Research group to measure
Christian commitment

KEVIN HEINRICHS
CW Managing Editor
— Ottawa —

Frank Jones always wondered what he should do after he retired as a senior analyst with Statistics Canada.
"For about 10 years I had been talking to friends about doing research on religious questions when I retired, though I never knew until very recently how this would be done," says Jones.

After retiring last October, he began a new role as an adjunct professor of economics at the University of Ottawa. But he spends the bulk of his time running the Christian Commitment Research Institute, a new research body that aims to measure the commitment level of Canadian Christians—not an easy thing to nail down.

However, Jones says there is a vast amount of information already available through Statistics Canada, and having worked there for years, he knows where to find it.

As a "deemed employee" Jones has access to survey files, but says that much of the useful data is also available to anyone in a research environment. He sifts through what he calls "micro data" collected from various surveys and census data, and releases reports on his findings.

The first two CCRI reports examine how religious commitment affects the likelihood of parents to volunteer (church-attending parents are much more likely to volunteer); and the regional breakdown of Christian commitment across Canada (church attendance is highest in rural P.E.I and lowest in Montreal).

"We hope to publish an important study each month, and by each study to demonstrate the significance of religion in Canadian society, and also to show how it seems to be weak or inconsequential," he says.

CCRI has two other volunteers. Claudette Harrison, a Roman Catholic employed as an auditor with Environment Canada, is education director and Gordon Walford, a Presbyterian working as senior analyst with Statistics Canada, directs communications.

Integration

For Jones, the integration of his work and faith has been a continuing road. Two years ago, he started a Bible study at Statistics Canada as well as a noon-hour Alpha program that introduces people to Christianity.

He says this new research venture will not only create a greater awareness of the impact of Canadian Christians in society, but also teach Christian basics and encourage greater Christian commitment.

Jones says he not sure yet how CCRI can best do that, but to begin with he is encouraging Alpha programs in the workplace and will eventually develop links to pertinent websites from the CCRI website (http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~fjones/) that would foster solid Christian teaching.

There is currently no funding for the institute. All the time is volunteer and all the data freely available, but Jones hopes eventually to gain funding for major studies of community involvement, child development and religious commitment.

CCRI reports:

• Canadian parents with at least one
child under 18 at home comprised 37%
of all volunteers aged 15 or older in
1997, though only 31% of the population.

• Parents attending religious services at
least monthly were much more likely
to volunteer than non-attending parents.

• Lutherans are the most likely to volun
teer followed by Baptists, United
Church, Anglicans and Roman Catholics,
Presbyterians and those with no reli
gious beliefs were the least likely.

• Regular church attendance is highest in
rural P.E.I. (51%) and lowest in
Montreal (21%).

• Those who call themselves religious
are most prevalent in rural
Saskatchewan (72%) and lowest in
Montreal (43%).

• Pentecostal and Jehovah's Witness are
the most regular church attenders (76%
attend regularly); French Roman
Catholics are the least regular (29%
attend regularly).