Rebuilding the Broken Wall: The EFC and Canadian Evangelicals

Abstract

An examination of a voluntary association of Canadian evangelicals, that is known as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), contributes to the growing body of knowledge concerning Canadian evangelicals. This thesis begins by indicating how the sociology of knowledge, voluntary association theory and network theory are relevant to the study of the EFC and of Canadian evangelicalism. It then discusses an alternate approach to defining evangelicals and briefly summarizes the history of Canadian evangelicals and of the EFC. Against this background the remainder of the thesis analyzes the nature of the EFC through an examination of five perceptions of the EFC (i.e. tour individuals and the EFC‘s literature). This analysis shows how the EFC can be used as a model for understanding Canadian evangelicalism. That is, the four individual realities examined and the EFC's literature illustrate the interaction of evangelical networks and their importance in shaping, maintaining and Iegitimating the Canadian evangelical worldview.