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Overall perspectives:
Some 5.5% volunteered
Some 24% volunteered
In total, 31.3% of |
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Volunteering in religious organizations is a significant part of all volunteer activity. Most religion volunteers also volunteer in secular organizations. Religion volunteers tend to be weekly, rather than less frequent, worshippers, and consider themselves to be very religious when asked in a survey about their religiosity. Yet there is a considerable number of weekly worshippers and very religious people, however, who are not religion volunteers. These may be considered to be potential volunteers. Those who are both committed to their religion (weekly worshippers) and very religious as well may be especially inclined to volunteer in their faith community if they already volunteer in a secular organization - these we call primary potential religion volunteers. Such people are distinguished from secondary potential volunteers, who are also very religious and weekly worshippers, but who do not presently volunteer at all. Given the right assignment, one suited to their spiritual gifts 1 or service potential, and given the right support, members in both groups might be encouraged to volunteer in their faith community. And because volunteering is fulfilling in many ways, the personal
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Overall perspectives:
Some 5.5% volunteered
Some 24% volunteered
In total, 31.3% of |
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potential and happiness of each person might be considerably increased. The purpose of this study is to show the extent of this potential pool of volunteers in each faith community, and to compare its size to the number of actual religion volunteers. Along with paid religious leaders, this group would be most likely to recruit new volunteers.
Religion volunteers averaged 1.4 million in Canada in the period 1997 to 2000, 21% of all volunteers 2. Only 3% to 4% of all volunteers with no religious affiliation are religion volunteers, compared with 12% to 16% of French and other Catholic volunteers, 25% to 33% of United Church, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran and non-Christian volunteers, and over 50% of the Baptist, Pentecostal and smaller Christian faith volunteers. These smaller Christian faiths have the greatest number of religion volunteers, 319 thousand or 23% of the Canadian total, followed by the non-French Catholics 17%, United Church 16%, and Baptists, Anglicans and French Catholics, about 8% each. Of Canada's 1.4 million religion volunteers, 659 thousand volunteer only in religious organizations, while 745 thousand volunteer in both religious and secular organizations. The smaller Christian faiths supply the largest number of religion-only volunteers, 25% of the total, followed by the non-French Catholic and United Church, about 13% each, Baptist 10%, and
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Male-female perspectives:
Women were more
Women were more |
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Anglican, Pentecostal and French Catholic, 6% to 7%. . The smaller Christian faiths also supply the largest number of volunteers in both the religion and secular organizations, 21% of the total, followed closely by the non-French Catholic and United Church faiths, 19% to 20%, Anglican 9%, and Baptist, 7%.
The potential religion volunteer rate is only half a percentage point more than the actual religion volunteer rate (6.6% versus 6.1%), though there are some significant differences in these rates within faith communities. The potential rate exceeds the actual rate in the Catholic, Pentecostal and non-Christian faiths, while the reverse is true in the other faiths. The actual rate exceeds the potential rate by the widest margin among Presbyterians (12% versus 3%), Baptists (23% versus 12%), and United Church (12% versus 2%). Faith communities with higher volunteer rates than potential rates are fortunate in that they have more potential recruiters per potential volunteer.
The non-religion volunteers who volunteer in secular organizations, and who are very religious weekly worshippers, make up less than 2% of the population, but they are more likely to be found in some faith communities than others. These primary potential volunteers comprise 6.5% of Pentecostals, 5% of the smaller Christian faiths, and 4% of Baptists, though only 1% to 1.5% of the French and non-French Catholic, United Church and Anglican faiths. The data are unreliable for the Lutheran, Presbyterian and non-Christian faiths.
The secondary potential religion volunteer rates are also higher in the conservative faith communities than the Catholic and liberal Christian faiths, and higher also than the primary potential rates. The secondary group comprises 5% of Canadians and is highest in the Pentecostal (18%), and smaller Christian faiths (14%), followed by the Baptist (8%), non-French Catholic (5%), French Catholic (3%), and United Church faiths (1%). The data are unreliable for the other faiths.
