In his review of Michael Adams' Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, Jordon Cooper from resonate.ca makes this conclusion which I tend to agree with:
-The American worldview is dominating our church in Canada which may explain why the exodus of Canadians continues to move away from the church. Some may say that the people are leaving the Gospel but I don't agree. I think the Canadian church has taken some shortcuts and is taking answers from south of the border without asking the hard answers ourselves. Just as part of the country votes for neo-conservative values and feels that they can have success, the church looks around and takes comfort in the fact that "these people are listening to what I am saying" without ever thinking that the majority is looking and going, "that doesn't jive with anything I am seeing".-
This makes the job of decoding Canadian culture all the more important. What I have been observing is that rather than taking the time to do the hard work of decoding culture, the tendency for church planters is to be captivated by a model of ministry (Willow Creek, Saddleback, G12, emerging etc.) and then entering into a community and simply implementing that model. This may be why Ottawa has yet to see a significant spiritual movement and why the city does not have a single megachurch in her midst.
One thing for sure, any missional church that wants to reach Canadians must not come across as an American import.
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