CP – The Anglican Church of Canada will run out of members by the year 2040 if its current rate of decline continues, according to a recently released report. The Rev. Canon Neil Elliot gave a presentation last Saturday at the ACC Council of General Synod on the statistics for the members of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The statistics were compiled last year and reflected membership numbers in 2017. It was the first report on church statistics since 2001.   According to Elliot’s report, in 2017, the ACC had approximately 357,000 members, representing 1 percent of the overall national population.

This was a sharp decline compared to 2001, when the church reported over 641,000 members representing 2 percent of the population, and an even steeper drop compared to 1961, when the ACC had over 1.3 million members representing 7 percent of the population. As Elliot noted, from 1961 to 2001, membership declined by about 50 percent, leading him to project that the church body will no longer have any members by 2040 if the decline continues at its current rate. READ MORE