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Focus on the very relgious population:
12% of the
65% of all weekly
14% of the very |
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A measure of the challenge involved in recruiting potential volunteers is the number of potential religion volunteers expressed as a percentage of actual religion volunteers. A value of 100% would signify they are of equal number, while a percentage above (or below) 100% would signify more (or fewer) potential volunteers than actual. Using this measure, the greatest challenge in recruiting is faced by the non-Christian (162%), non-French Catholic (154%), and Pentecostal faiths (113%). The least challenge is faced by the United Church (17%), Presbyterian (21%), Anglican (32%), Baptist (53%) and smaller Christian faiths (83%). The primary potential religion volunteers expressed as a percentage of the actual volunteers follows a similar order: French Catholic (45%), English Catholic (35%), Pentecostal (30%), smaller Christian faiths (22%), Baptist (17%), Anglican (7%), and United Church (7%). Reliable estimates are unavailable for Presbyterians, Lutherans, and non-Christians.
A related measure of the recruitment challenge is the number of religion volunteers per potential religion volunteer. A higher number indicates an easier recruiting challenge. The United Church faith has the easiest challenge by this measure with six volunteers per potential volunteer, 13 per primary potential volunteer, and ten per secondary potential volunteer. Presbyterians and Anglicans also have a relatively easy challenge, with five and three volunteers per potential volunteer, respectively. The challenge is greater for the Baptists, Pentecostals and members of smaller Christian faiths - one to two volunteers per potential volunteer. The challenge is greatest for the non-Christians and Catholics, who have only 0.6 to 0.7 volunteers per potential volunteer. All of the faiths have over two volunteers per primary potential volunteer - the United Church has 13, Anglicans eight, Baptists six, smaller Christian faiths five, Pentecostals and non-French Catholics three, and French Catholics two. Data for the other faiths are unreliable.
In the face of falling volunteering in religious and secular organizations many leaders of voluntary organizations are interested in recruiting new volunteers and retaining existing volunteers. This study identifies and measures a pool of potential volunteers for religious leaders - the weekly worshippers who consider themselves to be very religious, though do not presently volunteer in religious organizations. Naturally, not all of this potential would be suitable for formal volunteering, and many potential volunteers might prefer to devote their free time to their families or the informal support and help of their neighbours or fellow workers or worshippers. Some, however, might like to volunteer, given the right kind of assignment, training and support. Of this potential pool, those already volunteering in secular organizations may be more likely to take on an assignment in a religious organization than those who do not volunteer at all. While this primary potential pool is much smaller than the secondary pool (those who do not volunteer at all) it is still substantial, especially in the conservative Christian faiths - Baptist, Pentecostal and smaller Christian faiths. These are the very religions that have the highest percentages of volunteers in religious organizations, the very people needed to befriend and recruit new volunteers.
While the percentage of potential volunteers in the United Church, Anglican and Presbyterian faiths is much lower than in the conservative faiths, these three faiths have an advantage in their higher numbers of volunteers per potential volunteer. In other words, they have a greater potential to recruit volunteers given the same level of recruitment effort. The French and non-French Catholic faiths have a higher percentage of potential volunteers than the liberal Protestant faiths, but they have a smaller percentage of religion volunteers to help with the recruiting.
Detailed data on the actual and potential volunteers are presented below in Tables 1 and 2, and Charts 1 to 6. Much of this information is not referred to in the above text.
Frank Jones, Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa, deemed employee, Statistics Canada, and Director of Research, Christian Commitment Research Institute. The author alone is responsible for any errors in this work.
2 For this study the respondents to the 1997 and 2000 Statistics Canada's surveys of Giving, Volunteering and Participating are pooled in order to increase the sample size needed to produce reliable estimates for some of the smaller religions.