Book Reviews 395
PNEUMA
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/15700747-04003008
Adam Stewart, The New Canadian Pentecostals (Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier
University Press, 2015). 195 pp. $29.99 paperback.
Census data released by Statistics Canada in 2003 for the period from 1991–
2001 revealed the first ever decline in Pentecostal religious affiliation in Canada,
showing a 15 percent loss (nearly 67,000 adherents). This dramatic decline was
shocking when considering the previous eight decades all recorded Pentecostal
growth in Canada, and the 1991 census data indicated an all-time high for Pen-
tecostal affiliation. In his book The New Canadian Pentecostals, Adam Stewart
wonders why it appears Pentecostalism transitioned from one of the fastest
growing to fastest declining denominations in Canada.
Stewart’s hypothesis laid out in chapter one is that the census decrease rep-
resents a transformation of religious identity and experience from traditionally
Pentecostal to generically Evangelical categories, the “new” Canadian Pente-
costalism. He believes the census data does not reflect a decrease in atten-
dance nor influence of Pentecostal churches; rather, those who attend simply
no longer identify as Pentecostal or with traditional Pentecostal beliefs and
practices. To test his hypothesis, Stewart conducts ethnographic research on
individual and congregational religiosity in three Pentecostal Assemblies of
Canada (PAOC) congregations in the Waterloo, Ontario area. Through inter-
views, participant observation, content analysis, material culture, and print
material in these congregations, Stewart concludes the census data can be
explained by understanding that Canadian Pentecostalism is transforming
from traditionally Pentecostal to broadly Evangelical categories with an em-
phasis on individualistic, therapeutic spirituality.
Chapter two’s brief introduction to Pentecostalism and Canadian Pente-
costal identity proves helpful for those new to the field by providing the con-
trast in Stewart’s argument, namely, that one of the most distinct religious
identities in Canada has become one of the most generic. As Stewart says, “Prior
to recent decades, if you were a Pentecostal, you knew it” (41), whereas many
people Stewart interviewed were completely unaware, intentionally avoided,
or were even embarrassed of their church’s Pentecostal affiliation (6, 107–
108). Chapter three introduces the three congregations and their pastors and
presents a picture of churches and members who are “overwhelmingly gener-
ically evangelical in their commitments” with a “low level of commitment to
the Pentecostal tradition” (72).
Chapters 4–6 form the core chapters and evidence for Stewart’s hypothe-
sis. Chapter four displays the generically Evangelical religious identity of these
churches and their adherents through the evidence of “loose, if any” denomi-
national linkages, such as the only 7 percent of respondents who would look