/triple post-pandemic – inclusive of refugees.”
Our food bank sees up to about 200 families (500 people) being fed weekly.
Damson Oppong, Toronto West Seventh-Day Adventist church
Staffing of the food bank is purely voluntary. Picking up the food, receiving, preparing, boxing, distributing, and storing require a Thursday-to-Sunday commitment. Most of the volunteers are church members, led by Doret Hibbert, the church’s community services director. Asked why she does this work, Hibbert points back to the modelling of her parents and something ignited early in her own psyche. “They were always giving,” Hibbert says of her parents.
At the Love and Care Day prior to the start of the school year, new backpacks loaded with school supplies and clothes are given to local community children. All these little bits help parents when the money isn’t there. Oppong stresses that churches must meet the basic needs of their communities and that good community connection is a critical piece of helping. “We are committed to dealing with people where they’re at.”
Christ Church, Edmonton (The Anglican Parish of Christ Church)
Christ Church Anglican Parish has been around since 1908 and in its current location since 1920. Sporting a beautiful front lawn and garden space, it has, by intention, become a hub for the local community to gather.
Inspired by the pop-up concerts the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra offered during the pandemic, rector Sue Oliver and her team decided to make use of their large front lawn to offer a series of garden concerts. It has become a staple for the past five years, attracting more than 200 people every Wednesday during the summer. Ninety percent of attendees are not church members. This is community building at its essence.
Community Dinners is the flagship program of Christ Church. For 30 years now, on the first Saturday of each month, a full dinner has been provided for 120 to 130 people who are food insecure. But not only are they fed; this is also a place where friendships are built and community bonding happens. A significant outcome of Christ Church’s work is that a neighbouring church began offering dinners the second Saturday of the month, and a third church is looking to do the same for another Saturday.
Oliver’s wish, if they had more capacity, would be to offer a laundry service where people can get their clothes washed and dried and, over coffee, stay warm; a warming station for those who have no place to go during the day when it’s cold outside; a kitchen space for women to share and bond over meals; and a support program for adults and teens living with disabilities so they can socialize, contribute, and be part of community.
St. Matthew’s United Church, Halifax
St. Matthew’s United Church is the oldest Protestant church in Nova Scotia. Situated in Halifax’s downtown core, it dates to 1749. Reverend Betsy Hogan says that every Sunday there is a full, hot breakfast served to an average of 60 to 70 people – mostly single men and a few single women. This number goes up at the end of the month as people’s funds dwindle and was much higher during the pandemic when there were encampments in the downtown core.
Meeting one type of need often highlights others, including clothing for winter and wet weather. So, St. Matthew’s Sunday breakfast features clothing racks, with church members bringing in clothing every week. Hogan tells of seniors who are housebound calling to say they have $100 – could she use it to buy a coat for someone.
The church operated as a shelter of last resort for 10 years, providing 15 beds as part of the Out of the Cold program with Dalhousie’s School of Social Work. A benevolent fund, supported entirely by members of the congregation, assists those with emergency needs, and a community pantry, attached to the fence at the front of the church, offers free access to personal items such as diapers, tampons, shaving cream, and toothbrushes and has grown to include food from Feed Nova Scotia (a collection and distribution hub for food banks) a community farm, and donations from community members.
[This is] philanthropy that is fully funded by church people.
Betsy Hogan, St. Matthew’s United Church, Halifax
It’s all about partnerships. “Do the best with what you have,” Hogan says. “Another church down the road had more resources to do more. Together we are making a difference . . . [This is] philanthropy that is fully funded by church people.” She recalls a statement made by a 15-year-old a few years back after the church organized an impromptu concert to raise funds for tsunami victims in East Asia: “‘The best thing about church is that when something happens, you have people.’”
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Four featured congregations – representing a fraction of those that are making a difference and providing community gathering places. Whether it is feeding people who have no food, providing clothing, responding to a crisis, making space, educating, or welcoming, each of these congregations represents members seeing a need and doing something about it. It’s grassroots-level changemaking or philanthropy, according to Hogan, that is 100% funded by church people. “In all honesty, I don’t think people are aware of all the direct needs that are being taken care of in churches.”
When churches close and when there are no longer congregants to support what churches do, it will have a telling impact on economies and livelihoods of our local communities and eventually our country. That halo effect – the gift that keeps on giving – will silently peter out like a candle no longer supported by its wick.
